Tag: PortugueseGP

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Moto3: Holgado Wins The Battle Of Portugal!

Image Credit: MotoGP @PolarityPhoto

Back to back wins for Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) in Portimão! From 4th place to 1st in 2023 and now in 2024. Pole sitter Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) fought hard and took a great 2nd place with Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) finishing in 3rd. 

It was a Moto3 classic and a thrilling race on a rollercoaster of a circuit. Holgado clung on at the end in an ever changing order at the front throughout the 19 laps of the Grand Prix. Holgado tops the championship as we head to Austin, Texas in a couple of week’s time.

AS IT HAPPENED

Rueda would have been forgiven for thinking he was going to have an easy race out in front in the early stages. Constant interchanging of positions behind the KTM Ajo rider, Rueda managed to pull a half a second gap ahead to those behind, mostly due to the great start off the line.

As Alonso and Holgado fought yellow flags waved in sector 3 as Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) and Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) collided. Both riders ok and Rueda lead as they crossed the line to complete the 1st lap.

Riccardo Rossi (CIP Green Power) joined the party at the front and moved into 3rd as David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) dropped back to 5th. Alonso had a lot of work to do early on but we all know Alonso has no problems fighting his way back through a field of riders.

Over the next few laps we headed to quarter race distance with Rueda in control of what was a raging battle behind him. Alonso flying up the inside of any rider who was in front of him through his favoured turns 10 and 11.

The field continued to reel Rueda in at the front over the next few laps. Holgado and Alonso dicing with each other where ever possible with Rueda just 2 tenths clear of Holgado as we headed into lap 9.

Lap 9 and Holgado had a look at Rueda into turn 2 and Alonso nearly ran into the back of Holgado. Alonso now back to 5th place with another charge through the field to do with 11 laps left of the race. Into turns 10 and 11 and Alonso is back up to 4th past Rossi.

Down the hill into turn 1, Ortola was last on the brakes and up into 2nd place ahead of Holgado. Holgado then ran in too hot and missed going back passed Ortola. This left the door open for Alonso to go by Holgado and then up the inside of Ortola only a few corners later. Alonso completed his charge and finally took the lead of the race getting passed Rueda.

With 9 laps to go we had a lead group of 6 with Alonso and Holgado at the front pulling away from Ortola leading the others behind.

 

As we moved into the final third of the Grand Prix in the Algarve, we still had an ever changing order at the front with Holgado 1st, Alonso in 2nd and Rueda in 3rd.

5 laps to go and sector 2 in yellow flags as Rossi went over the handle bars. Rider ok though as the lead group of 6 with Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), Ortola and Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) now keen to get involved with the front 3 battle.

Lap 18 of 19 and Holgado and Rueda have pulled a gap to the rest out in front. Dropping down through the high speed turn 15 Holgado in 1st as we started the last lap of the race.

Veijer went by Alonso as Alonso headed backwards. Veijer and Alonso fought handed breathing room for Ortola as Ortola now comfortable in 3rd.

Coming into the final sector Rueda only had a couple of corners left to go for the win. Holgado clung onto the lead through turns 14 and 15 to take victory in what was a Moto3 classic.

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Moto3: First Pole for Rueda in Portugal!

Image Credit: @PolarityPhoto on X

From a hospital check up to pole position in a matter of hours. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put it all on the line today in the Algarve to take his first career pole position in the Moto3 class.

Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) starts from the middle of the front row tomorrow in 2nd and David Alonso (CFMOTO Aspar Team) rounds off the front row in 3rd.

AS IT HAPPENED

Qualifying 1

Some notable names as we headed into the Q1 session in Portimão. Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse),  Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets MSI) and Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) would be very keen to get into Q2 this afternoon.

Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) at turn 5 went up the inside of Yamanaka and into a huge high side with the bike landing on top of the rider as the rest of the riders scattered left and right to avoid a collision. Rider thankfully ok after that one.

Through the first time attacks it was Yamanaka at the top with a 1:47.979 followed by Nicola Carraro (LEVELUP – MTA), Farioli and rookie Angel Piqueras ( Leopard Racing).

Back into the pits at the end of the first run, and with 4mins left of the session everything was still to play for to get through to Q2. Tatsuki Suzuki ( Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) continued to circle round on his Honda and managed to get up to 5th in the timings with just a minute remaining of the session.

Piqueras and Carraro touched as the riders all came round the final corner to try and cross the line before the chequered flag. The majority of the field failed to beat the flag apart from Vicente Perez (Red Bull KTM Ajo).

Perez delighted after timing his final run to perfection and managed to bump Piqueras out of the top 4.

The top 4 heading through to Q2 were Yamanaka, Carraro, Farioli and Perez.

Qualifying 2

All of the riders in Q2 were keen to get out of the pits from the off in this 15 minute session. After the first time attacks Alonso was at the top of the timings but only just ahead of Rueda who was a tenth of a second shy from Alonso in 2nd.

Last seasons race winner Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) punched into the 1:46s for the first time this weekend only to be topped by Rueda and Alonso as they crossed the line after their 2nd flying laps.

