Leclerc secures Singapore GP pole in tricky conditions

Charles Leclerc mastered the conditions at the Marina Bay circuit to take his ninth pole position of the season, as championship leader Max Verstappen was forced to abort his final lap.

On a weekend where he can secure the championship, Verstappen will only start eighth, with the Dutch driver furious after being forced to abandon a potential pole lap due to a lack of fuel. His teammate, Sergio Perez, will start in second place, with Lewis Hamilton securing his best qualifying of the season in third.

Magnussen putting in good lap times despite a trip off track. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

The session started in damp conditions, with drivers using the intermediate tyres after a wet FP3. The majority of the track seemed to be dry, with turns 8 and 17 proving to be stubbornly wet throughout the session. Despite struggling with tyre warmup in practice, Mercedes were instantly on the pace, with Hamilton and Russell setting the fastest times early in the session. Unsurprisingly, there was a multitude of yellow flags early on, as Alex Albon, Charles Leclerc and the Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher struggled with the greasy conditions.

On their second set of tyres, however, both Haas were able to briefly get inside the top 10 – showing how much the track was improving. In the end, Schumacher needed one final lap to get through to Q2, with Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, Esteban Ocon, Albon and Nicolas Latifi dropping out.

Despite hot temperatures in Singapore, the track was slow to dry thanks to the high humidity and the nighttime running. Times were improving in Q2, with Leclerc setting the early pace in this session. Aston Martin decided it was worth a gamble to put both cars onto the slick tyres, but both drivers found the conditions too tricky to handle, as both skated into the run-off at the Anderson Bridge. Lance Stroll qualified 12th, with Sebastian Vettel 14th at the track where he secured his last victory three years ago.

Zhou Guanyu struggled on slicks as well to qualify 15th, with fellow Singapore newbie Schumacher qualifying 12th. The big shock in this session was the loss of George Russell, with the Mercedes man never looking comfortable throughout the session, as he missed out on the top 10 for the first time since the Miami GP. The Brit will start tomorrow from 11th.

Russell was not able to make it out of Q2. Image courtesy of Mercedes Media

The majority of the field chose soft tyres in Q3, apart from Tsunoda and Magnussen who stuck with the intermediates. This briefly looked like the best call, as the majority of the slick-shod runners struggled to get their tyres up to temperature. All except Lewis Hamilton, who was two seconds faster than the next soft tyre runner after the first laps in qualifying. Staying out on the circuit to keep the temperature in the tyres was the best tactic, as Leclerc, Hamilton and Fernando Alonso traded times at the top of the order.

Leclerc managed to set a 1:49.412 on his penultimate run in qualifying, a time which would not be bettered. Perez and Hamilton both came close, but it was Verstappen who twice looked as though he was on the way to taking his fifth pole position of the season. Despite a lap which looked scruffy at times, he was nearly a second up on Leclerc’s time before being told by the team to box immediately, a decision which infuriated the championship leader. This was after he had backed off on a previous lap which would also have been good enough to challenge for the front two rows of the grid. It is likely that continuing on his final run would have led him to run out of fuel, meaning the Dutchman would have been unable to provide a fuel sample, thus starting from the back of the grid.

The top 3 for the race tomorrow. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

The end result of this qualifying session is that Verstappen needs a crazy race tomorrow if he is to secure the championship with five rounds to go, on what has been a difficult weekend for Red Bull as both themselves and Aston Martin have been accused of breaching cost cap regulations.

Verstappen has won from lower than eighth though in two of the last four races, however, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him take his twelfth victory of the season and move one step closer to a second successive championship tomorrow.

28th September 2022

The Oulton Park Showdown Shocker!

I’ve written this intro something like 10 times. Deleted it and started again! Deleted it and started again! Deleted it and started again! Deleted it and started again! I’m struggling to find the words to describe what happened this weekend that you can follow in a logical pattern and order which will make sense by the end of this article. A roller coaster of action, emotion, shock, confusion, anger, deflation and a whole other host of feelings towards situations beyond our control. Huge amounts of disappointment for some, while others breath a huge sigh of relief, albeit with a concerned eye on the health of their racing colleagues but appreciating that one third of the Showdown battle is behind them.

Oulton Park in the Autumn of 2021 changed the season for two McAMS Yamaha riders. One rider’s fortunes were changed for the better, where the other lost a season’s worth of hard work in 2 days. Of course, I am referring to Tarran Mackenzie’s success and Jason O’Halloran’s disastrous ‘two crash weekend’ 1 year ago. Well it seems ‘The Curse of Oulton Park’ his struck again in 2022 for the same team, though it seems it has swept through the McAMS team like a case of the common cold! Take this in for a second… The McAMS Yamaha pairing of reigning champion, Tarran Mackenzie and [the man who up until Saturday inhabited second place in the championship standings] Jason O’Halloran have failed to finish a single race this weekend. 6 FULL RACES. GONE! The British Superbike Championship has been turned on its head.

Jason O’Halloran – Image courtessy of McAMS Yamaha

Race 1

A typical Oulton Park race, of which we have seen many over the years, where riders try to pass on the tight, twisty, undulating circuit but ultimately the attempts are short in supply and the laps tick off one by one in the countdown to the checkered flag. The first shock of Race 1 came when a charging Tarran Mackenzie crashed his Yamaha R1 on the entry to Shell Oil’s hairpin, trying to bridge the gap to the front group after his poor start from his qualifying position of 5^th on the grid. Oulton Park, 1 – Tarran Mackenzie, 0. The first mistake of the Showdown coming from the reigning champion. Before you know it, fans and teams alike looking at Bradley Ray entering the final lap with a 3.1 second lead over the following group of Tommy Bridewell in second place, followed by Jason O’Halloran, Peter Hickman and Leon Haslam. A group of three riders chasing Ray, but who will round out the podium on the final lap?

Now here’s the rub! After cresting Clay Hill and entering the Druid’s right-hand turn for the final time, there was contact between the motorcycles of Peter Hickman [FHO Racing BMW] and Jason O’Halloran [McAMS Yamaha] resulting in a crash for The O’Show. Hickman letting the brake off and moving for an inside line overtake, O’Halloran turns in and the end result is a trip to the gravel trap ending O’Halloran’s first race in the Showdown. A potential podium chance gone. Oulton Park, 1 – Jason O’Halloran, 0. Being it was the final lap, the incident was investigated after the race and resulted in Bennetts British Superbike Race Direction disqualifying Peter Hickman from the race, handing him 2 points on his racing license and a 3-place grid penalty for Race 2. Official BSB later released the onboard footage from Hickman’s BMW and Leon Haslam’s Kawasaki following behind.

