Tag: Le Mans

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MotoGP: Martin Wins Stunning Race in Le Mans

Le Man is a circuit full of history and prestige. Today, it delivered a stunning race as we watch a phenomenal season unfold in front of us.

Jorge Martin will be leaving France with both a medal and a trophy, after claiming a double victory in Le Mans. He has taken a stunning win which showcased both his speed and his intelligence. At the start of the race, he slotted in behind Pecco Bagnaia and stayed close on his tail, letting Bagnaia dictate the pace whilst he calculated and weighed up his options, before making the move on lap 21.

Despite leading for those 21 laps today, Bagnaia ended up settling for 3rd. He was also bested by Marc Marquez on the very final lap of the race, as he recreated yesterday’s amazing result with another 2nd place today – the perfect gift for Gresini’s 1,000th race. However, it was a much trickier race than yesterday’s sprint for Marquez as he fought his way through the grid and found himself involved in numerous battles with the likes of Enea Bastianini, Maverick Vinales and Fabio DiGiannantonio.

Pedro Acosta, the only rookie on the grid this year, has ended his points scoring run with a DNF today. He made an aggressive move when fighting for 3rd place with Aleix Espargaro and DiGiannantonio – three into one at turn 8 was never going to end well!

It was a promising day for home hero Fabio Quartararo – he has been much more on the pace throughout this weekend but sadly crashed out halfway through the race. He and the crowd alike were visibly disappointed but there are plenty of promising signs to take away from today.

Image Credit: MotoGP
AS IT HAPPENED

Compared to yesterday’s sprint race, today’s feature race started under slightly cooler conditions, with the wind picking up. But it could have been worse – We were predicted rain today, but that thankfully didn’t appear.

As the lights went out, Pecco Bagnaia was quick to jump to the front of the grid, having started in 2nd. It was another good start for Marc Marquez, but not quite as impressive as yesterday – today, he gained 5 places in the opening corners, leaping up to 8th.

It was a difficult start for both Marco Bezzecchi and Maverick Vinales. Bezzecchi’s front tire jumped up on the start line and left him vulnerable to the rest of the grid who swallowed him, leaving him in 9th – 4 places down on his starting position. Vinales went deep into turn 1 and was forced to go very wide. He journeyed in to the run off area and rejoined the field in 5th, losing 2 places.

So as the grid finished the first lap, it was Bagnaia leading from Jorge Martin and Aleix Espargaro. Fabio DiGiannantonio was in 4th, with Vinales in 5th. The top ten was rounded out by Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini, Marc Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi and home hero Fabio Quartararo respectively.

Bagnaia was eager to try and put some clean air between himself and Martin but the Prima Pramac rider just wouldn’t let the Ducati escape. He was happy to sit in behind the reigning championship and allow him to dictate the peace whilst he calculated the right time to make a move.

On lap 3, we had our first crasher, with Pedro Acosta going down at turn 8. He was fighting with Espargaro and DiGiannantonio for 3rd but Acosta was just too aggressive in to the corner. As he went down, his back wheel was hit by DiGiannantonio who, somehow, impressively kept his bike upright! This is the first race of the season where the rookie has failed to score points.

The following lap, Bezzecchi’s horrible day came to an end as he crashed at turn 6. He was trying to get the cut back on Bastianini, who he was fighting with for 7th place.

A few laps later, Marquez was making moves on Vinales as they fight for 5th. Vinales made his bike as wide as possible as he defends and manages to keep hold of the position. Meanwhile, DiGIannantoni is continuing to fight with Espargaro for 3rd – he is clearly desperate to make a move. He eventually gets past at the La Chapelle corner on lap 8, the following lap.

At this point in the race, the top riders were all battling in pairs, with Bagnaia and Martin fighting for 1st, DiGiannantonio fighting for 3rd as well as Vinales and Marquez battling for 5th. These battles continue until lap 10, and that allows Bastianini, in 7th, to catch up and join the fight. By lap 11, just 2 seconds covered the top 7 riders.

On the same lap, Espargaro goes wide at Garage Vert whilst fighting with Vinales. This sees him gifting 4th place to his Aprilia team mate, only for Marquez to quickly rob him of 5th place as well.

The following lap sees Bastianini making a very late move on Espargaro and pushing him completely off the track. Bastianini is gifted 6th as a result, but he is quickly slapped with a long lap penalty for cutting turn 9 as he recovers from the battle.

At the halfway point of the race, it felt like things were starting to settle down. Martin was still in 2nd but stuck close to the rear tire of Bagnaia in 1st. There was then a 0.9 second gap to DiGiannantonio in 3rd and Vinales in 4th. Marquez was 0.3 seconds behind in 5th, with Bastianini in 6th. Home hero, Fabio Quartararo was having a solid race so far in 7th, just ahead of Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira and Franco Morbidelli in 8th, 9th and 10th respectively.

The calm doesn’t last for long as, on lap 17, it was heartbreak for the French crowd as Quartararo crashes out at turn 9 on lap 17.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Meanwhile, Marquez makes a move on DiGiannantonio for 3rd. DiGiannantonio just refuses to give up the place and gives us a masterclass in brave defending. The continued battle almost gives Vinales the opportunity to take 4th from Marquez. This close battle continues for a few laps and, eventually, Marquez makes a move for 3rd place that sticks. As DiGiannantonio tries to make the cut back, he goes too wide and lets Vinales up to 4th. The Gresini rider is then forced to rejoin in 5th but, unfortunately, the stewards decided that he didn’t lose enough time when rejoining the field and was handed a long lap penalty.