The first attack at pole position sorted with several minutes left of the session the riders headed into the pits for some final changes. On provisional pole at this stage was Rueda with Alonso 2nd and Holgado 3rd rounding off the front row.

Kelso straight out of the pits and on fire getting a massive toe from his teammate blasting down the straight to start his flying lap into turn 1. Kelso up half a second in sector 1 to carry through the rest of the lap. Into the rollercoaster turn 15 Kelso blasted over the line and into provisional pole with a mighty 1:46.438. Rueda and the rest behind had a lot of work to do here to beat Kelso.

As the 2 Ajo KTM’s squabbled with each other, Alonso was pushing hard as Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) crashed out at turn 8. Fernandez was back up to his feet as Alonso crossed the line but only managed to get up to 2nd in the timings.

The seconds ticked down and as the chequered flag waved everyone was fighting hard on their last chance at grabbing pole position. As Alonso finished just shy of Kelso by less than a tenth of a second Jose Antonio Rueda pulled out all of the stops to take his first Grand Prix pole position.

A fantastic lap from Rueda and after finishing in 4th place in the race last season, Rueda will be confident of at least a podium tomorrow.

Qualifying Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Official Starting Grid

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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Moto2: Gonzalez On Pole In Portimão!

Image Credit: MotoGP

An all Spanish front row locked in for the Portuguese Grand Prix tomorrow. Manual Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) with a stunning lap took his first ever pole position in Moto2.

Championship contenders for 2024 Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) 2nd and Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) in 3rd complete the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s race. 

AS IT HAPPENED

 

Qualifying 1

Former teammates Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) both the big surprise names in this Q1 session. Chantra went straight to the top of the standings on his Kalex as the Moto2 riders were all out on track on their first run’s.

First time attacks posted in the session and the top 4 at this point heading to Q2 were Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP), Chantra, Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP).

5mins left of the session remained and Ogura was out on a flying lap as the rest were in the pits making changes. The number #73 bike blasted his way up to the front with an impressive 1:42.259. Ayumu Sasaki (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) last season’s Moto3 championship protagonist, moved up into 4th only to be pipped by another Moto3 rookie Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team) with just 2 minutes left of the Q2 session.

Chantra was the next rider to light up all of the sectors red and moved into provisional pole with just 90 seconds left of the session.

The top 4 heading through to Q2 were Chantra, Ogura, Moreira and Agius.

Qualifying 2

One of the top guns in Moto2 and Ducati’s latest signing Aldeguer sat atop of the timings after the first run of flying laps. Albert Arenas (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) was in 2nd and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) sat in 3rd with 7 minutes left of the session.

Aldeguer extended his advantage at the top on the following lap now +0.312s ahead of Arenas at the top.

As we moved into the final phase of the session Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) moved up into 2nd with both Gresini riders 2nd and 3rd as only a few minutes of the session remained.

This didn’t last long as the Boscoscuro of Alonso Lopez joined Aldeguer at the top now in 2nd.

Aron Canet on his last flying lap moved up into provisional pole only to be beaten at the end of Q2 by Gonzalez. What a lap from Gonzalez and a fantastic first ever pole position for the Gresini Racing rider.

Just 2 tenths of a second split Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team) in 5th to Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in 14th place. A great qualifying session in Moto2 and one that Gonzalez won’t forget for some time.  A new all time lap record set with a 1:41.514.

Qualifying Classification 

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP

Official Starting Grid

Image Credit: MotoGP
Image Credit: MotoGP
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MotoGP: Bagnaia Cruises to Victory in Portugal

Our reigning MotoGP Champion, Pecco Bagnaia, has enjoyed a dream start to his 2023 season after taking a clean sweep in the first weekend of action. The Ducati rider has won Saturday’s Sprint Race before going on to dominate in Sunday’s Feature Race. He was joined on the podium by Maverick Vinales and Marco Bezzecchi.

After making history by winning MotoGP’s first ever Sprint Race on Saturday, Pecco Bagnaia has carried on his winning streak on Sunday, with victory at the Portuguese GP Feature Race. He took the lead on Lap 2 and, despite a good challenge from Maverick Vinales, he never looked back and took the chequered flag with a comfortable 0.68 second lead.

Our pole sitter, Marc Marquez, crashed out of the race on Lap 3. He made a huge mistake in the braking zone into Turn 3 and clipped the back of Jorge Martin, who was running in 3rd. As he went down, he clattered into the back of home hero Miguel Oliveira, running in 2nd, and brought him into the gravel with him. His injuries saw Oliveira stretched off track and taken to the medical centre – we are still waiting for an update on his condition. Martin was lucky to stay upright and rejoined the track in 16th, before crashing out of the race at Turn 2, on Lap 20 of 25.

Taking advantage of this drama was Maverick Vinales who carefully made his way through the incident and found himself up to 2nd, after starting 7th. He was quickly on the back of Bagnaia but didn’t quite have the pace to steal the lead from him. He ended the day in 2nd.

Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the podium spots with a well-earned 3rd place. He took 3rd from Jack Miller on Lap 6 but failed to close the gap on the leading pair. For much of the race, the battle for fourth was where the majority of the action was taking place, and Miller was a key part of this. He battled with Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Aleix Espargaro and Johann Zarco for much of the race. However, on the final lap, Zarco bested all of them as he leap-frogged from 7th up to 4th with a late move. Alex Marquez, Binder and Miller were forced to settle with 5th, 6th and 7th respectively.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Fabio Quartararo had a difficult day starting in 10th, losing 5 places at the start and then fighting his way back up to end the race in 8th. He took that spot on the penultimate lap as Espargaro made a mistake that opened the door for the Frenchman.

With 6 riders failing to finish the race, all 14 finishers crossed the line to secure some points. Those non-finishers included Luca Marini who suffered his fourth crash of the weekend – a disappointing start to his season after such a consistent year in 2022 – as well as Fabio Di Giannantonio, who retired with mechanical issues on Lap 11, and Raul Fernandez, who crashed on the penultimate lap of the race.

After a perfect weekend, Bagnaia is sitting pretty at the top of the championship standings. Just behind him is Vinales, lagging behind by 12 points, and Bezzecchi, a further 9 points behind.

We only have to wait 7 days for the drama to continue, as the grid will be in action on the 1st and 2nd of April in Argentina.

Full Results:
1st Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
2nd Maverick Viñales Aprilia
3rd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
4th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
5th Alex Marquez Gresini
6th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
7th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
8th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
9th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
10th Alex Rins LCR Honda
11th Joan Mir Repsol Honda
12th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
13th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
14th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
Championship Standings:
1st Pecco Bagnaia 37 points
2nd Maverick Vinales 25 points
3rd Marco Bezzecchi 16 point
4th Johann Zarco 15 points
5th Jack Miller 15 points

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Marquez Comes From Nowhere To Take Pole In Portugal

Marc Marquez has snatched pole position for the first race of the 2023 MotoGP season, in Portugal. He will be joined on the front row by reigning champion, Pecco Bagnaia, and Jorge Martin. 2023 is the first season to include Sprint Races, giving this qualifying session even more importance.

The 2023 MotoGP season may be starting with a new-look format, but there is a familiar name at the front of the grid after qualifying in Portugal. Marc Marquez, after coming through Q1 to then struggle in Q2, came from nowhere to lay down just one flying lap that took him from 12th to 1st. He set a lap time of 1:37.226, which is a new lap record for the circuit. With a Sprint Race later this afternoon, Marquez has given himself two pole positions for the weekend as qualifying sets the grid for both the spring and main races.

Joining him on the front row will be our reigning champion, Pecco Bagnaia. He was in the mix for the whole session and spent much of Q2 in provisional 3rd before his final lap saw him temporarily take pole position. Jorge Martin and his Prima Pramac Racing machine will line up in 3rd after a strong session.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Miguel Oliveira, who also had to make his way up through Q1, will start both of this weekend’s races in 4th, with Jack Miller in 5th. The Australian rider will be disappointed with 5th after spending the first half of the session in provisional pole. He then crashed at Turn 3, with 3 minutes left on the clock, and wasn’t able to fight back from there and was shuffled back to 5th as others riders were able to improve.

Enea Bastianini, who helpfully gave Marquez a tow that helped him to secure pole, will line up in 6th, ahead of Maverick Vinales in 7th and Marco Bezzecchi in 8th. The top 10 will be completed by Luca Marini and Johann Zarco in 9th and 10th.

It was a difficult day for Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro, in 11th and 12th respectively. Quartararo was consistently off the pace throughout Q2 and ended the day a whopping 0.694 seconds away from pole. Espargaro, just 5 minutes in to the session, went down at Turn 13 and struggled to recover from there.

In the previous Q1 session, Alex Marquez and Joan Mir were disappointed to not progress to Q2 after a strong session. Marquez faced a scary moment in the early stages of the session, nearly losing the front of the bike in the final sector but somehow managing to stay upright. The pair will line up 13th and 14th on the grid respectively.

Marc Marquez took a gamble in Q1 by staying in the pits for the second half of the session. He had already laid down a brilliant lap time – a new lap record at that time – and decided to save his tires by watching the final minutes of Q1 from the back of the garage. It clearly paid off as he enjoyed celebrating his pole position with the adoring Portuguese crowd.

Don’t forget, with the new format this weekend, this qualifying session has now set the grid for both today’s sprint race and tomorrow’s main race. Crew On Two will have all the updates you need!

FULL STARTING GRID:
1 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
2 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
3 Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
4 Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
5 Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
6 Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo
7 Maverick Vinales Aprilia
8 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
9 Luca Marini Mooney VR46
10 Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
11 Alex Marquez Gresini
12 Joan Mir Repsol Honda
13 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
14 Alex Rins LCR Honda
15 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
16 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
17 Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
18 Raul Fernandez CryptoRNF
19 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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