Hickman was quick to defend his position, taking to Twitter to issue a statement. “Of course, I’m absolutely gutted that JO and McAMS Yamaha didn’t finish that race, that was never my intention and never would be. I’m just glad he’s ok. I am however shocked at Race Directions decision, don’t get me wrong they have a tough job to do but disqualification… 2 points on my race license and a 3 place grid penalty is absolutely way over the top. We are racing, not playing today [Hicky meant tiddly] winks! I stand by what I said on Eurosport after the race, there was a gap, he was weak in that area and I was strong, and I had a chance of a podium so… of course I had a go. It’s a huge shame that he tagged the back of my bike and went down, but we are racing on very small margins and sometimes it happens. As for comments about not having a go at passing someone because they’re in the showdown and lack of respect etc I… completely disagree, but each to their own eh! Thanks for the support from everyone as always, I’ll be on the grid again tomorrow and trying just as hard. Hicky.”

Jason O’Halloran took to his own social media outlets to post a picture of his accident damaged Yamaha in the McAMS garage and wrote “All my guys and I have worked so hard this year to put ourselves in a position to win this championship. A little bit of respect would go a long way.”

Race 1 Results – Ray, Bridewell, Haslam, Glenn Irwin, Buchan, Jackson, Iddon, Skinner, Ryde, Brookes, Sykes, Kent, Neave, Harrison, Rouse, Takahashi, Owens, Mizuno, Delves.

DNF – Mackenzie, O’Halloran, Andy Irwin, Jeacock, Vickers, Stacey.

Race 2 – Start 1

Unlike last year (which was shorts and a t-shirt) it was freezing cold on Sunday. Raining on and off and blowing a gale. Not the best weather for a British Superbike race. Declared a wet race, then after a slight delay and the rain abating, it was declared a dry race meaning any sudden rain would cause a red flag.

Dry Race – Image courtessy of Official BSB

LAP 1 Away from the lights it’s Brad Ray who gets the holeshot, followed closely by Jason O’Halloran and Tommy Bridewell. As we return to the scene of Saturday’s Race 1 incident at Druid’s corner, racing fans and teams look on in shock as Tommy Bridewell puts a move on Jason O’Halloran, that sends the McAMS Yamaha rider barreling through the same gravel trap as the previous day. Oulton Park, 2 – Jason O’Halloran, 0. Race direction investigates the incident as the race continues to circulate.

Oulton Park, Race 2 – Image Courtesy of Official BSB

Tommy Bridewell was ordered to perform a Long Lap Penalty (which is down at Hissy’s chicane while you perform the slalom between the barriers) but a lap later, while entering the Hislop Chicane Tarran Mackenzie slipped off his Yamaha R1 and slid into the path of Peter Hickman. In a split second, contact was made between Hicky’s BMW and Mackenzie’s lower body and legs. Oulton Park, 2 – Tarran Mackenie, 0. The race was then red flagged. The Mackenzie family and McAMS Yamaha later released a statement officially ending Tarran’s season due to a fractured femur, which after surgery leaves the Scottish / Derbyshire-man unfit for the remaining rounds in the 2022 season. While the medical team were dealing with Mackenzie on circuit, Bridewell gave an interview to Eurosport insinuating that he also thought O’Halloran was going too slow in the Clay Hill / Druid section and he thought the move was on.

Statement from McAMS Yamaha with reference to the Oulton Park Round.

Race 2 – Start 2

Shortened to a 14-lap race and Bridewell’s unserved long lap loop penalty was changed into a time equivalent, which effectively put him to the rear of the grid. Race 2 kicks off again for the second time, only for the race to be stopped again due to rider contact at Britten’s Chicane a few laps later. This time it was contact between Rory Skinner, Christian Iddon and a luckless Kyle Ryde. Iddon and Ryde both a victim of ‘wrong place, wrong time’. Entering the Britten Chicane, Iddon and Skinner had the same idea at the same time. Iddon lined up Ryde on the brakes into the left / right chicane and as he moved left to pull off the maneuver Skinner behind had lined Iddon up for the same move. All happening in a split second, with only a heartbeat to react Iddon realised the move wasn’t on and lined up to slide in behind Ryde but Skinner had already put his own move into action. The result was Skinners FS-3 Kawasaki crashing into the rear of Iddon’s Buildbase Suzuki, sending Skinners bike careering across the track to collect Ryde’s Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha from behind, bringing down the Yamaha rider.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end of the crash for Skinner himself. He was scooped up between the rear wheel and subframe on the Suzuki GSXR of Iddon and dragged into the back wheel. This caused Iddon’s rear wheel to lock and dropped them both to the ground. Red Flag x 2. Iddon later confirmed he has a broken bone in his hand and has also been ruled out of the Donington Park round this weekend due to the sports concussion protocol. Skinner has also suffered multiple fractures in his hand and requires surgery. It is yet to be confirmed if Skinner will attend the Donington Park round or not.

Lee Jackson. Winner of Race 2 – Image Courtesy of FS-3 Racing

Race 2 – Start 3

A relatively tame version of events, barring poor Kyle Ryde’s Turn 1 slip off which can only be put down to cold tyres. In comparison to the first two attempts, the restart running to the finish was a welcome relief to everyone but the delay had affected the schedule for the remaining races of the day. After the two earlier versions, the surprise of the restart was Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha’s Bradley Ray seemingly not having an answer for the FS-3 Kawasaki of Lee Jackson or the Oxford Products Ducati of Tommy Bridewell who took the win and second place respectively after Bridewell had made up half the grid at the restart, before the red flag, to then make up the rest of the grid on the 3^rd restart. Lee Jackson returning to the winning step of the podium for the first time since his earlier win at Oulton Park back in the summer.

Race 2 Results – Jackson, Bridewell, Ray, Glenn Irwin, Buchan, Haslam, Sykes, Brookes, Andrew Irwin, Hickman, Stacey, Kent, Vickers, Takahashi, Mizuno, Jeacock, Delves.

DNF – O’Halloran, Mackenzie, Harrison, Rouse, Ryde, Neave, Owens, Iddon, Skinner.