With Marquez now released into some free air, he starts chasing down the leading pair who are 2 seconds down the road. Martin is closer than he has ever been in the race so far and looking like he is ready to set up a move, with just a handful of laps remaining.

At the start of lap 20, Martin makes his first move on Bagnaia but the reigning champion is quick to cut back and regain the place. The following lap is when Martin makes exactly the same move, again at turn 2, but this time makes the move stick and firmly shuts the door on Bagnaia. This fighting means that the gap to Marquez has now been cut in half, and he is just over a second behind them and catching them at a rapid pace.

As the laps continue to tick down, there is nothing between the leading group with Martin now leading from Bagnaia and Marquez.

None of the riders seem comfortable on their soft rear tires but it’s Marquez who seems to be handling these best. He is continuing to close on Bagnaia and on the final lap, with just four corners remaining, he eventually makes his move. With some stunning late breaking, he throws his Gresini up the inside of Bagnaia and manages to make the apex perfectly at turn 7 and 8. This gives Martin some breathing room at the front as Martin sets up defensive moves in the final corners, blocking Bagnaia before he can even think about making a move.

As they cross the line, Martin celebrates a stunning and well-calculated victory with a smash of his bike’s screen. Marquez is equally as thrilled with is performance and celebrates like it was a win.

FULL RESULTS
Image Credit: MotoGP on Twitter
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Martin has been able to extend his championship lead with today’s win – he was leading by 28 points but this has now increased to an impressive 38 points as he continues to enjoy a brilliant start to his season.

Bagnaia returns to 2nd in the standings but now has Marquez hot on his heels, as both riders leapfrog Bastianini.

Image Credit: MotoGP on Twitter

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2: Garcia Wins for a Second Time in 2024

Sergio Garcia takes a commanding win in Le Mans along with the Moto2 Championship lead ahead of MT Helmets teammate Ai Ogura, completing a one-two for the newest team on the grid. They were joined by Alonso Lopez on the podium to complete the top three. Pole sitter Aron Canet could only manage sixth place.

After starting in third place, Garcia got the best start of the riders on the front row and was leading by the time the pack went into turn one. He started gapping the rest of the field as soon as he got the clear air.

Joe Roberts got through on Canet at La Chappelle to take second place. The chase to catch Garcia was now on.

Lopez snuck past Manuel Gonzales, who also made a good start, to take third place and after falling down the grid Canet set the fastest lap on lap two.

On lap four, both Barry Baltus and David Munoz crashed at turn fourteen and turn six respectively. Both riders were okay following their crashes.

Canet continued to set fast laps and beat the race lap record set by Pedro Acosta on lap five. The Spaniard was catching up to the back of the chasing pack, but may have used up more tyre than he might have intended to.

The gap between Garcia in first and Roberts in second was hovering between 0.8 to 1 second, depending on where on the track the time was taken. Roberts was in a comfortable rhythm behind the Spaniard.

Zonta vd Goorbergh went down at turn eight on lap six causing a yellow flag and Gonzales crashed at the final corner from fifth place.

On the following lap, Canet pulled an impressive move to get past Roberts and Lopez was also able to sneak through past the American too. Lopez ran slightly wide so Roberts could get past him. This battle allowed Garcia to extend his lead over the group by half a second.

A few laps later on lap 10, Lopez pushed Roberts wide and made the move stick for third place.

Fermin Aldeguer had a quiet race up until lap 13 when he and Albert Arenas went side by side for a few corners until the Folladore Speed Up rider made the move stick.

Garcia extended his lead over second place rider to just over two seconds.

Roberts couldn’t capitalise on setting the fastest lap as Ogura passed him three laps later into turn thirteen. The Japanese rider qualified in seventeenth place and was able to carve his way through the field.

Lopez caught up to the back of Canet on lap 20 and got past but on the following lap made a mistake and a group of riders caught up.

On the final lap, Garcia had a 3.2 second lead over Lopez and was almost certain to win the race, providing that he did not make any significant mistakes.

Ogura made his way past Canet for third place and then Roberts was attacking the Spaniard into Garage Vert and was able to make the move stick. Ogura continued his fight up the field by taking second place from Lopez but they were fighting around the middle of the circuit but there was no way through for the Spaniard thanks to Roberts.

Roberts got past Lopez at turn 13 and they touched but Lopez was able to make his way back through.

Sergio Garcia crossed the line with a 3.1s lead over Ai Ogura and Alonso Lopez. Joe Roberts lost the championship lead but finished a respectable fourth ahead of Somkiat Chantra, Aron Canet and Fermin Aldeguer. Tony Arbolino could only manage an eighth place finish ahead of Albert Arenas and Izan Guevara rounded out the top ten.

