Category: Crew On Two

For the first race of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, there was an air of familiarity about the first six laps. The 2013 season saw three in a league of their own: Luis Salom, Alex Rins and eventual series champion, Maverick Vinales. That season all three were on KTMs, the dominant package at the time, and shared all bar one of the wins of 2013 between them (Alex Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix when both Rins and Salom crashed). This year, the three riders who have shown themselves to be a step ahead of the rest of the field are Jorge Martin, Aron Canet and Enea Bastianini, all on Honda machines.

This weekend, Martin looked almost in a class of his own, with only Bastianini regularly challenging him, but The Beast qualified down in tenth, and with Canet down in seventh on the grid, it looked like Gresini Racing’s Martin would have a chance to break from the group early on in Sunday’s eighteen lap race. This is what he tried to do – by the time Bastianini arrived at the head of the chasing group, in second place, Martin was already 1.5 seconds in the lead, and to make things more difficult, Bastianini would have to negotiate Canet at the same time as closing the race leader. Nonetheless, within two laps, the chasing pair had caught Jorge, and Bastianini hit the front at the beginning of lap five, breaking Martin’s leadership for the first time in the race. Entering lap six, though, and the two Spaniards re-passed Enea, and in his ambition to stick with Martin, the Italian crashed out of the race at turn six, losing the rear initially, which sent him a little offline, and then folding the front. La Bestia was unable to re-join, and so leaves the first race of the season already way off the pace in the championship.

Canet and Martin continued their private battle for the lead, and throughout the race made it increasingly more exclusive, stretching out a gap of nearly seven seconds to the chasing pack by the end of the race.

The younger of the two, Canet, made a very curious race, almost never leading, despite failing to detach himself from his compatriot’s rear tyre from the moment he gained contact. Canet would sit up at the end of the straight every lap, roll off the throttle so as to not pass Martin, and not show his hand. The one time when Aron did take over the leadership of the race, it was due to a mistake from Jorge, who ran wide at turn one, but after one lap the Gresini Honda had re-passed the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS version.

Canet was clearly waiting for the final lap, to slipstream Martin to the line, and there is a question mark over whether Canet was failing to pass his fellow Spaniard by the line on purpose to try to trick last year’s Valencia race winner into a false sense of security. Either way, the plan for Canet did not work, as Martin edged the victory by 0.023 seconds to deny Canet’s slipstream attempts. Perhaps Canet’s race was ruined by the Honda, which seems to give very little slipstream to the rider behind – this seemed visible in the race, and also through practice.

It was not just the battle for the front that was very unusual for Moto3 – the battle for the final spot on the podium was distinctly unpopulated, with only six riders fighting for third for most of the race. The six were Lorenzo Dalla Porta, polesitter Niccolo Antonelli, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jakub Kornfeil, Ayumu Sasaki and Marco Bezzecchi, but were then joined by John McPhee, Kaito Toba and Fabio Di Giannantonio in the final laps. The fight was fierce, and it was inevitable that at least one of the riders would unfortunately not make the finish. John McPhee was the victim, clipping Sasaki’s Honda in the penultimate corner, taking him out of the race.

Marco Bezzecchi also had an undeserved crash earlier in the lap at the dreaded turn six, where he folded the front. Fortunately for the big Italian, though, he was able to remount and took two points for fourteenth on his debut for the Pruestl GP team.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta won out in the battle for the podium, beating home compatriot Nicco Antonelli in the run to the line by 0.045 seconds on the 2016 Moto3 Junior World Champion’s debut for the Leopard Racing Honda team, a welcome gift after the disaster of Bastianini.

As implied it was Niccolo Antonelli who was the first of the non-podium finishers to cross the line – a positive result on his SIC58 Squadra Corse debut, and one he will hope to build from in the future.

Gabriel Rodrigo was the first KTM home in fifth, which shows the continuation of 2017’s trend of Honda dominating the lightweight class.

Fabio Di Giannantonio fought back well from a poor qualifying and underwhelming start to take sixth place, 0.030 seconds ahead of Honda Team Asia’s Kaito Toba, who sort of arrived in the battle for the podium from nowhere, but nonetheless fought well to take what is by far his career best finish.

