#MotoGPChampionship

19th September 2021

Perfect Pecco at Misano!

Qualifying:

A few unexpected crashes from Marc Marquez (Honda), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) during the qualifying session meant yellow flags had to be waved and some riders were caught out by this, by not putting in a good qualifying lap.

One rider not to be caught out was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) who bagged a second pole in a row. Also claiming a second, second place was team-mate Jack Miller (Ducati) from Quartararo in third, taking the last spot on the front row.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) had yet another team-mate, this time with former Moto GP rider Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha). He also had another helmet design, following on from last years design (Viagra pills) being substituted for a pink bow in honour of the announcement of his soon-to-be baby girl. Would this helmet bring him any luck for the race on home ground?

Rossi with new helmet for Misano. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Race:

With the riders getting prepped on the grid, grey clouds started to loom above them and the temperature at the track dropped but it was declared a dry race by the start.

Grey clouds over the grid. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

When the lights went out it appeared that Bagnaia may have had a jump-start but stewards quickly assessed the situation and he just started as he meant to go on – perfectly.

Marc Marquez was quick off the line and was soon in fourth place with Jorge Martin (Ducati) close behind, who had passed A. Espargaro.

Starting from 12^th place – Bastianini had quickly made up places and was soon in 9^th. Would he be one to keep-an-eye on?

Bastianini starting to make ground. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Pecco created a gap straight away from Jack and Fabio, already 1.231 seconds ahead and secured fastest lap in the process. While Fabio and Jorge Martin scrapped for third position behind. But it was not to be for Martin, who crashed out on lap 3, turn 14.

The man to watch (Bastianini) flew through the field and soon passed A. Espargaro for 5^th place. While Miller took fastest lap behind his team-mate, in the lead.

Next up on Bastianini’s list was M. Marquez, they had a fight for 4^th position but the Ducati man came out the victor. Could he make it to a podium place? The gap between himself and Quartararo was 3.486 seconds – it seemed it could be done with 11 laps to go.

Both front Ducati’s had chosen to race with hard front Michelin tyres and soft rears, compared to Yamaha which had front hard and medium rear. Would the soft tyre choices prove to be effective for the Dukes? Or would the Yamaha conserve tyres more effectively?

While it was elation for the factory Ducati’s in 1^st and 2^nd, it was deflation for the Pramac Ducati’s. In quick succession both Pramac Ducati riders soon had long-lap penalties. But for Martin, who had managed to get back on his bike, found himself in last place and took his penalty but soon after retired out of the race.

Pecco continued to extend his lead from Miller while Quartararo continued to stalk him for 2^nd place. With 14 laps till the end Quartararo took a stop to the Ducati dominance and passed the Australian for 2^nd, trying to claw back the lead that Bagnaia had created, which was 2.818 seconds ahead.

It appeared that Miller’s rear tyre may have degraded as Bastianini had him in his sights by lap 16.

The young Italian was on a mission – he claimed fastest lap on lap 17 and again on lap 18. Closing the space between himself and Miller to under a second. Whilst Alex Rins (Suzuki) crashed out in sector one, Bastianini claimed a third fastest lap in a row. He was just 0.180 seconds behind Miller. But the number 43 couldn’t hold off the number 23 any longer and on lap 19 Enea passed Jack to take a podium place.

Third for Enea. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The gap between Bagnaia and Quartararo was closed down to 1.254 seconds. Did Bagnaia have the same tyre concerns as Miller? With just 5 laps until the end the gap was down to 1.089 seconds.

But then the gap was suddenly increased again to 2.628 seconds – maybe Bagnaia had been conserving his tyres all along? Or had Quartararo made a small mistake?

The pressure was building between the Italian and the Frenchman as Quartararo seemed to find something last minute as well and was soon back behind Bagnaia. But as Bagnaia had proven last weekend, he was ready for a fight, with the taste of one victory, he wanted more.

Bagnaia defends first. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

With two laps to go Fabio appeared to be setting himself up to pass Pecco. The gap had decreased to just 0.271 seconds. But Bagnaia managed to hold off his advances and took back-to-back wins from Quartararo and Bastianini – who rode an incredible race and took his first podium in Moto GP on a 2019 Ducati.

Marquez and Joan Mir (Suzuki) managed to pass Miller, who couldn’t quite defend 4^th place, on the last lap. But Miller was soon promoted to 5^th place as Mir had exceeded track limits on the last lap.

It was the perfect weekend for Pecco – taking back-to-back poles and back-to-back wins!

Misano Podium 2021. Courtesy of: Misano World Circuit, Twitter Page.

Top ten race finishers:

1	F. Bagnaia
2	F. Quartararo
3	E. Bastianini
4	M.Marquez
5	J. Miller
6	J. Mir
7	P. Espargaro
8	A. Espargaro
9	B. Binder
10	T. Nakagami

Championship results:

First	F. Quartararo	234 points
Second	F. Bagnaia	186 points
Third	J. Mir	168 points
Fourth	J. Zarco	141 points

What can we expect for the next round in two weeks time at Austin, Texas? Will Quartararo be in a comfortable position to claim the World Title? Will there be a 9^th new winner? Or will the Ducati’s reign supreme once more?

(Featured image – Courtesy of Moto GP website).

15th September 2021

Injured Fernandez claims fifth victory of 2021

Spain’s Raul Fernandez took the fifth win of his rookie Moto2 season, despite undergoing surgery during the week for a broken bone in his right hand after a training incident.

2021 MVDS team during the 2021 Season of World Motorcycle Championship 2021 race 13 GP of Aragon in Motorland de Aragon, Alcaniz Spain © 2021 mirco lazzari mircolazzari@yahoo.it

Round 13 of the 2021 Moto2 season took us to the Motorland circuit in Aragon, and the weight of expectation sat firmly on the shoulders of Britain’s Sam Lowes. Holder of several Moto2 track records including most wins, most pole starts, best race lap and all time lap record, plus winning here in 2020, history seemed set to repeat itself after he qualified in pole position.