Feature image credit : Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

2024 Moto2 France – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time
1 Sergio Garcia SPA MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) 35m 20.709s
2 Ai Ogura JPN MT Helmets – MSI (Boscoscuro) +3.174s
3 Alonso Lopez SPA Folladore Speed Up (Boscoscuro) +3.704s
4 Joe Roberts USA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) +3.764s
5 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) +3.935s
6 Aron Canet SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) +4.511s
7 Fermin Aldeguer SPA Folladore Speed Up (Boscoscuro) +4.811s
8 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) +6.811s
9 Albert Arenas SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) +8.831s
10 Izan Guevara SPA CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) +14.215s
11 Jeremy Alcoba SPA Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) +17.795s
12 Filip Salac CZE Elf Marc VDS Racing (Kalex) +18.044s
13 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) +18.191s
14 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) +18.349s
15 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing Team (Kalex) +19.686s
16 Jaume Masia SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) +21.460s
17 Jake Dixon GBR CFMoto Inde Aspar Team (Kalex) +26.939s
18 Deniz Oncu TUR Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) +30.633s
19 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) +30.804s
20 Jorge Navarro SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) +37.741s
21 Xavi Cardelus AND Fantic Racing (Kalex) +37.994s
22 Ayumu Sasaki JPN Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team (Kalex) +38.968s
23 Daniel Munoz SPA Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team (Kalex) DNF
24 Manuel Gonzalez SPA QJMOTOR Gresini (Kalex) DNF
25 Zonta van den Goorbergh NED RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) DNF
26 Diogo Moreira BRA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) DNF
27 Xavier Artigas SPA KLINT Forward Factory Team (Forward) DNF
28 Barry Baltus BEL RW – Idrofoglia Racing GP (Kalex) DNF

 

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Moto3: Alonso Tactical Masterclass at Le Mans!

Image Credit: MotoGP

David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) held his nerve and delivered a tactical masterclass for the Aspar Team to take his 7th Grand Prix victory here in Le Mans!

It was an epic battle from start to finish today in Moto3 and was anyone’s guess as to who would win right up until the finish. Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) just finished in 2nd place to Alonso with Dutchman Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) taking 3rd place. 

As we head to the next race at the Catalunya circuit, Holgado just has a 1 point lead in the championship to Alonso. 

AS IT HAPPENED

Alonso had a great start off the line but Holgado pounced heading into the Dunlop chicane to take the lead on the opening lap of the race. David Munoz (BOE Motorsports) was up 5 places up into 3rd, and ever aggressive blasted by Alonso into 2nd on the opening lap. A dream start for Munoz.

Munoz looked to go by Holgado into turn 1, but Holgado shut the door and held off the Spaniard. Holgado lead every lap of the 2023 race here at Le Mans and was hoping for a repeat over the next 19 laps. Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) into the final 2 right handers went by Alonso and up into 3rd.

Munoz tried a tighter line into turn 1 but again, Holgado shut the door on Munoz. Veijer was now into the mix and got by Alonso on lap 3 up into 3rd, as Fernandez took his long lap penalty. Fernandez was with a lot of pace tat this point and would have been keen to battle his way back through the pack. Fernandez back to 16th after serving the 1st of his 2 long lap penalties.

Fernandez’ Leopard teammate rookie Angel Piqueras set the fastest lap of the race on lap 3 and produced a stunning overtake past Ortola up into 5th. Charging on the Leopard Honda Piqueras then picked off Alonso and up into 5th but Alonso bit back and retook 4th place.

A quarter of the way through and Holgado still had the lead from Munoz on his back wheel in 2nd. The top 8 in Moto3 as they crossed the line were all covered by just a second. 16 laps to go and Fernandez served his 2nd long lap penalty and dropped way back to 21st. His teammate Piqueras however was still dicing and swapping places with Alonso as they started lap 6.

Another lap at the front banked for championship leader Holgado as they started lap 7. Still 8 riders in contention here for victory all dicing and fighting for positions behind Holgado. Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power) joined the party at the front up into 5th past Piqueras.

Under 2.5seconds covered the top 18 riders as they completed lap 7 to start lap 8 of 20 of this French Grand Prix. Veijer sat behind Holgado and was planning on how to get by in the 2nd half of the race.

Sector 4 up in yellow flags at turn 11 as Rossi went through on Munoz for Munoz to tap Rossi out of the race. Veijer was also through into the lead for the first time. Munoz went up the inside of Holgado only for Holgado to get back past Munoz as they crossed the line to complete lap 9.

Into the 2nd half of the race and Veijer lead from Holgado 2nd and Munoz in 3rd. Alonso was 4th in a lead group of a dozen riders all battling it out here at Le Mans. Munoz for the contact with Rossi earlier on lap 9 was handed a double long lap penalty. Munoz was shaking his head as he crossed the line clearly angry with the stewards decision. Munoz was still fighting with Veijer and Holgado at the front even though Munoz needed to serve his penalties.

Munoz surrendered the lead to Holgado and dropped back to 17th place after serving the 1st long lap penalty.

9 laps to go and Holgado lead from Veijer 2nd and Alonso in 3rd. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) picked his way through the field up into 5th at this stage past Piqueras. Fernandez battled his way back up into 8th place as Veijer took the lead from Holgado after Holgado ran wide.

Into the last 3rd of the race and Dutchman Veijer was leading a group of 4 with Holgado 2nd and Alonso in 3rd. Ortola still not giving up the fight on the back wheel of Alonso in 4th.

Into turn 1 on the fastest part of the circuit, Holgado moved ahead of Veijer with in the slipstream as Veijer tapped Holgado twice as Holgado took the lead.

5 laps to go and Munoz crashed out at turn 11 as Holgado still lead into the final part of the race. The race was shaping up to be decided on the last corner of the last lap. A great race so far in Moto3!

Ortola went up the inside of Alonso into the Dunlop chicane as Ortola moved up into the podium positions. The overtake on Alonso bunched up those behind handing a gap to leaders Holgado and Veijer ahead of them.