Toba beat home fellow Japanese Ayumu Sasaki who finished seventh, ahead of the KTM of Jakub Kornfeil, who made a return to the top ten after a couple of difficult seasons with the Sepang International Circuit team.

The top ten was rounded out by another KTM (although that is still only three Austrian bikes inside the top 10 compared to seven Hondas), this time belonging to Andrea Migno, who made a decent debut for the Angel Nieto Team, finishing under one second away from the podium. He was followed sensation Jaume Masia.

2017 Red Bull Rookies Champion Kazuki Masaki took home three points on his Grand Prix debut and finished only 8.829 seconds off the win. As previously mentioned, Bezzecchi finished fourteenth, with Marcos Ramirez taking the final point in fifteenth place.

Dennis Foggia ended his full time Grand Prix debut 0.069 seconds off the final point, but will be disappointed to be 26 seconds off the win, nonetheless. Tony Arbolino was a further 6.5 seconds back of Foggia, with Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and Makar Yurchenko rounding out the nineteen finishers.

That leaves seven riders unclassified: John McPhee, rookie Alonso Lopez, Livio Loi, Nicolo Bulega who is still struggling with his ankle injury from last season, the aforementioned Bastianini, Philipp Oettl and Darryn Binder, who made contact with the German.

Whilst the opening round of the 2018 Moto3 season was by no means a classic, it perhaps did show the pattern the season will follow: three riders a step ahead of the rest of the field fighting for the championship. For sure, the other riders will be fighting also at the front of the races, but it will be Jorge Martin, Aron Canet and Enea Bastianini who will fight for the world title, and their battle will continue in Argentina in three weeks’ time.

Alex Marquez left it late to secure pole position ahead of Sunday’s Moto2 grand prix.

The remnants of the sandstorm, which plagued the Moto3 qualifying session, was one of the key challenges which greeted the riders as the intermediate class hit the track. With dust being blasted around the circuit, grip levels were inconsistent, ensuring that the competitors spent the first half of qualifying trying to create a clean racing line. There was also the matter of poor visibility in the twilight, before eventually the floodlights took over.

Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0 MarcVDS) has looked imperious across the weekend so far. Fastest man throughout practice, the young Spaniard proved the master of the difficult conditions setting a best time of 2″00.299 to ensure he starts the race from the front. Furthermore, he secured pole position by 0.3s ahead of his nearest rival. An achievement which should not be overlooked, as Marquez set his time alone on track, without the aid of a slipstream tow down the 1 kilometre long main straight.

Securing the remaining places on the front row are Italian riders Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) and Francesco Bagnaia (Sky VR|46). The former has been one of the surprises of the weekend, finishing inside the top 5 across the three practice sessions and rising to the occasion under the lights in qualifying. He will start in P2 on Sunday. Bagnaia once again demonstrated his raw ability over a single lap to secure third place on the starting grid, yet also chalked up 17 laps across the session gathering invaluable data for Sunday’s race.

Undoubtedly the surprise of the session was Danny Kent (Beta Tools Speed-Up Racing). The British rider has returned for a third stint in the intermediate class, and could not have hoped for a better start to his 2018 campaign. His best time of 2″00.965 secures him P6, and a place on the second row alongside Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) in P4 and P5 respectively.

Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini) and Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) will head up the third row of the grid. Navarro has steadily been making improvements over the winter, following a testing maiden season in Moto2 last year. Pasini will not be too worried starting from P8 on Sunday. The veteran Italian traditionally almost forgoes any thought to setting the bike up for a single lap, instead focusing every practice session on getting his machine right for the 20 lap race. The pair are joined on the third row by German rider, Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP), who will start in P9.

Concluding the top ten for Sunday’s race is Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors), who will be disappointed to have only been able to secure tenth place on the grid. The 27-year old has been looking good however through the practice sessions, suggesting that he will be able to force his way up the order come race day.

Words by Alex Whitworth

The conditions for today’s Moto3 qualifying session were difficult for all the riders, as a relatively thick cloud of sand descended on the Losail International Circuit. Visibility was quite poor on track, and to add to that the wind was very strong, and the track was extremely dirty.