Race 3

It was announced by McAMS Yamaha that a battered and bruised Jason O’Halloran would not take part in the remaining race of the day. Oulton Park, 3- Jason O’Halloran, 0. Race 3 turned out to be a very tame affair and the surprise came in the form of a battle for the win between Honda Racing UK’s Glenn Irwin and Oxford Products Tommy Bridewell, with Bridewell claiming the victory. Another great result for Race 3 was the addition of Tom Sykes and his MCE Ducati making it into the top 6, not more than a handful of seconds from the winners. In race three the temperature had dropped significantly and with the news that his closest rivals weren’t taking part in the remaining race, it seemed Brad Ray could also ensure he had a solid finish to a chaotic race meeting.

Race 3 Results – Bridewell, Glenn Irwin, Jackson, Buchan, Ray, Sykes, Hickman, Brookes, Ryde, Kent, Stacey, Andrew Irwin, Vickers, Haslam, Harrison, Takahashi, Rouse, Owens, Jeacock, Mizuno.

DNF – O’Halloran (Did not Start) Mackenzie (Did not start) Delves, Neave, Iddon (Did not start) Skinner (Did not start).

The overall championship has been turned on its head. McAMS Yamaha have dropped down the order to be replaced by Tommy Bridewell, Lee Jackson and Glenn Irwin, however Bradley Ray has extended his championship lead from the 13 points he had on O’Halloran coming into Oulton Park, to 40 points over Tommy Bridewell in 2^nd place overall.

Tommy Bridewell, Oxford Products Ducati – Image courtesy of Official BSB

Donington Park this weekend. Who will take the second round of the Showdown in their stride and come out on the other side leading the championship?

26th September 2022

Round 8 WorldSBK, Catalunya, Spain, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), claim his second win of the weekend, followed by the factory Kawasaki team mates of Rea, and Lowes respectively.

WSBK Round 8 25.09.2022 Picture courtesy of Pata Yamaha Brixx

Lights out for race 2, and it was Bautista with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by his team mate Rinaldi, Rea and Toprak (Pata Yamaha). Then early drama as first, Lowes had a high speed crash into turn 10, looking like he lost the front of his Kawasaki. Then Redding (BMW Motorrad), had a brutal looking crash into the last corner. They were both extremely quick corners, and both riders were lucky to walk away.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rinaldi 3. Rea 4. Toprak 5. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 6. Vierge (Honda HRC) 7. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha 8. Lecuona (Honda HRC).

With 18 laps to go, Bassani was looking aggressive early on, and cut up the inside of Toprak to take 4th. An amazing start from the young Italian who started from 13th on the grid. As in race 1, the ex MotoGP rider, Lecouna, was looking quick, and set a fastest lap in 8th position. Meanwhile Rea was desperately trying to maintain contact with the Ducati team mates leading the race.

Next lap and Rea decided to make his move on Rinaldi into turn 1, out braking the Italian initially, before Rinaldi snapped straight back to keep the position. Meanwhile at the front Bautista was finding his groove again, and set the new fastest lap of 1:42.405, and was quickly disappearing down the track. Drama then for Locatelli as he crashed out of the race into turn 10, his race was over.

With 16 laps to go Bassani out braked Rea into turn 1 to move into 3rd, Rea now demoted to 4th. Bautista had now extended the gap to his team mate in 2nd to 1.9s, and set a new fastest lap of 1:42.279 in the process. Meanwhile further back it was Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) 11th, Vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) 13th and Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) 14th.

With 14 laps remaining out of 21, the group of Rinaldi 2nd, Bassani 3rd, Rea 4th, and Toprak 5th, had pulled away from the rest of the field. Bassani continued his aggressive start and moved through on Rinaldi to take 2nd. Toprak held a gap of 1.6s to the group of Vierge behind in 6th.

With 12 laps to go, as in race 1, Bautista was showing no signs of slowing down, and increased his lead to 4.1s. Rea now in 4th was keen to get past Rinaldi, but with the Ducati’s acceleration it made pulling off a move difficult. Rea lined up the Ducati into turn 10, and made the move stick this time. Rinaldi then retook the lead down the long straight, and into turn 1, using the power of the Ducati to blow past the Kawasaki ZX 10-RR.

Just over half race distance, and Rea getting increasingly frustrated ran hot into turn 1, allowing Toprak to come through and take 4th. Rinaldi was finding extra pace in the second half of the race, and retook 2nd getting past Bassani, who himself seemed to be struggling with rear grip.

Next lap and after his podium in race 1, Gerloff went down into turn 2. Not having as good a performance, and his race was over. Further back positions were as follows: 6. Vierge 7. Lecuona 8. Oetll (GoEleven Ducati) 9. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 10. Bernardi (Barni Racing).

With 8 laps to go Toprak was managing his tyre wear better, and cut under Bassani to take over 3rd. Then as Gerloff did in race 1, Rea pulled off an audacious move into turn 1 out braking both Bassani, and Toprak to move into 3rd. Rinaldi held a gap of 0.9s to Rea behind.

With only 5 laps remaining, tyre wear issues were a major factor for everyone. With both Rinaldi, and Bassani losing ground, Rinaldi in particular was now getting reeled in by Rea. Then big mistake for Rea as he ran hot into turn 7, and rejoined back in 5th. Positions at the front were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rinaldi 3. Toprak 4. Bassani 5. Rea.

With 3 laps to go Rinaldi had recovered well, and was maintaining a gap of 0.7s to Toprak behind in 3rd. Rea moved into 4th getting past Bassani who was still suffering with grip issues. Further back positions were as follows: 6. Vierge 7. Oetll 8. Lecuona. Bautista was completely dominating the race and was now an unassailable 10s ahead of everyone, and had the win in the bag, unless affected by a mechanical issue.

WSBK Round 8 25.09.2022 Picture courtesy of KRT_WorldSBK

Last lap, and Bautista crossed the line to take a hat trick of wins across the weekend, followed by his team mate in 2nd. And that result is also the first manufacturer 1/2 of the season. Toprak 3rd, Rea 4th, Bassani 5th, Vierge 6th, Oettl 7th, Lecuona 8th, Baz 9th.

A completely dominant set of results across the weekend for Bautista, and he had done serious damage to his title rivals hopes of catching him, with only 4 rounds left in the season.