Alonso fought back and went up inside of Ortola into 3rd and Alonso geared up for an attack for victory in the final stages of the race. Into lap 18 of 20 and 8 tenths of a second separated the top 8 riders. It was still anyone’s guess as to who would go onto win this one.

Lap 18 and Holgado ran wide and Veijer needed no invitation to swoop into the lead with 3 laps to go. Alonso now into the lead with an epic overtake to get by Holgado and Veijer into the same corner. Holgado dicing with Alonso but Alonso crossed the line in the lead.

THE LAST LAP

Holgado lead across the line to start the final lap. Just 14 corners left to go and Alonso went back into the lead as they went into the Dunlop chicane.

Through turns 6 into 7 and Alonso still hung onto the lead, only a bike length  ahead of Holgado at this point.

Holgado now wheel to wheel with Alonso had to back out of a move to avoid a collision. Holgado would not give this up trying every angle and line to get by Alonso on the final lap.

Alonso though held his nerve into the final 2 right handers, and with everyone breathing down his neck, managed to fend off Holgado to take victory.

Victory number 7 for David Alonso and what a win from the Colombian whizz kid! Alonso’s tactics were incredible today and waited on the perfect moment to go on the attack  and hunt down Holgado for the win.

Race Classification 

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Moto3: Alonso Takes Pole In Le Mans!

Image Credit: MotoGP

3rd pole position in a row for the Colombian sensation David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team)! Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) qualified in 2nd and after qualifying said he was ready to fight for victory tomorrow. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) rounded off the front row after a great qualifying session in 3rd.

20 laps on Sunday around this circuit and the top 2 in the championship are up for the fight. The Moto 3 heavyweights can’t wait to fight it out for victory tomorrow. 

Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X
Image Credit: @AsparTeam on X

AS IT HAPPENED

Qualifying 1

The session got underway in glorious sunshine at Le Mans, and as the first set of times were posted, it was Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) leading the way from Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) 2nd, David Almansa (Rivacold Snipers Team) 3rd and Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) in 4th.

Nicola Carraro (MTA Team) shot to the top with 8mins left of the session. With the top 4 order ever changing in the Q1 session, it was shaping up for a last minute fight to get through to Q2.

Carraro went down in the Dunlop chicane and yellow flags a plenty in sector 1 as Carraro was in a hurry to get back up and running on his bike.

As everyone headed into the pits to catch their breath before their final runs, it was still Carraro at the top with Lunetta 2nd, Roulstone 3rd and Farioli sat in 4th.

Under 5mins left of the session and British rider Scott Ogden (MLav Racing) blasted his way to the top of the timings as Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Ogden pushed on as the rest of the field filtered back out of the pits. Only 2 tenths of a second separated the top 6 riders at this point.

Last chance for the riders as the chequered flag waved and Lunetta managed to sneak into 2nd as Suzuki also managed to knock out Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) at the end of the session. The top 4 heading through to Q2 were Roulstone, Lunetta, Ogden and Suzuki.

Qualifying 2

Roulstone fresh from Q1 lead the way early on at the top of the timings on provisional pole. As the rest of the field completed their first runs, it was Jose Antonio Rueda at the top with Alonso a tenth behind in 2nd and Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) on the front row in 3rd.

Just under 8mins left of the session and Alonso took command and into provisional pole with Rueda 2nd and Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) up to 3rd. It was heating up to be a fantastic battle for pole position here at Le Mans.

Race winner last time out in Jerez, Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) went up to provisional pole as the rest of the riders were sat in the pits. Alonso just +0.001 behind Veijer with just over 4mins left of the session.

Every rider was now pushing to the limits as several riders all lit up sectors red with just 2mins left of the session. Championship leader Holgado marched up to provisional pole just ahead of Rueda 2nd and Alonso in 3rd at this stage. Just one more final flying lap attempt remained.

Colombia vs Spain and the top 2 in the championship, Alonso and Holgado were neck and neck in the final seconds of the session. Alonso snatched pole position away from Holgado with a stunning 1:40.114. Holgado just +0.011 seconds behind Alonso in 2nd. Alonso on pole, Holgado 2nd and Rueda rounding off the front row in 3rd for tomorrow’s race.

Holgado lead every lap last season at the French Grand Prix and will be hoping for the same tomorrow. 3 pole positions in a row for David Alonso! Can Alonso convert the pole position into a win tomorrow?

Top 10

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Holgado holds off Sasaki’s pressure to take Moto3 victory in France

Daniel Holgado took victory in the Moto3 French Grand Prix with a well-executed ride and handed Tech3 Racing their first ever victory on home soil.

With that, the Spaniard increased his lead in the championship to 21 points and added a second victory to his tally for 2023.

Ayumu Sasaki put in a very strong qualifying performance to start from pole position, with Diogo Moreira and Holgado completing the front row.

But Sasaki couldn’t hold onto his lead at the start, quickly losing out to Holgado who made a nice move down the inside at the first braking zone of the Le Mans track.

The Japanese rider tried to conjure up a reaction as the first lap went on but couldn’t make anything stick for the time being.

Credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull

Meanwhile behind the top two it was Deniz Oncu who settled into third as he got the better of Moreira on the opening lap.

Moreira then lost another position on lap seven as Ivan Ortola moved his way into fourth with a nice move at Turn 3.