The rider who best dealt with the conditions was Jorge Martin. He had pole in the bag, his lap was about as good as it could have been in those conditions, but he only managed second place on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Niccolo Antonelli snatched pole position at the very end to take the SIC58 Squadra Corse’s first pole position in the World Championship, and he did it with the assistance of a perfect tow down the front straight – it was this that set his and Martin’s lap apart, by the gaping chasm of 0.001 seconds. The pole position was a welcome dose of enjoyment for the team, especially after Tatsuki Suzuki had to pull out of the weekend after injuries sustained from a crash on Friday morning.. Of course, Antonelli’s most recent victory came in Qatar back in 2016, when he was considered a championship contender, but even still it is probably Martin who enters tomorrow’s race as the favourite, having been the most consistently fast rider throughout the weekend.

Gabriel Rodrigo will begin his 2018 Moto3 World Championship from third on the grid, and it must be said that his lap was not a fluke – he has been quite fast all weekend, and all through qualifying. If he can keep his right hand in check tomorrow, he could be on for a maiden podium.

The second row is headed up by Ayumu Sasaki on the Petronas Sprinta Honda. Last year, Qatar was Sasaki’s first race of his full-time Grand Prix career (he debuted at Sepang 2016, replacing Enea Bastianini at Gresini), and he looked good too, finishing inside the points and ahead of the likes of Nicolo Bulega, so tomorrow could be a very good day for the young Honda star.

Kaito Toba enjoyed his best career qualifying with fifth place. The Japanese had a tough rookie season in 2017, but looks to have started his second season in Grand Prix racing in a much better way. If he can manage to stick with the leading group tomorrow, he could learn a lot about racing at the front against the best riders in the world.

Marco Bezzecchi impressed with sixth place. The Italian has flown a little under the radar coming into this season, after a quiet 2017 aboard the CIP Mahindra, but has been floating around the top five all weekend and could provide a real upset tomorrow.

Aron Canet fronts row three in seventh place. A relatively lowly qualifying position for Canet is not the end of the world for him, considering the amount of slipstreaming that is likely to occur on the pit straight tomorrow, but he has left himself in a dangerous position for turn one tomorrow, especially with it being the first race of the season.

Eighth place is occupied by Philipp Oettl, who not for the first time paid the price for his preference for riding alone, instead of in a group. The final piece of the row three puzzle is Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who might have been higher if his teammate Enea Bastianini didn’t hit his rear wheel on the entry to turn one.

That contact between the two Leopard teammates left Bastianini without a final attempt at improving his lap time and down in tenth place with a tough first few laps ahead of him for tomorrow. Jakub Kornfeil and John McPhee join Bastianini on row four.

Jaume Masia makes his full-time Grand Prix debut from thirteenth on the grid. We know from his performances last year that Masia can be a threat at the front in the race, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him battling for the top positions tomorrow. Andrea Migno lines up in fourteenth for the first Grand Prix of the season, and in the middle of a Bester Capital Dubai KTM sandwich on row five, as Marcos Ramirez goes off of P15.

Fabio Di Giannantonio disappointed with sixteenth place, but expect to see him climb through the field tomorrow. Adam Norrodin and Livio Loi complete row six.

Reigning Red Bull Rookies champion, Kazuki Masaki, will start from nineteenth tomorrow, whilst Darryn Binder rounds out the top twenty and CEV graduate Alonso Lopez finalises row seven.

Nico Bulega was a big disappointment in 22nd. After Friday he said he was happy with the work he and his team had done, but it looks to have been to no avail, as the tall Italian’s poor form from 2017 continues. To make matters worse for Bulega, his trademark awful starts will probably mean he will be pretty much last by turn one. Albert Arenas, one of the riders who fought with Bulega for the 2015 Moto3 Junior World Championship, starts from 23rd tomorrow, and rookie Makar Yurchenko goes from the back of row eight.

Reigning Junior World Champion Dennis Foggia was another disappointment as he could only manage 25th place after his fastest lap was cancelled for track limits. Tony Arbolino was yet another Italian frustration down in 26th place, which was completely unexpected after a strong preseason on the Snipers Honda. Finally, the grid for the first round of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship is rounded off by Nakarin Atiratphuvapat .