Result top 5:

Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati)
Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati)
Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 394
Razgatlioglu – 335
Rea – 327

25th September 202226th September 2022

Round 8 WorldSBK, Catalunya, Spain, Race 1

Superpole saw the rookie, Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC), claim his maiden WorldSBK pole with an unbeaten lap of 1:40.766. The Kawasaki team mates of Lowes, and Rea, were in 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Lights out for race 1, and it was Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), with an amazing start to get the hole shot, after only qualifying in 5th. The same couldn’t be said for Rea who got nudged out wide by Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati), and then almost got taken out by Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), the Italian himself also going wide. The Northern Irishman found himself down in 9th after that dust up. It was Toprak (Pata Yamaha) in 2nd, with Lowes trailing behind in 3rd. Drama also for Oettl (GoEleven Ducati) who went down, his race was over.

Next lap and positions were as follows; 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Lowes 4. Rinaldi 5. Lecuona 6. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 7. Rea 8. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) 9. Locatelli 10. Redding (BMW Motorrad). Lecuona then got dropped a further place, after Bassani came through to take 5th, the pole man finding himself in 6th. Drama then for Bernardi (Barni Racing Team), who got taken out by Vd Mark (BMW Motorrad), and his race was over, Vd Mark stayed on track.

With 18 laps to go, Redding, who was not having a good start to his weekend crashed out, the BMW ploughed into the gravel, and his race was over. Bautista was already applying the pressure out in front, and was putting down some quick lap times. Lecuona had regained some composure after his bad start, and was now up to 4th, Bassani, and Rea were behind in 5th, and 6th respectively.

Next lap and Bautista was continuing his relentless pace, he set a new fastest lap of 1:41.926. Toprak was trying to stay in contact, with the gap now 0.4s to the Spaniard ahead. These leading two were already pulling away from Lowes behind in 3rd. Rea was still in 6th, and was desperate to make up positions, as he could see his title rivals disappearing down the track.

With 15 laps remaining, Lecuona moved through on Lowes to take 3rd. Bautista increased his gap over Toprak to 0.7s. Meanwhile further back, Rea who had been lining up Bassani, made his move into turn 10, trying to cut up the inside, however Bassani snapped straight back immediately and shut the door. Rea was growing increasingly frustrated to be so far back.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista now had a gap of just over 1s to Toprak, and showed no signs of letting up the ferocious pace. Meanwhile there was now a 4 way battle for 5th, between Bassani, Rea 6th, Locatelli 7th, and Gerloff 8th.

Next lap and Rea once again lined up Bassani, this time down the long straight, and into turn 1, the move stuck this time, and Bassani had no answer as Rea dived up the inside to take 5th. Rea was now behind his team mate, and had massive work to do in order to limit the points deficit to his title rivals.

With 11 laps remaining, Vd Mark, who had had an earlier altercation with Bernardi, was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue, and that was both factory BMW riders out now, a bad start to the weekend for them. Toprak was struggling to keep contact with Bautista, and the gap was out to 1.6s. Meanwhile further back Locatelli made a pass on Bassani into turn 6, cutting up the inside of his Italian compatriot. Bassani responded a few corners on into turn 9, and retook the position. Locatelli who was having an eventful race, then ran out wide for the second time, and managed to rejoin in 9th. It was; 6. Bassani 7. Gerloff 8. Rinaldi 9. Locatelli.

Next lap and Lowes had a gap of 0.5s to his team mate behind in 5th. Would we see team orders come into play? Meanwhile out in the lead Bautista now had a commanding 2.5s lead over Toprak, who seemed to be struggling with tyre grip. The Turk was 3.5s ahead of Lecuona in 3rd. Further back it was; 12. Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW), 13. Mahias (Puccetti Racing Kawasaki), and 15. Nozane (GRT Yamaha).

With 8 laps remaining, Rea was still trailing his team mate by 0.5s. Toprak continued to lose his advantage, and was now only 2.3s ahead of Lecuona in 3rd. Meanwhile further back, Gerloff pulled off an audacious move into turn 1, taking both Bassani, and Rinaldi, and cut through into 6th. Locatelli was still in 9th.

Michael Rinaldi – Barcellona WSBk 2022. Image courtesy of Ducati

With 7 laps to go, Rinaldi was finding extra pace on the Ducati, and barged through on Bassani into the last corner to take 7th. Meanwhile Lecuona continued to reel in Toprak, the gap closing all the time, the harder tyres were paying off for Lecuona. It didn’t appear to be team orders, but Rea did come through on Lowes to take 4th.

Next lap and Rea continued his late race charge to the front, out braking Lecuona into turn 1 to take over 3rd. Rea was now only 1.6s behind Toprak, and you wonder what could have been, had he not had the bad start. Meanwhile out in the lead, and with the hammer firmly down, Bautista was now leading by 5.9s, and that you felt would be enough to claim the win.

With 5 laps to go, Toprak continued to drop back like a stone, and was now only 1.1s ahead of Rea. The R1 had grip issues, and the rear was spinning up out of every corner now. There was now a 3 way battle for 4th between Lecuona, Lowes, and Gerloff. Meanwhile at the front Bautista increased his lead to 7.5s.

Next lap and again Gerloff pulled off another audacious move into turn 1, again taking two riders to move into 4th, this time its Lecuona, and Lowes. The Texan was having one of his best races of the season so far. Rea made an easy pass under Toprak into the long turn 4, to move into 2nd, with his lack of grip Toprak couldn’t respond.

With 3 laps to go Gerloff dived under Toprak, again into turn 1 to take 3rd. Meanwhile further back, Rinaldi continued to make up positions late in the race, this time moving up to 6th after getting through on Lecuona.

Next lap and Toprak continued to drop back, and Rinaldi was able to move through on him into turn 10. Positions were as follows; 4. Rinaldi 5. Toprak 6. Lecuona 7. Lowes 8. Bassani 9. Locatelli.

Alvaro Bautista winner of race one at Barcellona wsbk 2022. Image Courtesy of Ducati

Last lap and Bautista had extended his lead to an unassailable 10.5s. Gerloff had caught Rea, and was looking for a way past. Bautista crossed the line to take the win, Rea managed to hold off Gerloff to take 2nd, while Gerloff gets 3rd. Rinaldi 4th, Toprak 5th, Lecuona 6th, Lowes 7th, Bassani 8th, Locatelli 9th, and a respectable top 10 for Laverty.