But it wasn’t meant to be. Fernandez, starting from 3rd place on the grid, passed his teammate Remy Gardner on the first lap to move up into 2nd and on lap 2 passed Lowes to take the lead. Doubts lingered over whether Raul would be able to maintain the blistering pace, but he held on to first place for the remainder of the race, with Lowes remaining comfortably in second until crashing out at turn 7 on lap 13. Fernandez crossed the finish line over 7 seconds ahead of 2^nd place Gardner.

Tyre options for the weekend were medium or supersoft, with the vast majority of the field opting for the latter. Tyre preservation was a concern, and potentially a factor in the high rate of attrition, with crashes including Dalla Porta on lap 8, Lowes on lap 13, Bezzecchi on lap 10, Bulega on lap 18 and Chantra on lap 19, all fortunately escaping uninjured.

Gardner found himself in a battle for 3rd with Ai Ogura and Hector Garzo; on lap 5 he managed to gain and hold onto the place, with Garzo crashing out shortly after. Ogura dropped back to 7th place after being passed by Aron Canet and Marco Bezzecchi, and eventually finished 8th, even despite Bezzecchi crashing out on the corkscrew on lap 10.

The fight for third place then raged between Jorge Navarro, Aron Canet & Augusto Fernandez, swapping back and forth, with Augusto finally crossing the line 1.5 seconds behind second place Gardner.

Next weekend takes us to the San Marino Grand Prix, with Gardner maintaining his lead at the top of the championship with 251 points, 39 points ahead of second place Raul Fernandez. This weekend’s non-finishes for Bezzecchi and Lowes mean that the gap is widening between the Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates and the rest of the championship, but with five rounds still to go, what further surprises lie in store?

First fifteen riders:

1 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 25 points

2 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

4 Jorge Navarro SPA – Lightech Speed Up – 13

5 Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 11

6 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 10

7 Fermín Aldeguer SPA – +Ego Speed Up – 9

8 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 8

9 Tony Arbolino ITA Liqui Moly Intact GP – 7

10 Simone Corsi ITA – MV Agusta Forward Racing – 6

11 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 5

12 Marcos Ramirez SPA – American Racing – 4

13 Joe Roberts USA – Italtrans Racing Team – 3

14 Cameron Beaubier USA – American Racing – 2

15 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 1

12th September 2021

From pole to maiden win!

Qualifying:

Warm weather and good track conditions saw Ducati dominate in Spain.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) took an all-time lap record for pole position and Ducati’s 50^th pole in the Moto GP class while his team-mate took a sensational second. From Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), who rounded off front row in third.

Ducati one-two in qualifying. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Aragon saw the return of Maverick Vinales, on an Aprilia (his new team for 2022) and last weekends two Brits – Jake Dixon, riding for Petronas Yamaha and Cal Crutchlow, riding for the factory Yamaha.

Race:

Track temperature remained at a high level, reaching 42degrees by lights out. The Ducati’s had been superb in qualifying but Marc Marquez (Honda) was on home-ground with numerous victories already in place at the Aragon circuit. Starting from fourth on the grid, on a track better suited for his injured shoulder, could he perform at his best once again to take two victories this season?

Bagnaia was quick off the line but it was Marquez who soared up to 2^nd place, ahead of Jack Miller (Ducati) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). Unfortunately, luck was not on Alex Marquez’s (Honda) side and he took a tumble on the first lap.

Fabio’s luck didn’t go too well for him either and he went from 3^rd to 7^th. Could he work his way back through the pack?

Good luck however was on the side of last years race winner Alex Rins (Suzuki), who had risen 5 places from where he started on the grid.

Lap two saw Britain’s Jake Dixon crash in sector 2, bringing an early end to his second Moto GP race.

Soon Quartararo and Brad Binder (KTM) were scrapping for 7^th place but while that was happening Bagnaia claimed fastest lap. Putting in a lot of effort to try and break free of Marquez, but Marquez never released him and constantly sat on his rear – watching.

By lap five, Rins had made good progress and was up to 12^th place and there were mini battles forming throughout the pack – Miguel Oliveira (KTM) and Johann Zarco (Ducati) fought for 14^th place, while Iker Lecuona (KTM) and Brad Binder (KTM) fought for 8^th place.

Marquez soon stole fastest lap from Bagnaia, all the while watching and formulating a plan.

Bagnaia leading. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

All the riders, apart from Zarco, had chosen to use hard front Michelin tyres and soft rear. Did Zarco know something the others didn’t? Would we see a change in pace later on in the race?

First and second started to break away from Miller in third and 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th created their own group.

With 12 laps to go Miller went wide and A. Espargaro and Joan Mir (Suzuki) took advantage and passed but Mir went one further and also passed Espargaro for last place spot on the podium.

With all this happening behind them, Bagnaia and Marquez extended their lead even further to 3.405 seconds.

Rookie Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Quartararo battled it out for 9^th place, which brought Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) into the fray. But it resulted in Nakagami passing both Bastianini and Quartararo on lap 14 of 23. The fight then switched between Nakagami and Bastianini, with the Japanese rider winning the place.

The gap between the leading pair extended further still with 4.226 seconds between them and Mir.

Fabio was back up into 8^th place after Iker went wide on lap 18.

Predator mode was fully activated for Marquez with four laps until the chequered flag, as he closed down further on Bagnaia, all of his waiting, watching and planning were put into action.

Bagnaia was warned of his proximity and rode defensively, keeping him at bay.

With 3 laps to go:

Marquez passed Bagnaia but the Ducati rider took the position straight back and rode defensive into turn 12.

Marquez passed him again, but again Bagnaia re-took the lead.

2 laps to go:

Marquez tried once again, but once again Bagnaia out-braked Marquez and remained in 1^st.