The intermediate class has garnered a reputation over the past few seasons as the hardest category to succeed in. How appropriate then should the new race schedule see the Moto2 field commence battle in the most challenging conditions of the weekend.

The race at the Losail International Circuit is set to begin at 1720 local time on Sunday, with sunset due at 1744. As such, we can expect a dramatic loss of track temperature during the closing stages of the grand prix, and ever changing levels of visibility with the setting sun before the floodlights take over.

The 2018 season looks set to begin with a plethora of riders all with realistic ambitions and expectations of being crowned world champion.

After a solid maiden campaign with the Red Bull KTM Ajo team last year, Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira arrives at Qatar in the eyes of many as the favourite for the championship.  Having finished 2017 with a hat trick of victories at the final three rounds both he and the team have steadily made progress throughout the winter, with the focus been on gleaning an ideal race setup. This has been backed up by his teammate, the 2016 Moto3 world champion Brad Binder. The South African endured a troublesome campaign last year, owing much of this to an unfortunate series of injuries. However, following a full winter testing program he looks ready to join his teammate as a front running contender this season.

Francesco Bagnaia (Sky VR|46 Racing Team) stole the headlines during the winter, not just for his out right pace in testing. The Italian announced last month that he will be moving up into MotoGP from 2019. The move will see the 21 year-old become the second man from Valentino Rossi’s academy (after 2017 Moto2 Champion, Franco Morbidelli) to make it into the premier class. How we dearly wants to arrive there as a world champion, already.  Bagnaia is joined this season by compatriot Luca Marini, who moves across from the Forward Racing Team. Marini endured a difficult two years at his former team, and will be looking to make 2018 somewhat of a breakthrough season for him. Yet to feature on the podium in Moto2, the 20 year-old from Urbino needs to hit the ground running if he is not to be overshadowed by his teammate.

With Franco Morbidelli having moved up to MotoGP during the winter, Alex Marquez will be expected to deliver the title for the EG 0,0 Marc-VDS team. Inconsistency plagued the young Spaniard’s title ambitions in 2017, but the word from the team is that he has made a considerable effort this winter to curb his tendency to ride beyond the limit of the bike’s capabilities. There is no doubt he is extremely talented and is rightly considered a genuine front runner for this season. Despite a slow start to his Moto2 career, the 21 year-old has made significant improvements in his three years in the class. A strong winter has left both he and his team confident that the world championship could be theirs for the taking in 2018. Marquez is joined by rookie Joan Mir this season. The current Moto3 world champion signed a 4-year contract with the MarcVDS outfit late last season, leading many to speculate that he has his future sorted all the way into MotoGP. There is no denying he is an extremely talented rider, but will take time to adjust to the physical demands of the 600cc prototype, having moved up from the 250cc machines used in the junior class. Perhaps not a championship contender for this year, but definitely one to watch as the season progresses.

Sam Lowes returns to the intermediate category after a tough debut season in MotoGP with Aprilia. The British rider joins the Swiss Innovative Investors team for the 2018 season. Winning the championship with the team being the clear intention. The Lincolnshireman has looked strong throughout the winter testing, looking comfortable on the bike and setting headline lap times from the start. There is undeniable pressure on his shoulders. It is fair to say he did not get a fair opportunity last year in the premier class, and desperately wants to return. To do that, race wins and a strong challenge for the championship can be the only objectives he is striving towards this season.

Lowes is not the only British rider who faces pressure this season. Danny Kent (Beta Tools Speed-Up Racing) returns for a third stint in Moto2. For many reasons, Kent’s grand prix career has not managed to kick on properly, following winning the Moto3 crown in 2015. A third new team in as many seasons perhaps already puts the 24 year-old at a relative disadvantage to most of his competitors, as he has to adapt to a new machine. Kent still has the self belief that he can and will succeed. A good start this weekend in Qatar might provide the launch pad for his best season yet in the intermediate class.