A dominant victory for Bautista, who maybe had a point to make, after the spat between himself and Rea.

Result top 5:

Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati)
Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
Gerloff (GRT Yamaha)
Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati)
Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 357 pts
Razgatlioglu – 313
Rea – 305

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati

23rd September 2022

Extreme E: RXR With Chance to Seal Title in Chile

RXR are in with a chance of claiming their second Extreme E title this weekend as the off-road series heads to Chile for the penultimate round of the year.

RXR, who won the first Extreme E teams’ title last year, go into the weekend with a 32 point gap between them and closest rivals Chip Ganassi.

There are six other teams who are still mathematically able to win the title: Acciona Sainz, X44, Xite Energy, Andretti United, JBXE, and McLaren.

To win the title this weekend regardless of where their rivals finish, RXR need to finish the weekend on the top step of the podium – something they’ve done five out of the eight races in Extreme E’s history.

Here’s the minimum each team needs to stay in the title battle:

If RXR finish	Chip Ganassi Need	AccionaSainz Need	X44 Need	Xite EnergyNeed	AndrettiUnited Need	JBXE need	McLaren need
1st*	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out
1st	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out
2nd*	1st	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out	Out
2nd	1st or 3rd*	1st or 2nd*	1st or 2nd*	Out	Out	Out	Out
3rd*	1st	1st	1st	Out	Out	Out	Out
3rd	2nd or 4th*	2nd or 3rd*	1st or 3rd*	Out	Out	Out	Out
4th*	1st	1st	1st	Out	Out	Out	Out
4th	3rd or 5th*	3rd or 5th*	3rd or 4th*	1st*	1st*	Out	Out
5th*	2nd	2nd	1st	Out	Out	Out	Out
5th	4th or 6th*	3rd or 6th*	3rd or 5th*	1st*	1st*	Out	Out
6th*	3rd	2nd	2nd	Out	Out	Out	Out
6th	5th or 7th*	4th or 7th*	4th or 6th*	1st*	1st*	Out	Out
7th*	3rd	3rd	3rd	Out	Out	Out	Out
7th	6th or 8th*	5th or 8th*	5th or 7th*	1st	1st	1st*	Out
8th*	4th	4th	3rd	Out	Out	Out	Out
8th	7th or 10th*	6th or 9th*	6th or 8th*	1st or 2nd*	1st or 2nd*	1st*	1st*
9th*	5th	5th	6th	1st	1st	Out	Out
9th	8th or *	7th or *	7th or 10th*	1st or 3rd*	1st or 3rd*	1st*	1st*
10th*	6th	5th	5th	1st	1st	Out	Out
10th	8th or *	8th or *	7th or *	1st or 3rd*	1st or 3rd*	1st	1st*
DSQ	9th or *	8th or *	8th or *	2nd or 3rd*	2nd or 3rd*	1st	1st*

*Additional five points for fastest time through the Continental Traction Challenge

Legacy Programme:

In every location Extreme E visits a legacy programme is set up to help local communities who are impacted by climate change.

This weekend is no different, with the focus of the legacy programme for Chile being on tackling biodiversity loss.

Extreme E is set to work with National Santiago Zoo to prepare habitats and reintroduce the Loa Frog in Calama.

18th September 2022

Aragon = All-out Action!

Qualifying:

Big news of the weekend is that Marc Marquez (Honda) is finally back, after his surgery which was a complete success this time around. He had some work to do to try and get through to Q2 but, yellow flags hampered him and he narrowly missed out going through to Q2, meaning he would start 13^th on Sunday.

It was also a warm welcome back to British racer Cal Crutchlow, who will be racing for the rest of the season in Andrea Dovisiozo’s place at Yamaha.

Good news for Ducati though as it was a lock-out on the front-row for them. Francesco Bagnaia took pole with an all-time lap record – 1:46.69, from current teammate Jack Miller and next year’s teammate Enea Bastianini.

Race:

Sunshine was beaming and the anticipation was bubbling along nicely.

It was all action from lights out – Bagnaia remained in the lead from Miller and Bastianini. While Marquez had made an impressive start and was up into 6^th place by turn 2, when suddenly championship leader Fabio Quartararo rode into the rear wheel of Marquez, propelling him from his Yamaha and flying him across the track, lucky not to get caught up in other riders behind him, he recovered on the side of the track. (A medical update later revealed that he had numerous burns to his chest – we wish him a speedy recovery). With this one sudden moment, the championship was flung wide-open!

Fabio’s crash. Courtesy of: Moto GP footage

A few moments later Marquez was checking his Honda as there was some of Fabio’s Yamaha lodged in the rear of it when Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) nudged him, sending Nakagami also into the line of on-coming bikes and then into the gravel. Quick reactions from the riders behind meant no further collisions were caused. (Medical updates later confirmed Nakagami is doing well but has visited the medical centre, we wish him a speedy recovery also).

Nakagami incident. Courtesy of: Moto GP BT Sport footage

The action wasn’t over yet though as Marquez’s bike started to smoke from the rear, the Yamaha parts that had gotten lodged in the bike must have damaged his rear wheel. He was forced to retire from his first race back in 2022.

Back at the front, Bastianini went backwards to 4^th place, but he had also taken fastest lap.

Bagnaia led Miller, Brad Binder (KTM) and Bastianini onto lap 3 of 23. Bastianini wasn’t hanging around though and soon re-took 3^rd from Binder. He knew he couldn’t let the factory Ducati’s get away.

Bagnaia leads the way. Courtesy of: Moto GP wesbite

The race pace settled down after the excitement of the opening laps as Bagnaia created a lead of 0.457 seconds ahead of his teammate with 18 laps to go.

Bastianini had plans to thwart Bagnaia’s lead though and soon had passed Miller to take 2^nd. The gap between himself and his future teammate was 0.700 seconds, knowing he had to hunt him down – he got to work.

Miller’s race meanwhile, was going from bad to worse as Binder also passed him as did Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) moments after, putting him back to 5^th place.

With 16 laps to go Bagnaia was still in control, leading Bastianini, Binder and Espargaro.

The gap between the two front Italians had decreased further to 0.412 seconds. Would Bastianini dare challenge Bagnaia for the lead? Ducati had announced prior to the race that their riders are “free to race” so what would he decide?