The battle at the front then stabilised for the following few laps as the riders settled into the race.

But it all began to unfold at the halfway point however, as Moreira crashed out at Turn 12 – the Brazilian had continued to drop back as the race progressed and was in seventh at the time of the incident.

Sasaki then pulled the pin and made his move back into the lead with a pass on Holgado along the pit straight, but Holgado quickly responded at Turn 3 to hang on to first place.

Elsewhere Jaume Masia moved up into third with six laps to go after taking advantage of Oncu running slightly wide at Turn 8.

The Spaniard then attacked Sasaki for second place and the pair were engaged in a back-and-forth battle – which allowed Holgado to sit comfortably out in front as those behind him jostled for position.

Sasaki was able to retake second at Turn 3 with three laps remaining, and quickly tried to shake off Masia in an attempt to chase down the leader ahead.

But ultimately it was to no avail – despite closing the gap to just 0.150 seconds Sasaki had to settle for second as Holgado took victory after a very strong race to hold off the pressure.

Speaking after the race, Holgado said it was a good ending to an event where he’d showed strong pace throughout the three days.

“The feeling is amazing. I am so happy because this Grand Prix was very important for my team as it was their home race, and winning it for them is just incredible,” he said.

“I was fast all weekend, and today we were just really strong and confident. What a weekend, thank you to my team.”

Masia ended the race in third but had to fight for it as Ortola piled on the pressure in the final two laps.

Oncu went from being third to ending up sixth in the final few laps of the race, finishing behind Ryusei Yamanaka.

Credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull

Xavier Artigas finished in seventh, with David Alonso and Jose Rueda some distance behind in eighth and ninth.

Stefano Nepa managed to get the better of Joel Kelso, Kaito Toba and Tatsuki Suzuki in what was a close fought battle for 10th.

David Salvador and Collin Veijer rounded out the points finishers.

Among the other fallers, Syarifuddin Azman was the first victim to crash in the race on the third lap at Turn 12 – a disappointing end to what was a strong weekend for the Malaysian where he qualified 10th.

Andrea Migno also fell at Turn 12 a few laps later and was shortly followed by Scott Ogden at Turn 7, as well as Taiyo Furusato who fell on the last lap at Turn 9.

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MotoGP: Magnificent Martin Dominates Sprint Race in Le Mans

Le Mans has given us another action-packed sprint race, with breathtaking battles from start to finish. Our winner, Jorge Martin was simply peerless today, whilst Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, who is back to his old ways after 3 races away, jostled for the majority of the race.

Jorge Martin was in a league of his own on his way to win the sprint race at the French GP in Le Mans. Having started the race in 5th, he enjoyed a brilliant start and was up to 2nd before the exit of turn 1. It was then lap 4 when he finally took the lead and he never looked back, quickly building a gap between himself and his nearest competitors. As the chequered flag fell, he wheelied across the line to take a dominant victory.

Brad Binder took a well-deserved 2nd place today, taking advantage of a race-long battle between Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia. As the pair were fighting, he snuck up the inside to claim second place and, much like our race winner, was able to quickly put clear air behind him. However, that gap ahead was always just slightly too big and he couldn’t find a way to take the fight to Martin.

Championship leader and today’s pole sitter, Bagnaia, came home in 3rd after that race-long battle with Marquez. The pair were jostling for most of the race, closely on each other’s tail and making aggressive moves to try and best each other. It looked as though it might end in disaster multiple times but, eventually, it was the Italian who eventually came out on top.

After 7 breathtaking laps of fighting and overtaking, it was on lap 10 of 13 that he finally made his way past Marquez and made sure to quickly shut the door to avoid any counter-attacks. The nail-biting fight was then quickly over as Bagnaia pulled ahead of Marquez to put clean air between the pair.

Marquez, who is back on the grid after missing the previous 3 races, eventually ended the day in 5th. It seemed that he may have started to fatigue at the same time as Bagnaia’s tyres came into their sweet spot – a bad combination but he will have plenty of positives to take away from his performance today, ahead of tomorrow’s main race.

It looked like this potential fatiguing then made Marquez a bit of a sitting duck for Luca Marini, who was able to make his way up to 4th on lap 11. Marini has enjoyed a fantastic day, progressing from Q1 to then secure 3rd in Q2. He lost a few places at the start of the spring race but more than made up for this with his performance towards the end of the race.

It was a tougher day for Jack Miller and home hero Fabio Quatararo, who both failed to meet the chequered flag.

Miller enjoyed a brilliant start, flying off the line to steal 3rd from Marini early on. The Aussie, who has previously enjoyed a lot of success in sprint races, couldn’t emulate that success today as he went down in the middle of Museum Corner on the second lap. He was visibly frustrated to make an error that ended his race so prematurely.

Then, on lap 10, Quartararo went down at the same corner. The bike just folded underneath him as he helplessly slid into the gravel. The home crowd were clearly disappointed as a stunned silence fell over the grandstands. Today has been a difficult day for the Frenchman – a day that has gone from bad to worse after his inability to progress out of Q1.

The final points-scoring positions were filled by Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales in 6th to 9th respectively. Vinales had a terrible qualifying session where a bike issue hampered his second run whilst he was sat in provisional pole – it is certainly a day of “what if’s” for the Spaniard.

The main race will take place at 2pm local time on Sunday. If the sprint race is anything to go by, it should be a race filled with action and drama!