Finally, it would be wrong to ignore Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team). The veteran Italian racer broke his duck last season with a breathtaking victory at his home grand prix in Mugello. A regular contender for podiums last season, and never outside of the top 5 in winter testing, makes it impossible to ignore that Pasini has as good a chance as the likes of Oliveria, Bagnaia and Marquez of becoming world champion in 2018. Especially impressive when one considers he is riding a customised Kalex machine with left-hand braking, to compensate for an old MX injury which has left the Italian unable to use a conventional right-hand braking system.

The Moto2 QatarGP race begins at 1420 GMT on Sunday, March 18th. 

Moto3 explodes back into life this weekend at the season’s opening round at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. For the first time since Moto3 was introduced, in 2012, Sunday’s race will be held in the mid-afternoon under the hot desert sun. The racing will remain unpredictable and extremely hard fought, as twenty eight very young, very talented riders desperately try to make a name for themselves on the grand prix stage.

One thing is guaranteed though in the junior class this season – we will have a brand new world champion come the season finale in Valencia. Last year’s runaway series winner, Joan Mir, has moved up to the Moto2 category for 2018 leaving the door wide open for a new superstar to take his place.

Enea Bastianini takes Mir’s seat at the Leopard Racing team, after a difficult season aboard the Estrella Galicia 0,0 machine. Despite being only 20 years old, the Italian is considered as a veteran of the Moto3 class having made his debut at this venue back in 2014. There is also the feeling in the paddock that Bastianini is under considerable pressure coming into this season, riding for a third team in as many years. He will be hoping that the move to the team which has claimed two world championships (2015 – Danny Kent, 2017 – Joan Mir) will be able to give him the tools to fight for a his maiden title. His times throughout preseason testing with his new team have been very promising indeed.

Following their impressive 2017 campaigns, Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini) have perhaps rightly been declared the preseason favourites. The latter earned himself the reputation as being a ‘man of steel’ last year, having ridden through the pain barrier during the second half of the season after an horrific crash during Friday practice at the Sachsenring left him with a broken leg and a badly damaged shoulder. Despite this, the young rider from Madrid defied all physical expectations to finish the season with multiple podiums to his name, including his maiden victory at the season finale in Valencia.

Canet was the undisputed ‘best of the rest’ to Mir last year, with the 18-year old from Corbera taking 3 wins across the season, racking up a total of 199 points to finish third overall in the championship. Just like his compatriot, Martin, he remains with the same team for 2018. With a year of data and understanding his machine behind him, he will be very eager to cement his reputation as a world champion in waiting.

British hopes once again fall exclusively on the shoulders of John McPhee. The 23-year old has moved to the CIP-Green Power team for 2018, having been at the British Talent Team last season. The Scotsman will be looking to back up his performances from 2017, having secured a career best finish of seventh place in the overall standings. With his new team running KTM machinery, McPhee has the power to be able to fight towards the front of the field consistently. McPhee is joined at CIP by one of the rookies for this season. Kazakhstani rider, Makar Yuchenko. The 19-year old makes the move up from the Repsol CEV junior world championship following a run of impressive performances in the second half of last season.

Speaking of rookies, Yuchenko is joined by three other young prospects from the cadet categories organised by Dorna. Kazuki Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) and Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) both make the transition this year from the Red Bull Rookies Cup series, the former arriving as reigning champion. All three will be measured directly against the fourth and final rookie in the series, CEV junior World Champion, Dennis Foggia (Sky VR|46). The young Italian already has some Moto3 world championship experience, having competed as a wildcard on three occasions in 2017.

Foggia’s arrival at the Sky VR|46 team puts immediate pressure on his experienced teammate, Nicolo Bulega. In 2015, Bulega arrived in the Moto3 class heralded as the next big thing from Italy. So much was the hype surrounding the young Italian that he very nearly ran the famous 46 plate. However for various reasons, a serious championship challenge from Bulega has not yet emerged. 2018 therefore could be titled the ‘make or break’ season for the 19-year old. Once again, he is on KTM powered machinery and with three seasons behind him, the time for Bulega to make his mark on the competition is now.

With so many riders having so much to prove already, before any of the bikes have been ridden with anger, 2018 promises to be truly spectacular and gripping viewing.

The Moto3 Qatar Grand Prix race starts 1300GMT on Sunday, March 18th.