By lap 9 the gap between the pair had closed dramatically and Bastianini did indeed pass the Duke to take the lead. It was a short-loved lead though as he soon went wide, meaning Bagnaia could re-take the lead with ease. He then made a small mistake on the next corner, nearly letting Binder also take a place from him, fortunately he remained in second, but all his hard work had come undone. The gap between him and the leader was back to 0.786 seconds. He wasn’t going to be perturbed though.

Bastianini was on a mission, not letting the number 63 get away he started to claw the gap back. Meanwhile, behind him Binder was being hunted down by Espargaro.

By lap 16 of 23, gapping was appearing between the leading four riders: Bagania’s lead was 0.745 seconds ahead of Bastianini, who’s gap between him and Binder was 1.579 seconds, who’s gap between Binder and Espargaro was 0.405 seconds.

In 14^th place – British Yamaha test-rider Cal Crutchlow was remaining in the points, currently higher than any place Dovi had managed to collect this year.

Cal Crutchlow. Courtesy of: Moto GP website

Back at the front the action was becoming tense. With only 6 laps until the chequered flag the gap between Bagnaia and “The Beast” had dropped and Bastianini was very close to the rear of Pecco.

With 4 laps till the end: Crutchlow passed Vinales to take 13^th, Espargaro closed the gap between himself and Binder (to 0.193 seconds) and Bastianini started getting tempted to pass his future teammate.

Would he actually do it? Could he actually do it? There weren’t many laps left to make a decision.

The gap between the two Ducati’s was 0.193 seconds as Bastianini seemed to be testing a corner to pass Bagnaia on. Deciding against it, audiences had to hold their breath.

Espargaro though, decided enough is enough sitting behind Binder and passed him to take the last podium position.

The next lap Bastianini did another tempting move but again decided against it. Was he going to try a pass on Bagnaia?

Last lap:

Baganaia led Bastianini onto turn 1 –

turn 2 –

turn 3 –

turn 4 –

turn 5 and turn 6 but, turn 7 saw a surprise move from Bastianini which saw him re-take the lead at Aragon. Bagnaia had little response to it. The last corner/ the short start-finish straight was his last chance, but it was not to be.

Bastianini claimed his 4^th victory for 2022, with Bagnaia extremely close behind.

Top ten finishers:

1st	E. Bastianini
2nd	F. Bagnaia
3rd	A. Espargaro
4th	B. Binder
5th	J. Miller
6th	J. Martin
7th	L. Marini
8th	J. Zarco
9th	A. Rins
10th	M. Bezzecchi

Surprising turn of events for round 15 sees the championship blow wide-open:

Top four championship standings:

1st	F. Quartararo	211 points
2nd	F. Bagnaia	201 points
3rd	A. Espargaro	194 points
4th	E. Bastianini	163 points

Now only 10 points between Fabio and Pecco and 17 points between Aleix and first place.

With a 1, 2 in the bag for this round, Ducati had more to celebrate as they became the 2022 Constructors World Champions!

What could possibly happen next time in Motegi, Japan? Be sure to join in with the action on Sunday 25^th September.

(Featured image. Courtesy of: Enea Bastianini Twitter page)

Thank you for your service. May you rest in peace. Courtesy of: Google Images.

11th September 2022

Verstappen defies grid penalty to take Italian GP victory

MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 11: Sergio Perez of Mexico driving the (11) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB18 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Italy at Autodromo Nazionale Monza on September 11, 2022 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202209110582 // Usage for editorial use only //

Max Verstappen secured his fifth victory in a row and his eleventh this season to spoil the Ferrari party at Monza, despite starting in seventh after receiving an engine penalty.

The Red Bull driver and reigning champion was able to make his strategy work superbly, finishing ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell, with the race finishing behind the safety car after Daniel Ricciardo’s late retirement.

But once again the story at the front of the race was about the dominance of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. He was over 15 seconds ahead of Leclerc before the safety car was deployed, and now moves level with Nigel Mansell in joint-seventh on the all-time winners list with 31 victories. Verstappen is now 116 points ahead of Leclerc, and can now secure the championship at the next race in Singapore.

Verstappen started moving up the field straight away, getting a good start to take fifth into turn one, later overtaking Gasly into Ascari, and Ricciardo on the run down the start-finish straight to take third on lap two. George Russell tried to take the lead around the outside into the first chicane, but was never far enough alongside to make it work and had to take to the escape road.

It was clear Russell wouldn’t be able to hold onto second for long, and by lap five Verstappen had made his way up into second place. Things stayed that way until lap twelve, when a retirement for Sebastian Vettel caused a virtual safety car, and Ferrari gambled on bringing Leclerc in from the lead, putting him on to a new set of medium tyres.

The original plan was to keep him on these until the end of the race, but it became clear after Verstappen’s stop on lap 25 that Leclerc would not have the pace to take the victory on this strategy. Ferrari brought Leclerc in for fresh softs on lap 33, but had barely gained any time on Verstappen by the time the safety car was deployed for Ricciardo’s retirement.

The Australian had spent most of the race at the head of a DRS train, with the overtaking aid being relatively ineffective here due to the low-drag setups used by the teams. The only driver who seemed to be able to make any moves in the train in the opening stages was Carlos Sainz, overtaking cars lap after lap into the Rettifilo chicane to move into fourth by lap 20. Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton, who also started further back, didn’t have as much luck at moving through the field in the early stages. Mercedes’ lack of straight line speed meant Lewis spent many laps behind Yuki Tsunoda, whereas Perez pitted on lap seven for fresh hard tyres, with the Mexican’s brakes catching fire as he exited the pits. Thankfully though, he was able to continue.

Hamilton had much more luck overtaking in his second stint, with the Brit able to move onto the soft tyres rather than the hards after superbly looking after the mediums in the first half of the race. One particular highlight was a switchback on Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly out of the Rettifilo as the two cars focused on each other – a situation that Norris wouldn’t have found himself in if it wasn’t for a slow pitstop. Hamilton ended up fifth after Perez pitted late on for soft tyres, with the Red Bull coming home sixth with the fastest lap.

Norris ended up recovering to finish best of the rest once again in seventh place, as McLaren look to close in on Alpine for fourth in the championship. It was a bad day for the French outfit, with Esteban Ocon failing to score, and Fernando Alonso retiring on the day he equaled Kimi Raikkonen as the most experienced Formula One driver of all time. Haas and Aston Martin also failed to score points, with Stroll joining Vettel in retirement, whereas Haas once again struggled with pace on a low downforce circuit.