Another pass from Marquez, saw Bagnaia pass right back.

The lead was momentarily Marquez’s for the 5^th time but for the 5^th time Bagnaia took it back.

Last lap:

Turn one saw Marquez go back into the lead but it was taken straight back by Bagnaia.

Marquez passed again soon after but he went wide and Bagnaia needed no invitation and re-took the lead again.

The final attempt on turn 12 saw Marquez pass again, he got into the lead but went wide and in doing so exceeded track limits. Bagnaia fought a hard but respectful battle and beat Marquez to victory, to claim his maiden win in Moto GP. A healthy 25 points meant he climbed up the championship ladder into second place and he became the 8^th different winner for 2021.

It was an even sweeter day for Ducati as it was not only their 50^th pole position in Moto GP which accumulated into a win but it was also their 50^th anniversary of their first entry into the Moto GP championship (12^th September 1971 – Monza).

Podium finishers. Courtesy of: Moto GP Twitter.

Top Ten Riders:

1	F. Bagnaia
2	M. Marquez
3	J. Mir
4	A. Espargaro
5	J. Miller
6	E. Bastianini
7	B. Binder
8	F. Quartararo
9	J. Martin
10	T. Nakagami

The only Yamaha rider to gain any points during the race had relatively poor finish but it still sees him leading the championship:

Championship top four:

1	F. Quartararo	214 points
2	F. Bagnaia	161 points
3	J. Mir	157 points
4	J. Zarco	137 points

Making history for Ducati and himself, Bagnaia proved he has what it takes to be a Moto GP winner. Will we now see a new championship contender for 2021?

Featured image. Courtesy of: Ducati Course Twitter.

10th August 202117th August 2021

Moto2: Dark clouds loom over the Austrian Alps

And so Moto2 returns after the five week summer break with Round 10, the Styrian Grand Prix, high in the Austrian Alps, and Sunday’s race certainly brought plenty of ups and downs.

All eyes were on the weather over the weekend, with dark clouds looming over practice and qualifying. The rain stayed away and the race was declared dry, but away from the racing line the track remained damp and greasy.

Before Sunday’s race Australia’s Remy Gardner led the championship on 184 points, his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Raul Fernandez 2nd with 153, Bezzecchi 3rd on 128, Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 99, and Fabio Di Giannantonio 5th with 73.

During free practice news broke that Raul Fernandez will be moving up to MotoGP next season, to join his current teammate Remy Gardner at KTM, but did the unfortunate timing of the announcement impact on Fernandez’s performance?

For only the second time this season, neither of Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates made an appearance on the podium. Remy Gardner started from pole, and his teammate Raul Fernandez on the 2nd row in 4th after a frustrating qualifying.

It looked as though Sunday would be Japanese rookie Ai Ogura’s time to shine, as he briefly held pole position during qualifying. He was pipped at the post by Gardner, but claimed his first front row start of the season in second, with Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi making up the front row in 3^rd. Alongside Raul Fernandez on the second row were Aron Canet in 5^th and Augusto Fernandez 6^th. On the third row, Britain’s Sam Lowes started 7^th, Lorenzo dalla Porta 8^th, and Somkiat Chandra 9^th.

Gardner briefly led the opening lap before being passed by Bezzecchi, and his attempt to reclaim the lead was foiled by running wide, also allowing teammate Raul Fernandez through. Ogura dropped back to 5^th, and the next few laps saw Gardner retaking the lead, Aron Canet up into second, the pair of them pulling ahead of Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez who were battling for 3^rd. On lap 6 Fernandez ran very wide into turn 9, dropping down to 7^th place, Ai Ogura moving back up into 4^th, and Gardner and Canet stretching out to almost a second ahead of 3^rd place Bezzecchi.

On lap 11 Ogura posted the fastest lap of the race and looked set for the first podium finish of his rookie Moto2 season, but after incurring a late penalty for exceeding track limits ended up by crossing the line in 5th. After completing the race it was announced that Ogura had been penalised a further 3 seconds for exceeding track limits during the long lap penalty. Despite this he finished far enough ahead of 6th place Celestino Vietti to hold on to the position.

Lap 20 saw an uncharacteristic error from Gardner, late on the brakes into turn 1 and running into the gravel to avoid the back wheel of Bezzecchi. He managed to keep the bike upright and rejoined in 5th.

Marco Bezzecchi of SKY Racing Team VR46 held onto the lead to claim his first win of the season, despite pressure from Spain’s Aron Canet who finished second, and the 3^rd podium spot was claimed by Augusto Fernandez, celebrating his second podium in as many races. Remy Gardner crossed the line in 4^th, and Raul Fernandez finished 7^th, the worst finish of his rookie Moto2 season. Despite moving up to 5^th on lap 4, Britain’s Sam Lowes had a difficult race, but still managed to finish within the points in 14^th.

The top five positions in the championship remain the same – Gardner increases his lead from 31 to 35 points ahead of second place Raul Fernandez. Bezzecchi, in third, closes the gap on Fernandez from 25 to 9 points, with fourth place Lowes trailing by 52 points, and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in 5^th, 25 points behind Lowes.

Sunday 15^th August sees the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Can Ai Ogura make up for his disappointment and claim a podium spot? Will the Ajo Red Bull team return to form? And can Bezzecchi leapfrog Raul Fernandez on the championship table?

First fifteen riders:

1 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 25 points

2 Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

4 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 13

5 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

6 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

7 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9 points

8 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 8

9 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 7

10 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 6

11 Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

12 Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA – Italtrans Racing Team – 4

13 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 3

14 Sam Lowes GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 2

15 Albert Arenas SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 1

9th August 2021

Rookie reigns in Austria

Qualifying:

With the five week break finally at an end, the qualifying saw Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) snatch pole from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), in the closing minutes. Only seconds later to find that he transgressed track limits on turn nine, which resulted in him ending in third.