Full Results
1st Jorge Martin Prima Prama –
2nd Brad Binder Red Bull KTM +1.840s
3rd Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo +2.632s
4th Luca Marini Monney VR46 +3.418s
5th Marc Marquez Repsol Honda +3.541s
6th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac +4.483s
7th Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 +5.224s
8th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia +6.359s
9th Maverick Vinales Aprilia +8.336s
10th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda +9.439s
11th Alex Rins LCR Honda +12.388s
12th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini +14.125s
13th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha +15.121
14th Joan Mir Repsol Honda +15.383
15th Alex Marquez Gresini +15.591
16th Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo +19.415
17th Lorenzo Savadori CryptoDATA RNF +26.992
DNF Fabio Quatararo Monster Energy Yamaha –
DNF Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3 –
DNF Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3 –
DNF Jack Miller Red Bull KTM –

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2 Qualifying: Lowes Sets a Lap Record Around Le Mans

After leading the way yesterday, Sam Lowes set the fastest-ever lap around the Le Mans circuit on a Moto2 bike on his way to claiming pole position. He will be joined on the front row of the grid tomorrow by Alonso Lopez and Tony Arbolino.

As expected in Q1, no rider was certain to make it through to the second round of qualifying, but Jeremy Alcoba, Dennis Foggia and Fermin Aldeguer hoped they could secure a top-four position in Q1 to get them onto the front six rows of the grid. Few riders were able to test out the track with slick tyres this morning due to the track conditions.

Lukas Tulovic set the early pace with a 1.36.539 and this remained the top time until the final moments of the session when Fermin Aldeguer went 0.1s faster around the Le Mans circuit. Along with the Speed Up Racing and Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP riders, Barry Baltus and Bo Bendsneyder made it through the second round of qualifying.

In the second part of qualifying, Filip Salac and Celestino Vietti were topping the time sheets early on with a 1:36.135 and 1:36.178 respectively. Pedro Acosta struggled with the bike towards the start of the session, slotting into sixth place just over two-tenths off the pace set by Salac.

With just under eight minutes to go, Bendsneyder went down in the fourth sector. This cancelled the laps of multiple riders but also allowed them to regroup and plan their attacks for the rest of the session.

Arbolino, Jake Dixon and Lowes were following each other on the track with five and a half minutes to go, setting fastest sector after fastest sector. The tow provided by the two riders in front of Lowes, allowed the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team rider to set the fastest lap around the circuit on a Moto2 bike with a 1:35.791.

Tulovic and Dixon went down at the same time at turns nine and seven respectively causing yellow flags in sectors two, three and four with just over two minutes left on the clock. Luckily, these flags were cleared quickly.

With five seconds left, Lopez crossed the line to go second fastest with a 1:36.036. He was about to start his final flying lap before Aron Canet crashed and caused a red flag. The red flag was due to Canet’s bike being in the middle of the track.

Following the red flag, the session did not restart as there were only a few seconds left on the clock. This means that, for the second race in a row, Lowes will start with no other rider in front of him. Championship leader Acosta starts the race from the middle of the second row with Salac ahead of him and Vietti behind.

2023 FRENCH MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, LE MANS – QUALIFYING RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 35.791s
2 Alonso Lopez SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.036s
3 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 36.053s
4 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.135s
5 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.169s
6 Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.178s
7 Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.180s
8 Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 1m 36.225s
9 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 1m 36.354s
10 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.437s
11 Fermín Aldeguer SPA Lightech SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 1m 36.474s
12 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 1m 36.537s
13 Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 36.686s
14 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 36.726s
15 Lukas Tulovic GER Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 36.794s
16 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 36.998s
17 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.005s
18 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 1m 37.060s
19 Sean Dylan Kelly USA American Racing (Kalex) 1m 36.726s
20 Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 36.836s
21 Marcos Ramirez SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 36.959s
22 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 1m 36.966s
23 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 37.123s
24 Senna Agius AUS Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 37.134s
25 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 1m 37.426s
26 Rory Skinner GBR American Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.642s
27 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 1m 37.827s
28 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar M2 (Kalex) 1m 37.879s
29 Alex Escrig SPA Forward Team (Forward) 1m 38.500s

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2: Maiden Pole for Acosta at Le Mans

Having previously never started a Moto2 race from the front row, rookie Pedro Acosta will have the honours of leading the field off the line for tomorrow’s race as he clinched his maiden pole. He will be joined on the front row by Jake Dion and Augusto Fernandez, as Sam Lowes and Ai Ogura both crash out.

Before the 2022 Moto2 season had begun, many had their sights set on rookie rider Pedro Acosta and predicted he would be a title contender. However as the season kicked off Acosta was nowhere to be seen, unable to qualify higher than 10th or finish a race higher than seventh.

With the sun shining down on the Le Mans circuit, it seemed that today would be Acosta’s day. He hit the top of the timing sheets with over three minutes remaining in Q2, with a time of 1:35.803 that no one was able to challenge.

Joining him on the front row will be Jake Dixon, who was able to put together a brilliant lap despite seeming to struggle to find his flow all weekend, and Augusto Fernandez.

Lining up in sixth for tomorrow’s race will be new boy, Alonso Lopez, who is replacing Romano Fenati. On his first step up from Moto3, he laid down an impressive performance to secure a second row start for tomorrow.

It was a much trickier day for Sam Lowes and the two Honda Team Asia riders, Ai Ogura and Somkiat Chantra, as all three riders crashed during Q2. However, thanks to some early banker laps, they will start tomorrow’s race from fourth, eighth and 11th respectively.