Pierre Gasly came home in eighth, with Nyck de Vries superbly holding on to tenth (which became ninth after Ricciardo’s retirement). The former F2 and FE champion soaked up the pressure that was being applied from Zhou Guanyu throughout the race – and perhaps gave Williams something else to think about as they look to lock in their driver line-up for 2023. It is possible that we will see de Vries again in Singapore, depending on how quickly Albon recovers from his appendectomy. Zhou did take the final point for tenth, scoring his and Alfa Romeo’s first points since the Canadian GP in June.

A season which promised so much in terms of a title battle seems to be ending in a dominant display. Verstappen will surely become a two-time world champion, and with regulations remaining stable until 2026, he could well add many more to that tally. Winning this season is obviously his main goal, but the record of thirteen wins in a season (currently held by Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel) has never looked more fragile.

11th September 2022

Round 7 WorldSBK, Magny-Cours, France, Race 2

The Superpole race saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim the win, followed by Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) and Rea (KRT Kawasaki) respectively.

With the track temperature nearing 40 degrees Celsius for race 2, the action on track would surely be heating up too.

Lights out for race 2, and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn 1, followed closely by Bautista and Rea. As was the case in race 1, Bautista used the power of the Ducati to blast into the lead down the back straight, Toprak didn’t have an answer. Then Rea dived into 2nd place, looking aggressive early on. Lowes (KRT Kawasaki) got pushed out wide, and dropped down into 6th. Then massive drama as Rea took out the championship leader, sending Bautista flailing into the gravel. Rea caught him on the inside into turn 13, and the two bikes bumped into each other. There was nothing Bautista could do about that, and his race was over.

WorldSBK Magny Cours 11.09.2022 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 3. Rea 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5. Lowes. Then Bassani takes the lead making a great move on Toprak, and sets the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.000. Positions were changing, by numerous riders, every corner in a chaotic start to the race.

With 17 laps remaining, Rea got a long lap penalty for the incident with Bautista. Positions were as follows: 1. Bassani 2. Toprak 3. Rinaldi 4. Lowes 5. Rea 6. Redding (BMW Motorrad) 7. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 8. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 9. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) 10. Lecuona (Honda HRC).

With 15 laps left, Bassani was having one of his best races of the season so far, and doing his best at keeping the world champion at bay behind in 2nd. The leading trio of Bassani, Toprak and Rinaldi had now pulled away from the rest. Rea took his penalty, and rejoined in 7th, in front of Baz 8th and Gerloff in 9th. The gap from Rinaldi in 3rd to Lowes in 4th was 1.2s, and Lowes held a gap of 1.4s to Redding behind in 5th. Rinaldi then makes an audacious move and moved from 3rd into the lead, taking both Bassani and Toprak. Toprak snapped back and took 2nd, while Bassani got forced into 3rd.

With 13 laps to go, Lowes had clawed his way back onto the leading group. Rea had moved up to 6th, and was in front of Locatelli in 7th.

Next lap and Vierge (Honda HRC), went down into turn 13, his race was over. Rinaldi was holding his own out in the lead, and so far was managing to keep Toprak at bay. Toprak however, was getting quicker lap by lap, and set a new fastest lap of 1:36.8. Bassani held a gap of 0.4s to Lowes behind in 4th. Meanwhile further back it was Mahias (Puccetti Kawasaki) 12th, and Nozane (GRT Yamaha) 14th.

Just over half race distance, and Redding in 5th held a gap of 1.7s to Rea in 6th. Bassani was struggling to keep contact with Rinaldi and Toprak, both had pulled away.

With 8 laps to go, Toprak eventually made his move, and came through on Rinaldi to retake the lead.

With 6 laps remaining, Toprak had pulled out the gap to 0.4s to Rinaldi, who then ran too hot into turn 11, the Chicane, running straight through, and losing time in the process. The gap to Toprak in the lead was now up to 0.8s.

Next lap and Rea moved up into 5th after Redding ran wide. Further back there was a three way battle for 7th between Locatelli, Gerloff 8th and Baz 9th.

With 3 laps to go, Toprak now held a gap of 0.7s to Rinaldi in 2nd, Bassani was in 3rd, Lowes 4th, and Rea in 5th.

Last lap, and Toprak crossed the line to take his 2nd win of the weekend. Rinaldi took 2nd, and Bassani took 3rd, to claim his 2nd podium of the weekend. Lowes 4th, Rea 5th, Redding 6th, Locatelli 7th, Gerloff 8th, Baz 9th, and Lecuona 10th.

Result top 5:

Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati)
Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati)
Lowes (KRT Kawasaki)
Rea (KRT Kawasaki)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 332
Razgatlioglu – 302
Rea – 285

10th September 2022

Leclerc pleases home fans with Italian GP pole

Charles Leclerc delighted the Tifosi to take his eighth pole position of the season at Monza, with George Russell securing a front-row start after penalties for other drivers.

Leclerc beats Verstappen to pole at Ferrari’s home race. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton rounded out the fastest five in qualifying, but penalties for the quartet behind Leclerc drop them to fourth, eighteenth, tenth and nineteenth respectively. This has promoted the British duo of George Russell into second and McLaren’s Lando Norris into third place, on what will be a poignant weekend for the many Brits associated with Formula One after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Leclerc took advantage of a tow from Norris to go fastest with his final run in Q3, setting a 1:20.161 for his second pole position at Monza, and his seventeenth overall. Verstappen was a tenth and a half behind but will be confident that the Red Bull’s superior race pace can take him to an eleventh victory of the season.

First qualifying started in baking hot conditions in Monza, and there were plenty of drivers struggling to find grip in the early stages, as Mick Schumacher and Lance Stroll both had to react quickly to prevent their cars from spinning on their first runs. It was Ferrari who set the early pace, but with degradation extremely low around a circuit with very-few high load corners, drivers could stay out there for lap after lap – with Max Verstappen eventually going quicker than the Ferraris on his fourth run.

Vettel out in Q1 again. Image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 media

Haas were left wishing they had time to get even more runs in, as both drivers struggled to stay on track in the latter stages of the session. Kevin Magnussen had two laps deleted for track limits as he qualified nineteenth (sixteenth after penalties), ahead of his teammate Mick Schumacher, who went straight on at the Rettifilo chicane. Joining the Haas’ on the sidelines for Q2 was Nicolas Latifi, whose chances of retaining his seat will have taken a knock after being out-qualified by Nyck de Vries on debut, and the Aston Martin pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll.