Marc Marquez (Honda), was on a hot-lap but crashed out and finished in eighth.

But it was the rookie Jorge Martin (Ducati) who claimed pole, for the second time this season. Riding a sensational lap of 1:22.994, bagging pole and a new all-time lap record along with it.

The front row was now: J. Martin, F. Bagnaia and F. Quartararo. The Ducati’s looked dominant in Austria, with all four bikes on the front two rows. Jack Miller (Ducati), Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Johann Zarco (Ducati) rounded off the front.

Grey clouds over-head. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

If fans were getting withdrawal symptoms from bike racing then this race was sure looking like it was going to quench that.

Race One:

All eyes may have been on Jorge Martin, in pole but all hearts were with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who, on just Thursday, had announced this was going to be his final season racing.

With rain clouds looming large overhead, the Styrian Grand Prix was about to be on its way, after being declared a dry race.

Bagnaia got a great start from Martin, but Martin was quickly leading the race. Marc Marquez (Honda) chose a more aggressive tactic, after having a poor start and trying to gather positions quickly, he made a move past Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), nudging him in the process, causing him to go wide and also pushed past Quartararo to go into fourth place. This caused an on-track argument between the two Spanish riders later, on track.

Mir reacted well and quickly went from fourth to second as Bagnaia re-claimed first. Marquez seemed to be in all-out attack-mode but fell back to sixth place after his fiery start.

The championship leader, Quartararo picked up the pace and soon had fastest lap moments before red flags began to wave.

Flash back to 2020, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco collided, causing their bikes to hurtle through the air, across the track and land cartwheeling in-front of the path of then team-mates Rossi and Vinales, understandably shaking both riders up before they re-started the race, after a red flag.

Since then, the track has been slightly modified. That should have been the only an odd occurrence however, this track seems to entice odd occurrences, only this time, lap 3 of 28 saw the wildcard and ex-Moto GP race winner Dani Pedrosa (KTM) fall leaving his bike stranded in the way of on-coming riders. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) rode straight into the KTM, causing both bikes to immediately erupt into flames. The race was red-flagged, signaling an end to proceedings. The marshals were quick to respond and fortunately neither rider nor marshal were hurt.

Just another freak accident in Austria, has made some question the suitability of this track for racing.

All bikes returned to the pits as fire extinguishers, brushes and man-power set about cleaning up the mess caused on track.

Race officials check the track is okay for the re-start. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

As the race was only on lap 3, it was re-started with just one lap being removed. The stewards allowed Pedrosa to start again but unfortunately for Aprilia, Savadori could not re-join.

A quick-start procedure took place during the second attempt, which meant pit lane re-opened for 60 seconds ahead of a sighting lap where all riders took their original grid positions and one mechanic met them at their lines. They then went out for their warm-up lap and the race continued thereafter.

Although, it was a disaster for Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), who stalled prior to the sighting lap on the grid and had to start his race from the pit lane, going from ninth to last.

Race Two:

The dark grey clouds still overhead had refrained from raining and continued to watch alongside the few spectators at trackside for take-two of the Styrian Grand Prix.

It was the Ducati power both times, this time Martin got another great start but Miller soon took the lead.

Quartararo nudged past M. Marquez, who in-turn nudged into none-other than Aleix Espargaro again and again he went wide.

Mir looked like he was on a mission, wanting to break up the Ducati rule. He was soon on the back of Martin and took second place on lap 2.

Mir hunts Martin. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 3 saw Martin re-take second and Bagnaia went backwards into eighth place. The re-start did not go the same way for him.

With 24 laps to go, Martin re-took the lead from Miller, Mir and Quartararo.

Things went from bad to worse for A. Espargaro, on lap 6 he pulled to the side of the track and had to retire due to a mechanical failure.

Miller and Quartararo had a mini battle between themselves. And soon all five front riders took fastest lap within quick succession of each other.

Martin and Mir broke away from the pack as did Quartararo, Miller and Zarco, creating their own group. The gap between the two groups quickly extended to over 3 seconds.

Vinales also couldn’t turn his luck around and ended up getting a long-lap penalty, putting him back to last place again, in 21^st, due to exceeding track limits. Track limit warnings were thrown about to all sorts of riders, including the race leader Martin, who was still leading with 11 laps to go.

With 10 laps to go, Miller looked set to strike on Quartararo, closing him down on every corner. But then, he crashed out on turn 7. He returned to the track but had to end his race sooner than expected and pulled into the pits, leaving Fabio in third position, to race alone.

Another long-lap penalty was handed out to the other Espargaro brother – Pol, for also exceeding track limits.

Having led for most of the race, Jorge Martin, the rookie reigned supreme and took victory for the first time for himself and Pramac Ducati in the Moto GP class. Having come from a hospital bed earlier on in the season, due to an accident which left him with numerous broken bones he was now on the top step of the podium. Securing both the pole and the win! He is now the 6^th different winner in 2021.

Take a bow – Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Brad Binder (KTM) rode a sensational last lap and finished an incredible fourth place, passing Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) on the way to the line.

Bagnaia however was given a 3 second penalty on the last lap, for also exceeding track limits and was demoted out of the top ten, promoting Dani Pedrosa into tenth.

Top ten finishers:

1st	J. Martin
2nd	J. Mir
3rd	F. Quartararo
4th	B. Binder
5th	T. Nakagami
6th	J. Zarco
7th	A. Rins
8th	M. Marquez
9th	A. Marquez
10th	D. Pedrosa

Current Championship Standings:

1st	Quartararo	172 points
2nd	Zarco	132 points
3rd	Mir	121 points
4th	Bagnaia	116 points

Moto GP will be returning to Austria again next weekend, as will British rider Cal Crutchlow (Petronas), who even though didn’t produce a spectacular race result this weekend after stepping in for injured rider Franco Morbidelli, he will do so again for the next two races. Will we see a top ten or podium finish for fan favourite Cal?