Our championship leader, Celestino Vietti, has struggled for pace all weekend, forcing him to join the Q1 group. These woes continued throughout the session as he failed to sit within the top three even once in the session. He was unable to progress to Q2 and will start tomorrow’s race from the lowly 19th spot on the grid.

Image Credit: MotoGP

QUALIFYING 1

As everyone completed their first flying laps of the session, it was Manuel Gonzalez who jumped to the top of the timing sheets first. He set an initial benchmark of 1:36.645. Behind him was Lorenzo Dalla Porta in second, Jorge Navarro third and Vietti in fourth – all had provisionally booked a place in to Q2.

With eight minutes left on the clock, Alessandro Zaccone crashed at Turn 8, bringing out yellow flags in Sector 3. Less than a minute later, Sean Dylan Kelly crashed at Turn 14 to bring out yet more yellow flags, this time in at Sector 4. The biggest looser from they yellow flags seemed to be Joe Roberts who was just appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

With just less than five minutes of the session remaining, Niccolo Antonelli became the next victim of the tricky Le Mans circuit, as he crashed at Turn 8. Lucky he was unscathed as he returned to action following surgery for arm pump earlier in the week.

At this point in the session, Dalla Porta was at the top of the timing sheet with Fermin Aldeguer, Bo Bendsneyder and Navarro just behind him. There was just 0.04s covering there top four riders and everything was still to play form.

Sitting just outside the top four was Vietti who returned to tack for some final flying laps with four minutes left in the session. He had just enough time to complete three flying laps and, whilst each was an improvement on the last, he still wasn’t able to break in to that elusive leading group. Whilst his lap times were fastest that most in sectors one and two, he was loosing out considerably in sectors three and four.

The checkered flag fell and with no one able to improve on their lap times or challenge the top four, it was Dalla Porta, Aldeguer, Bendsneyder and Navarro who progressed to Q2.

QUALIFYING 2

The first flying lap of Q2 was set by Lowes on the Elf Marc VDS machine. He then improved on his early banker lap with a 1:36.071. In hindsight, this lap would prove vital as with nine minutes left on the clock, he suffered a horrible highside at Turn 8. The rear of the bike stepped out as he exited the corner, causing a highside which threw him down on to his shoulder before the bike hit him in the back.

Just moments before this incident, Ogura also crashed at Turn 8 – in an uncharacteristic move, the bike slid from underneath him as he touched the throttle to exit the corner. This combination of incidents resulted in yellow flags waving across both Sector 2 and 3.

As the session continued, and with just seven minute remaining, a number of riders seemed to pick up the pace – this included Acosta and Dixon who were setting flying sector times. As Acosta jumped up to third, the provisional grid was lead by Lowes, Albert Arenas and Acosta. Lopez, on his first Moto2 outing, was in provisional fourth ahead of Ogura in fifth.

With three minutes to go, Fernandez leapt to the top of the timings, only to have provisional pole snatches away moment later, as Acosta crossed the line. The next bike across the line was Dixon, who split the leading pair to take second. Lowes had now been shuffled off the front row and had no way to fight back as he sat in the garage.

As the checkered flag fell, no one looked to be able to improve on their times or challenge the leading pair. The final nail in the coffin came when Chantra suffered a fast front end crash at Turn 10 bringing out the yellow flag at sectors 3 and 4 and halting anyone from challenging Acosta.

Further down the grid, Aron Canet took seventh after a quiet and difficult weekend. Bo Bendsneyder was the best Q1 progressor in ninth, just ahead of Tony Arbolino in tenth.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Celebrating disabled drivers

In any sport it’s an incredible feat to be able to compete whilst having a physical disability. Motorsport is one of those sports where the differences between a driver without a physical impairment and drivers who do, can be highlighted in some areas but can be completely unnoticeable if you weren’t aware of a driver’s disability beforehand.

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we decided to talk about a few drivers who are breaking down barriers in racing for those with disabilities.

Alex Zanardi

Having competed in F1 for many years, Alex was competing in the CART World Series at the Lausitzring in 2001. Exiting the pits 12 laps from the end of the race, he lost grip on cold tyres and slid into oncoming traffic, where he was hit by another car at over 200mph. He survived despite losing nearly 75% of his blood volume, but lost both his legs in the crash.

With the use of hand controls Alex went on to race again in the World Touring Car Championship, Blancpain Sprint Series, Spa 24 Hours, Daytona 24 Hours, and also made a one-off appearance in DTM in 2018 at Misano. However he made a real name for himself by competing in the Paralympics.

Alex won a handcycling gold and a relay silver in the London 2012 Paralympics (both events taking place at Brands Hatch) and another gold and silver in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, as well as plenty of other accolades in the Para-cycling World Championships.

Unfortunately Alex was involved in a para-cycling road race accident in June of this year, when he lost control of his handbike on a hill and hit an oncoming truck. He suffered severe facial and cranial trauma, and was placed into a medically induced coma.

We all know from the ordeals he’s had to go through that if anyone can overcome this, it’ll be Alex Zanardi. A true hero to disabled people all around the world.

Billy Monger

After great success in karting, Billy Monger was competing at Donington in British F4 in 2017. In race three he collided with a slow moving car and his legs were buried in the wreckage. He was extracted and airlifted to hospital, but unfortunately had to have his legs amputated.