Due to the nature of the Monza circuit, no one wants to be out on track first and give the rest of the field a handy slipstream on their hot laps. Once cars began to make their way out onto the circuit, it was Ferrari who again set the pace, despite Leclerc needing a second lap on his first run after locking up at Turn One.

Alpha Tauri decided not to bother sending Yuki Tsunoda out in Q2, with the Japanese driver having multiple driving and power-unit penalties, consigning him to a back of the grid start tomorrow. Only Daniel Ricciardo managed to pull himself out of the bottom five after the first runs, securing his first Q3 appearance since the summer break.

Esteban Ocon, Valtteri Bottas, Nyck de Vries, Zhou Guanyu and Tsunoda were the drivers to miss out in Q2, with de Vries having a major moment on the brakes into the second chicane, on what was a promising debut for the Dutch driver. Starting eighth tomorrow, in a car that is notoriously slippery in a straight line, it wouldn’t be a major surprise to see him score points on his F1 debut.

De Vries made it into Q2 on his first qualifying outing in F1. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

The first runs in Q3 saw Carlos Sainz go fastest, with his teammate Leclerc slotting in just behind, as the drivers alternated who would get the benefit of the tow. This proved to be the decisive factor on the final laps, with Leclerc’s double slipstream from Sainz and Norris potentially giving him the edge.

Daniel Ricciardo was eighth fastest and will start from fifth around the circuit where he took victory twelve months ago. Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso will start sixth and seventh, having both been caught out with track limits in the final qualifying session and failing to get a time on the board.

Ferrari has removed some upgrades from their car for Monza, and these changes look to have had the desired effect, certainly in qualifying. However, Leclerc has failed to convert any of his last five pole positions into a victory, with the Monegasque driver needing to end this streak tomorrow if he wants to keep his slim championship hopes alive.

10th September 2022

Round 7 WorldSBK, Magny-Cours, France, Race 1

Superpole saw Rea (KRT Kawasaki) take top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:36.124, followed by Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha), and Redding (BMW Motorrad) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Conditions were perfect for Race 1, with Toprak opting to go with a harder front tyre, while most of the grid chose a softer option.

WorldSBK Magny Cours 10.09.2022 Bautista – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Lights out for race 1, and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn one, followed by Redding, Rea and Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati). Lowes (KRT Kawasaki) in particular, was looking quite aggressive early doors. With his hard front tyre yet to get up to race temperature, Toprak ran wide and allowed Redding to come through and snatch the lead.

Next lap and both Toprak, and Rea came through on Redding, the Brit getting barged down into 3rd. And then in the space of a one lap, massive drama as first Rea goes down into the last chicane turn 17, looking like he clipped the curb on the exit. A few corners later, and Toprak appeared as if he could not get his Yamaha R1 stopped into turn 13, with the rear violently snapping around. It could have been a nasty crash, but with the skill of a world champ he was able to rejoin the race in 23rd. Rea was not as lucky, his ZX-10RR needed to have work done on it, and went back to the garage.

Bautista was now in 2nd behind Redding, and could no doubt scarcely believe his luck, with his two main title rivals both going out.

With 17 laps remaining positions were as follows: 1. Redding 2. Bautista 3. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 4. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 5. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 6. Lowes 7. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha).

Next lap and Bautista had closed the gap to Redding, and was looking for a way past. The gap behind to Baz in 3rd was now 1.4s. With the power, and in particular the aggressive acceleration of the Ducati, Redding was battling to keep Bautista at bay. The Spaniard does eventually come through on Redding, snapping under him to take over the lead. Further back it was the Honda HRC team mates of Lecuona and Vierge in 8th, and 9th respectively, Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 12th, and Toprak was in 23rd.

On lap 9 of 21, Bautista ran wide, and allowed Redding to close the gap. Meanwhile behind in 3rd, Baz was struggling to keep contact with the leading two, and had now been caught by Bassani and Rinaldi.

Rea managed to get back out on track after his bike was repaired, and was obviously trying to get a few more laps of racing in, although any chance of scoring points was now out of the question. Meanwhile at the front, there was now a three way scrap for 3rd, with both Bassani and Rinaldi keen to claim a podium. Further back it was Gerloff and Lowes in 6th, and 7th respectively.

With 10 laps to go, Rinaldi made his move, and dived under Bassani to take 4th. And with the pressure mounting behind, Baz crashed out and into the gravel, his race was over. Meanwhile at the front, Bautista was now finding his groove, and set the new fastest lap of the race of a 1:36.715, increasing his lead over Redding to 1.2s.

With 8 laps remaining, Rinaldi over shot turn 1 and flew across the gravel, although he was able to stay upright and rejoin the race in 8th. Meanwhile at the front Bautista continued to increase his lead, with the gap now 1.5s to Redding. Incredibly, Toprak was now up to 14th, after scything through the back end of the field, and was in point scoring contention.

Next lap, and Bautista as usually happens on the Ducati, was finding extra pace in the second half of the race, and the gap had increased to 1.6s to Redding. Gerloff was having a decent race in 4th, as too was Lecuona further back in 6th.

With 4 laps to go, Locatelli had moved up from 12th, and was now in 9th. Gerloff was all over the back of Lowes in 4th, and looking for a way past, although the Brit was having a decent race himself, and rode aggressively as he had all race. Postions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Redding 3. Bassani 4. Lowes 5. Gerloff.

Next lap and Bautista was looking comfortable out in the lead, with a gap of now almost 3s to Redding. Vierge looked to be having some trouble as he was steadily losing places, and was now down in 13th.

Final lap, and Bautista crossed the line to take the win, followed by Redding who had one of his best races of the season so far. Bassani 3rd, Lowes 4th, Gerloff 5th, Rinaldi 6th, Locatelli 7th, Oettl (GoEleven Ducati), 8th, Lecuona 9th, Mahias (Puccetti Kawaski) 10th. Toprak 11th.

Result top 5:

Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati)
Redding (BMW Motorrad)
Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati)
Lowes (KRT Kawaski)
Gerloff (GRT Yamaha)

Championship top 3:

Bautista – 323
Rea – 267
Razgatioglu – 265

Feature image courtesy of WorldSBK