(Featured image: courtesy of Moto GP website).

4th August 2021

Moto GP season update

The massive five week gap is finally at it’s end. Moto GP is soon to return to our TV screens this Friday 6^th August, with the qualifying on Saturday 7th and race on Sunday 8^th.

Even though racing was on a break, news stories kept on coming in.

Since the fantastic Assen weekend with the two Yamaha teammates finishing first and second, one of them decided to pull out of his contract with Yamaha earlier than expected. Maverick Vinales will be parting ways with the factory team at the end of the 2021 season. Unfortunately, this may not come as much of a surprise as Vinales has been quite open about his feelings within the team recently and has been seen to be dejected many times in interviews. It has been rumoured that he will be joining Aprilia in 2022, as of yet, nothing has been confirmed or denied.

More news from Yamaha, but this time from Petronas Yamaha. It was announced that Franco Morbidelli will not be competing in the next three rounds due to a knee injury, sustained in a training accident, prior to the Assen race. Morbidelli has had knee trouble in the past, hopefully this time the injury can be corrected for good. Wishing him all the best of luck in his recovery.

Morbidelli is not expected to return to racing until September at Aragon

With Morbidelli out for three races, Petronas Yamaha have recruited British racer Cal Crutchlow. Having retired from Moto GP last year in 2020, Cal has been a test rider for Yamaha, so it did seem like the obvious choice. Crutchlow is a massive fan favourite and an all-round good guy and rider. He will be racing in Styria, Austria and his home track at Silverstone. So be sure to show your support for him.

When Franko returns to the paddock there will be some changes to the 2021 calendar:

For the second time in a row Australia and Thailand will not feature in the Moto GP season. Due to the on-going Covid 19 pandemic and travel restrictions, creating difficult decisions to be made. As a result of this the Malaysian Grand Prix has been brought forward a week, Portimao replaces Phillip Island and the Algarve GP has been added in November, for a second year in a row.

Updated 2021 Season Calendar (courtesy of Moto GP website).

This weekend though also sees the return of the Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. After, retiring back in 2018 from Repsol Honda, Dani has been a test rider for KTM ever since. He has been hailed as a massive part of their recent success in 2020 and 2021. He will be stepping in as a wildcard rider for the one-off race. Could this be the first of many appearances from the number 26?

From retirements to returns there has been one consistent in the whole of Moto GP for the past 25 years. The nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi will be celebrating this amazing anniversary.

Young Rossi on the podium in 1996 (courtesy of Gazetta).

Sunday 15^th August will be the Austrian GP and in 1996 Rossi took his first ever podium, in third place, competing in the 125 class. His 200^th podium is still eluding him though, will we finally witness history being made in the second part of this season?

Reminder of the current championship standings as of the last race weekend at Assen:

First	Quartararo	156 Points
Second	Zarco	122 Points
Third	Bagnaia	109 Points
Fourth	Mir (Current Champion)	101 Points

All information is current and correct on date of publication – 04-08-21

Featured imaged (courtesy of Moto GP website).

30th June 20214th July 2021

Battle rages at the Cathedral of Speed

Going into the weekend Remy Gardner leads the Moto2 championship by 36 points from his teammate Raul Fernandez, but the rookie earns his fourth pole of the season, as an eventful race sees him dropping back to ninth then clawing his way back to emerge victorious in the 9^th round of Moto2 2021.

Image courtesy of KTM/Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)

Fernandez’s teammate Remy Gardner starts from 2nd place and Sam Lowes completes the front row, ahead of Aron Canet in 4th, Ai Ogura 5th and Jorge Navarro starting 6th.

Off the line it is Canet who gets the best start, forcing Raul out wide into the first bend, causing him to drop back to 4th. Della Porta who started 8th gets caught in the middle of the group into turn 2 – catches the rear wheel of Navarro and is spat off, fortunately avoiding the other machines as his bike is launched into the air from the centre of the pack.

Canet leads, Gardner in second is closely followed by Lowes in third. Tony Arbolino crashes out uninjured shortly after at turn 7, his bike flipping across the gravel.

Lowes moves up past Gardner, then takes Canet to lead at the end of the first lap – Lowes leads briefly before Canet reclaims the lead.

Ai Ogura and Augusto Fernandez pass Raul Fernandez. Raul runs wide through turns 6 & 7 and drops back to ninth as Schrotter passes him.

Gardner passes Lowes out of the chicane, and Lowes gets back past Canet to move back into 2nd

Joe Roberts crashes out at turn 9, meaning that both Italtrans bikes are out of the race.

Augusto Fernandez moves up into 3^rd, as Raul battles for 7^th, then gradually works himself back up to 6^th.

With 20 laps to go Lowes starts to close the gap on Gardner. Approaching the start/finish line Lowes slots past, the two almost swapping paint, but Augusto Fernandez spots his opportunity and passes both of them, taking the lead, making it a 1-2 for Elf Marc VDS Racing Team, Gardner in 3^rd and Aron Canet in 4^th. Meanwhile Raul Fernandez is back up to 5^th, and DiGiannantonio moves up past Ai Ogura into 6^th.

On lap 7 Raul passes Canet to move up to 4^th, as Lowes, who is all over the back of Augusto, passes him to take the lead. A gap of just over a second separates Gardner in 3^rd and Raul in 4^th, giving Raul a clear space to push on.

Gardner slots past Augusto into 2^nd, and 3 laps later Raul catches Augusto, but Augusto takes Gardner to move back into 2^nd.

On lap 14 Augusto Fernandez increases the pressure on Sam Lowes, passing him to take the lead, as Raul gets past his teammate Gardner to move up into 3^rd.

Gardner starts to drop back slightly from the top 3, and shortly after Raul takes Lowes to move up into 2^nd place. The leading 4 start to spread out as Lowes struggles to match Raul Fernandez’s pace, as DiGiannantonio crashes out at turn 9 from 6^th.