But this didn’t break Billy Whizz’s spirit. With the help of hand controls, Billy returned to single seaters in the 2018 British F3 championship, scoring four podiums and two pole positions to end the season sixth in the standings.

Billy moved up to EuroFormula the following year, where he achieved the seemingly impossible in a wet Pau Grand Prix. Making a clever call to pit for wets on the formation lap, Billy rose through the field to third then held his nerve in the tricky conditions to win after the two leaders collided.

You’ll see Billy as part of Channel 4’s F1 coverage, and he’s expressed interest in joining the new Extreme E off-road electric series for next year. I certainly hope this happens as Monger is one of the most inspiring individuals you could ever know and he deserves to race.

Nathalie McGloin

McGloin is a British racing driver who is also a tetraplegic. She injured her spine in a road traffic accident as a teenager and has been competing in the Porsche Sprint Challenge against able bodied men. She’s the only disabled woman in the whole of the UK to hold a race and rally licence in the UK, and competes with radial hand controls that she pushes forward to brake and backward to accelerate, meaning she steers with one hand at all times!

Not only has she managed many podium finishes in the Porsche championship (including an outright victory at Silverstone in 2018), she’s also the President of the FIA Disability and Accessibility Commission. Definitely deserving of a place on this list.

Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica, Alfa Romeo (Florent Gooden, DPPI / Alfa Romeo Media)

Perhaps the most well known name on this list. He enjoyed huge success as the first Polish driver in F1, including his famous win with BMW Sauber in 2008. However all that changed in the lead up to the 2011 season.

After testing his new Renault F1 car, Robert entered an amateur rally event and collided with a guardrail, resulting in elbow, shoulder and leg fractures and partially severing his right forearm. He thankfully survived, but the injuries put him out of F1 for the foreseeable future.

Robert stuck to the rallying scene on his road to recovery and won the WRC-2 championship in 2013. But in 2017 he returned to F1 machinery with a Renault test, which ultimately led to a fairytale opportunity to return as a full time driver with Williams for 2019.

He scored their only point of the year at Hockenheim but wasn’t kept on for 2020. Nevertheless seeing Kubica back in F1 did feel right, and he has since took up a position as Alfa Romeo’s development driver while also competing in DTM this year, where he took a podium at Zolder.

Nic Hamilton

The first thing you’d think of is that he’s the brother of a certain seven-time F1 world champion. But the younger Hamilton has been making a name for himself for years.

Nic has had cerebal palsy since birth, resulting in physical impairments his whole life. But having initially gotten a taste for competition on video games (long before Esports was in the mainstream), he started competing in the BTCC-supporting Renault Clio Cup and then in European Touring Cars.

2019 however was when he finally got to where I feel he belonged, British Touring Cars. Seeing someone with cerebal palsy in the headline races on a terrestrial TV channel is incredibly uplifting to witness.

Frédéric Sausset

When on holiday in 2012, businessman and motorsport enthusiast Frédéric contracted a life-threatening infection from a scratch on his finger, which resulted in him becoming a quadruple amputee. However he didn’t let this prevent him from fulfilling his lifelong ambition of racing the 24 hours of Le Mans.

OAK Racing converted one of their LMP2 cars so Frédéric could drive it in the 2016 race. He used a special steering wheel which connected to a prosthetic on his right arm, and he had two thigh operated paddles built into his seat insert for the accelerator and brake.

The result was that Sausset and his teammates entered into the grueling round-the-clock race and finished it. A remarkable achievement and one that cannot even be imaginable for someone in his position, but he did it.

Caleb McDuff

Caleb McDuff (Photo courtesy of Ian McDuff)

Last but not least, Caleb McDuff is a 12-year old kart racer who is profoundly deaf. When he competes in karting, he can’t utilise his implants and so he races in total silence. Which, when you consider how reliant a lot of drivers are on the sound of their vehicle to race, is just incredible to think about.

Not only is Caleb able to compete in karting but he’s actually pretty good. Last year, he won the Super One National Karting Championship’s Honda Cadet category so he’s clearly capable of overcoming his impairments. I would very much hope he’s able to make the step up to cars in the future, whether that be single seaters or tin-tops.

Every single one of these people are so incredibly inspiring and serve as reminders that the human spirit is impenetrable. Whatever the cards you are dealt with in life, you can achieve whatever you set your mind to and we are bound by absolutely nothing. So happy International Day of Persons with Disabilities to you all!

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Autosport International Show Gallery 2020

At this years Autosport International Show, there were some pretty iconic cars on display, from all parts of the motorsport world.

The main feature included Seventy Years of Motorsport, and there were some incredibly beautiful cars on display from Le Mans, World Rally Championship, Indycar, British Touring Car Championship, Formula One and Formula E.

All were game changers in their own way.

The decades of the 1950’s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, ’00s, ’10s are all represented.

Away from there, there were other amazing displays. The Le Mans Toyota TS050 from 2018, the car that finally gave Toyota the victory that it has craved for decades, with Sébastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima sharing the driving duties.

There was a display of Formula One cars as well.

Below is a group of classic rally cars – Some iconic machinery here, from the seventies, eighties, nineties and two-thousands. Three cars driven by Colin McRae featured as well.

Well, we hope that you have enjoyed this look back to this year’s Autosport International Show, while we wait for the racing season to re-start.

 

All photos courtesy of Warren Nel

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