Raul pursues Augusto, edging ever closer until he makes the move along the start/finish straight at the end of lap 17, with Augusto unable to come back at him.

Augusto runs wide, giving Lowes the opportunity to move up into 2^nd. Raul is starting to stretch out his lead with a 0.8 second lead over Lowes.

Lap 20 sees Aron Canet crashes out of 7^th place, sliding into the gravel at turn 3.

Raul leads by over a second, breaking away from Lowes, Augusto and Gardner. Into lap 22 at the end of the start/finish straight Augusto gets the drive past Lowes to move up into second. Lowes checks over his left shoulder into turn 1, as Gardner slips past on his right, dropping Lowes down into 4^th.

At the end of lap 23 Gardner passes Augusto, who pushes hard but is unable to come back at Gardner.

Raul Fernandez takes his third win of the season, ahead of his teammate Remy Gardner, with Augusto Fernandez claiming the 3^rd podium spot.

Gardner’s lead at the top of the championship narrows slightly to 31 points ahead of Raul Fernandez going into the summer break, Fernandez extends his lead over 3^rd place Bezzecchi from 11 points to 25, and Lowes holds onto 4^th place overall. With ten rounds still to go can Gardner hold onto the lead or will rookie Raul Fernandez spring yet more surprises?

First fifteen riders:

1 Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 25 points

2 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 20

3 Augusto Fernandez SPA – – 16

4 Sam Lowes BRI – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

5 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – Sky Racing Team VR46 – 11

6 Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 10

7 Jorge Navarro SPA – MB Conveyors Speed Up – 9

8 Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 8

9 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact – 7

10 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 6

11 Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 5

12 Albert Arenas SPA – Inde Aspar Team – 4

13 Stefano Manzi ITA – Flexbox HP40 – 3

14 Thomas Luthi SWI – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 2

15 Bo Bendsneyer NED – Pertamina SAG – 1

27th June 20214th July 2021

Yamaha Whitewash at the Dutch GP

Qualifying:

At the newly resurfaced Assen track the Yamahas were flying high. Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) claimed pole position and took the new lap record (1:31.814) in the process.

Both Vinales and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) were on the front row in first and second. With a surprise 3^rd from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) taking fourth.

Smiles for the pole man. Courtesy of: Moto GP website

While the factory boys were settled on the front row Franko Morbidelli (Yamaha) was not to compete in the qualifying or the race as he had again injured his knee and would need to undergo surgery for it. Stepping into his shoes was Garrett Gerloff from World Superbikes.

During Friday’s practice, last weekend’s race winner – Marc Marquez had a mechanical failure which saw him propelled from his Repsol Honda. The Spaniard succumbed to no further injuries and was cleared to race on Sunday. But, his qualifying result would make it hard to compete, starting from 20^th on the grid.

Race:

With 26 laps at the Dutch circuit and clear conditions, it looked like it would be a Yamaha victory for sure. But which Yamaha rider was going to step onto the top step of the podium?

Vinales took an interesting approach, being the only rider who chose to have a soft front tyre. All the other riders lined up on the grid with either medium or hard. As the lights went out Vinales was swamped. He had gone from pole to 5th, whilst his teammate went to first from 2^nd.

Vinales knew he needed to make a good start to fight for the win. He soon passed Alex Rins (Suzuki) for 4^th place, putting him behind Nakagami and Bagnaia. A tussle soon broke out between Fabio and Pecco for 1^st. Bagnaia eventually took the lead.

The Ducati lead the race, all the while with Quartararo watching, waiting for the right time to pounce – taking fastest lap in the process.

The fastest lap and the new lap record soon were beaten by Johann Zarco (Ducati), in 5^th place.

Bagnaia struggled to get any gap from Quartararo and on lap 6, turn 11 – Quartararo took the lead. Straight away he broke away from the pack with 20 laps to go. The space was soon 0.575 seconds. He then gained fastest lap and with the clean air in front of him furthered his lead to 0.900 seconds.

Quartararo out in the lead. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

It was unfortunately an early race finish for Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who crashed out turn 7, lap 8.

Beating his own fastest lap, Quartararo kept pushing himself and pumped out quicker and quicker laps. Trying to gain an advantage over Bagnaia, who was now in a race of his own too with a gap of 1.336 seconds to Quartararo and 0.506 seconds to Nakagami behind him.

Starting from 20^th on the grid Marc Marquez rode a very impressive race and by lap 10 he had secured 10^th place. Due to it’s many right-hand corners, Assen was never going to be a track that would favour the Honda or Marc’s injured arm.

Assen race track. Courtesy of: Asphaltandrubber.com

Nakagami’s Honda soon caught up to Bagnaia’s Ducati, they tussled for 2^nd place and during this Bagnaia received a track limit warning. The gap increased between them and Quartararo to 2.941 seconds. They continued to fight for the podium place, letting Fabio increase his lead further to 3.272 seconds, just over the half-way point in the race.

On lap 14 Bagnaia’s warning turned into a long-lap penalty for continuing to exceed track limits. He decided to take this on the next lap, rejoining the race in 7^th place.

Meanwhile, Nakagami had a terrible time and suddenly ended up in 6^th place, getting passed by 3 riders. His luck went from bad to worse and soon he was in 9^th place, behind Marquez and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). To further add to his torment he also received a track limit warning.

Jack Miller’s weekend wasn’t going well for him either and he crashed, turn 15. He managed to rejoin the race, but later his Ducati had mechanical issues and was told to retire.

Miller having to retire due to mechanical faults. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The gap between the top two Yamaha’s had reached over 4 seconds and there was no chance that Vinales could catch Quartararo. There was however battles behind them, between Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Zarco for 3^rd place and M.Marquez and A.Espargaro for 7^th.

Lap 20 saw Iker Lecuona (KTM) crash in the final chicane, leaving his bike floundering on the track. The marshals were quick to respond though.

The few fans present at the track were seeing a masterclass race by the young championship leader. Even though the gap between him and Vinales had reduced, with 7 laps to go Fabio was on for his fourth race win of the season. The reigning world champion was in 3^rd place having started from 10^th on the grid.

Mir, Zarco and Miguel Oliveira (KTM) had created their own group and fought for that last podium spot with Bagnaia, Marquez and Espargaro behind them. Marquez looked set to pass Bagnaia but it was a surprise pass by Aleix that took him to 7^th in-front of Marc.

The final lap: Quartararo comfortably secured 25 more precious championship points, ahead of a dejected Vinales and an elated Mir (who took his third podium this year).

Mir takes the third place trophy. Courtesy of: Team Suzuki Ecstar.

Top Ten Race Results:

First	F. Quartararo
Second	M. Vinales
Third	J. Mir
Fourth	J. Zarco
Fifth	M. Oliveira
Sixth	F. Bagnaia
Seventh	M. Marquez
Eigth	A. Espargaro
Ninth	T. Nakagami
Tenth	P. Espargaro

Top Four Championship Positions:

First	Quartararo	156 points
Second	Zarco	122 points
Third	Bagnaia	109 points
Fourth	Mir	101 points

Going into a 5 week summer break, the Yamaha’s seem unbeatable and yet there is speculation within the Vinales team that he may choose to leave them. Can this break re-kindle their relationship? Or will there be a breaking news story in the meantime? Join Moto GP for more action on Sunday 8^th August.

(Featured image, courtesy of: Moto GP)

21st June 20214th July 2021

Gardner extends lead in Moto2 championship

Remy Gardner dominated the 8^th round of Moto2 at the Sachsenring in Germany to take third win in a row, increasing his lead at the top of the championship.

Raul Fernandez at the 2021 Moto2 Le Mans Race. Image courtesy of Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)/KTM

Heading into the weekend, Gardner on 139 points was only 11 points ahead of his teammate Raul Fernandez, with Italian Marco Bezzecchi 3rd on 101, and Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 75.

The Sachsenring, at 2.28 miles, is a tight, twisty track, and the focus for the weekend was on tyre preservation. High temperatures on Friday and Saturday, with a slightly cooler temperature on race day also added to the tension, with the whole field on a hard compound on the front and a soft rear.

A blistering lap time of 1:23.397 in Q2 earned Raul Fernandez pole, pushing Di Giannantonio into 2^nd, with Remy Gardner completing the front row. After a crash in Q2, Britain’s Sam Lowes started on the 3^rd row of the grid in 7^th place.

Fernandez took the lead off the line, closely followed by Gardner. Di Giannantonio dropped back into 6^th, and Xavi Vierge moved up from 5^th on grid up into 3^rd.

The opening laps seemed to be shaping up to be another battle between Fernandez and Gardner, as the two Ajo KTMs pulled away from the rest of the field, with a half second gap opening up behind them to Vierge.

On lap two, Gardner passed his teammate and took the lead, as Sam Lowes dropped back into 14^th.

The Ajo’s increased their lead with every lap – 2.5 secs ahead of third place on lap 3, and on lap 4 a gap of 3.8 secs.

Gardner settled into a rhythm putting in faster lap times, with Raul Fernandez pushing hard to stay on his tail, but on Lap 5 the rookie showed his lack of experience and lost the front end at turn 3, sliding into the gravel and out of the race.

Spain’s Aron Canet, who started 10th on the grid, had worked his way up through the field and now moved up to second, starting to pull away from Bezzecchi.

Gardner, riding a lonely race, gradually stretched out his lead to 5 seconds ahead of Canet with Bezzecchi in 3rd.

On lap 21 Lowes moved up into 8th place, meanwhile Bezzecchi & Di Giannantonio swapped places in a battle for 3^rd, with Bezzecchi eventually making it stick.

Gardner extended his lead to 6.5 secs over 2^nd place Canet, who in turn was over 2 seconds ahead of Bezzecchi.

On lap 26 Honda Team Asia rookie Ai Ogura passed Xavi Vierge to move up into 5^th, and both Ogura and Bezzecchi started to close in on Canet.

Remy Gardner at the 2021 Le Mans Moto2 RaceImage courtesy of Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)/KTM

The last lap brought yet more surprises, with Vierge, running in 6^th, crashing out on turn 1, followed by Joe Roberts at the same corner, and Ai Ogura out on turn 8. Gardner crossed the line comfortably ahead of Canet who held onto 2^nd, with Bezzecchi in 3^rd. Di Giannantonio claimed 4^th, and after the incidents on the last lap Sam Lowes moved up to take 5^th.

The gap at the top of the championship has now widened, with Gardner going into the next round at Assen 36 points clear of teammate Fernandez, who is now only 11 points ahead of Bezzecchi. Can Fernandez pull something out of the bag at the Dutch TT, or will Gardner make it four in a row and further increase his lead?

First fifteen riders:

1 Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull Ajo KTM – 25 points

2 Arón Canet SPA – Aspar Team – 20

3 Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 16

4 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini – 13

5 Sam Lowes BRI – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 11

6 Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact – 10

7 Jorge Navarro SPA – MB Conveyors Speed Up – 9

8 Albert Arenas SPA – Inde Aspar Team – 8

9 Marcos Ramirez SPA – American Racing – 7

10 Cameron Beaubier USA – American Racing – 6

11 Nicolo Bulega ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 5

12 Alonso López SPA – Flexbox HP40 – 4

13 Bo Bendsneyer NED – Pertamina SAG – 3

14 Barry Baltus BEL – NTS RW Racing GP – 2

15 Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 1

20th June 2021

Mighty Marc Marquez

Qualifying:

During the qualifying Johann Zarco (Ducati) took pole breaking Fabio Quartararo’s (Yamaha) row of poles. He then took a tumble on turn 4, with just over a minute of qualifying left. Moments later Takaaki Nakagami also fell – turn 1. Both incidents caused the yellow flags to be waved meaning that Zarco clinched pole from Quartararo, Jack Miller (Ducati) and Marc Marquez (Honda).

Clouds looming over the pole sitter. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Race:

Although being hot and humid at the Sachsenring Circuit, there were clouds above which caused concerns that it might turn to rain, but the race was not declared a wet race.

The 30 lap circuit, with it’s mainly left-hander corners, along with the weather conditions could potentially play into Marquez’s hands – but was this too much to ask?

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) led from the line, getting ahead of Marquez and Zarco. Whilst Marc went forwards, the championship leader went backwards. But it was Brad Binder (KTM) who gained the most places from the grid going up 6 places by lap 2.

M. Marquez soon took the lead from A. Espargaro, but Aleix didn’t want to give up the position easily and fought Marc for it. Meanwhile, Jack Miller (Ducati) and Quartararo had a tussle for 4^th behind them.

Leading from the front. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

It was the reigning champion Joan Mir (Suzuki) who quickly got the fastest lap, but it was soon taken by Marquez, who was all to happy to start gaining a lead on Aleix.

It wasn’t long until Miguel Oliveira (KTM) stole fastest lap, twice in a row and also passed Quartararo for 5^th place. He was picking up the pace and fast. He knew he couldn’t let Marc get too far ahead, whether or not Marquez was 100% fit or not.

Lap 5, turn 1, during a racing incident, both Alex Marquez (Honda) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) fell into the gravel.

On the next lap, it was Lorenzo Savadori’s (Aprilia) turn to end his race early.

Seeing Marquez eek his lead out further Miller decided he needed to make a move on Zarco and passed him with 23 laps to go, into 3^rd place.

But then, it seemed the weather had took a turn and the white flags started to be waved, which meant that riders could come into the pits to change their bikes should they wish to – in preparation for rain. However, lap 10 saw the white and red flags being waved, signifying rain. The clouds never picked up momentum though and no rider came into the pits to swap their bikes.

The number 93 knew some riders who saw drops on their visors may slow down and he saw this as his moment to really push forward. The gap between him and Miller soon became 1.417 seconds with 21 laps to the end.

All bikes had medium and hard tyre combinations except Nakagami’s Honda which had a soft rear tyre. It was either going to be a masterstroke or a disaster, it was not the former.

As the rain became a little harder A. Espargaro went from 2^nd to 4^th and Fabio passed Johann, to take 5^th place. It was now Marquez leading Miller, Oliveira and A. Espargaro, going into lap 12.

It wasn’t long into the 12^th lap that Oliveira secured 2^nd from Miller and went straight into hunting down Marquez. The gap between the two was 1.669 seconds.

Oliveira soon managed to get away from the rest of the pack and secured another two fastest laps in a row, trying to hunt down the King of the Ring, but Marquez responded with another fastest lap and extended his lead to 1.989 seconds, half-way through the race.

Meanwhile, at the other end of group – Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) and Franko Morbidelli (Yamaha) were having an awful weekend, fighting to not be in last place.

Mini battles started to form, mainly between Binder and Zarco for 6^th place and Quartararo and A. Espargaro for 4^th.

The gap between Marquez and Oliveira slowly declined to 1.411 seconds, with 12 laps to go – could Miguel catch Marc?

Oliveira hunting down Marquez. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Digging deep with 11 laps to go Marquez kept his consistent lap times and still led Oliveira, but Fabio and Jack had swapped positions in 3^rd and 4^th behind him.

A. Espargaro couldn’t hold onto his 5^th place any longer from Binder, who needed to try and aim for a podium finish.

The gap dipped to just under one second between the Honda and the KTM in 1^st and 2^nd, with 5 laps to the chequered flag. But, Marquez responded in typical Marc-of-old style and found some energy and picked the pace up again and soon extended his lead to 1.095 seconds, which soon became 1.931 seconds with 3 laps to go.

During this time Zarco was passed by Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati), handing Fabio some more precious championship points and Binder passed Miller (whose tyres were starting to show signs of wear) for 4^th place.

Last lap of the race and all Moto GP fans, regardless of who they follow or what team they support – were behind Marc Marquez to just stay on his Repsol Honda and win. And that was just what he did! For the first time in 581 days Marc Marquez passed the finish line in first place! Keeping his winning record at the Sachsenring going, this was his 8^th victory in a row in the Premier Class at the German circuit and the 11^th win in a row from all classes. Marquez also took his 57^th Moto GP victory.

Celebrating with his team. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Holding himself together in the interview after the race he stated that he wanted to try and fight for a podium finish and that he wasn’t sure he could go for the win, saying …”it was really hard to concentrate…”.

Oliveira finished 2^nd taking three podiums in a row for KTM. In his post-race interview he said …”I’ll take a second anyday at Sachsenring to him…” and Fabio Quartararo took the last podium position securing important points for his championship lead.

There was nothing but respect for Marc in Parc Ferme from all the riders – they all know and understand what he has gone through and what he has had to do to get back to where he is now.

It is undeniable that Marquez is King Of The Ring!

Race results: Top Ten:

First	M. Marquez
Second	M. Oliveira
Third	F. Quartararo
Fourth	B. Binder
Fifth	F. Bagnaia
Sixth	J. Miller
Seventh	A. Espargaro
Eight	J. Zarco
Ninth	J. Mir
Tenth	P. Espargaro

Championship results: Top Four:

First	F. Quartararo	131 points
Second	J. Zarco	109 points
Third	J. Miller	100 points
Fourth	F. Bagnaia	99 points

The championship is still extremely close and hard to predict. What will happen in the next round at Assen? It is a typically good track for Yamaha, but will the race mirror this?

Featured image: Courtesy of Moto GP