2017 Archives

27th August 2017

Fourth Win for Dovizioso as Marquez Retires

Andrea Dovizioso has taken his fourth win of the 2017 MotoGP season in a scintillating British Grand Prix at Silverstone, which saw Cal Crutchlow finish fourth, Valentino Rossi lead for the majority of the race and Marc Marquez retire with a suspected engine failure.

Into turn one on the first lap, Valentino Rossi led and instantly pulled away from the chasing pack. Marc Marquez and Cal Crutchlow were in behind, whilst Dovi and Maverick Vinales battled it out over fourth and fifth. Jorge Lorenzo was also a fast starter, occupying sixth.

By the end of the first two laps, Rossi had a lead of over a second. Whilst Vinales was able to get to second, he was only able to close Valentino down in the final sector, with the gap hovering at around 0.8 seconds.

An early retirement was Britain’s Sam Lowes, having crashed his Gresini Racing Aprilia. The former World Supersport champion leaves MotoGP at the end of the season to join the Interwetten Moto2 team, who currently field Tom Luthi. Teammate Aleix Espargaro also retired later on.

With seven laps to go, Valentino Rossi had been virtually caught by the chasing quartet which consisted of Dovizioso, Marquez, Vinales and home-hero, Cal Crutchlow. However, approaching Stowe corner, Marc Marquez suffered a suspected engine failure as a cloud of smoke billowed from the factory Honda. A rare occasion to see a HRC machine blow up, with one other notable incident being in 1998, in World Superbikes with Aaron Slight suffering similar fate in the closing stages at Monza.

Dovizioso moved through to take the lead at Stowe with three laps to go. Rossi initially trying to fight with his fellow countryman but having to settle for 2nd. Then, later in the lap, Maverick Vinales powered ahead his 38-year-old teammate going into Brooklands.

Despite the Yamaha duo’s best efforts, they were forced to stay as they were as Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso took his second consecutive victory, his fourth of the year. Vinales and Rossi completed the podium with Crutchlow fourth. It was Valentino Rossi’s 300th premier class start and he celebrated it with his 190th premier class podium. Dovizioso gave Ducati their 37th victory in MotoGP.

The Italian now leads the series as MotoGP heads to Ducati’s backyard at Misano, some 85 miles away from the manufacturer’s home city of Bologna. Valentino Rossi also heads home, as the nine-time champion lives just 10 miles away from the Misano circuit.

Top 5: Championship Standings after 12 races

1.) Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati, 183

2.) Marc Marquez, Honda, 174 +9

3.) Maverick Vinales, Yamaha 170 +13

4.) Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 157 +26

5.) Dani Pedrosa, Honda, 148 +35

26th August 2017

British GP: Moto2 Preview – Tightening at the Top

The championship battle in the intermediate class has properly begun to heat up as the Grand Prix circus heads to Silverstone in Northamptonshire this weekend.

Having looked almost like running away with the championship just a few rounds ago, championship leader Franco Morbidelli has seen his lead in the standings slowly diminish to his rivals. Admittedly, the MarcVDS rider has a 26 point buffer to his chief rival, Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi but the Swiss has once again shown himself to be one of the most consistent competitors – scoring points at ten of the eleven championship rounds so far – including victory at Brno three weeks ago. How far Luthi can push Morbidelli for the title will be fascinating both this season and beyond – the pair will be team-mates next season at MarcVDS-Honda in MotoGP.

Whilst it is still mathematically possible for Morbidelli’s current team-mate, Alex Marquez to take the Moto2 crown, it is looking practically ever more unlikely. With 153 points, the Spaniard will need a miracle to overhaul the deficit. Race wins are now the priority and after Friday’s practice sessions at Silverstone, he looks set to be targeting just that – finishing the day as the fastest man in the Moto2 field. With his team-mate departing for the premier class in 2018, the time has come for Marquez to lay down a marker for next season as the man to beat on a 600cc prototype machine.

Another rider who will be targeting podiums and victories during the latter part of this season is KTM’s Miguel Oliveira. The former Moto3 winner has had a superb maiden season with Aki Ajo’s factory supported team, notching up five podium finishes so far. The team entered the class at the start of this season with the ambition of emulating their successes from the junior category and so far, they’re not doing bad. Olivera’s reputation has grown considerably this season, leading to expectations from many onlookers that the Portuguese rider will – sooner rather than later – progress to the MotoGP paddock with the Austrian team. A victory here at Silverstone would further strengthen his claim to a place in the premier class and seek to be Portugal’s greatest motorcycle racer.

As it’s the British Grand Prix, the Moto2 class is the recipient of a wildcard entrant. None other than the flamboyant British Superbike race winner, Jake Dixon, who is swapping his RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki machine for a ride with the Dynavolt-Intact team, alongside Sandro Cortese. His appearance means British fans now have two native riders to cheer on Sunday, with fellow compatriot (and regular Moto2 entrant) Tarran MacKenzie riding for Kiefer Racing. There is much hope for a good result from the young Brit this weekend, as he gets the chance to race at a circuit he’s already familiar with. With both riders coming from the British series, it highlights just how competitive and strong our domestic championship is.

The Moto2 race gets underway on Sunday at 14:00 UK time.

Ed Hocknull – @EdHocknull

26th August 201726th August 2017

British GP: Moto3 Preview – Home Hero McPhee set to Chase Down Mir

The historic Silverstone circuit plays host to the 12th round of a Moto3 championship that seems all but over, with Leopard Racing’s Joan Mir leading the rest of the field by 64 points. This is the highest leading margin in the lightweight class since Alvaro Bautista lead Mika Kallio by 69 points at this stage in 2006.

Barring a catastrophic final seven rounds, Mir looks to be well in control of this championship. His comfortable victory at the Red Bull Ring last time out was his seventh win in 11 races. The last rider to do something similar I hear you ask? None other than Valentino Rossi, who was victorious in nine of the first 11 rounds back in 1997.

Those stats alone shows just how impressive the 19 year-old has been this year and you’ll be kidding yourself if you think his fine form won’t continue on British soil. Last year, Mir crossed the line in ninth place at Silverstone after starting fifth. If normal service resumes, we can expect a result that consolidates his mammoth title lead this time round.

Realistically, despite a sizeable chunk of the season to go, the likes of Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and the walking wounded Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) will battle it out to be best of the rest.

Second in the championship Fenati failed to keep the pressure on Mir in Austria as he came home in a disappointing 13th place, his equal worst finishing result of the season so far (his other coming at his home round, Mugello).

The Italian has a Spaniard close for company as Canet continues to impress, he crossed the line in a solid fifth position at the red Bull Ring. Canet will go well this weekend, having finished eighth last year and has since gained plenty of experience at the ripe old age of just 17. One of the paddock’s best upcoming talents, be sure to watch out for him.

The spotlight will be on Scotland’s finest John McPhee, as he and the British Talent Cup Team will look to entertain their home crowd for the first time together. The ever popular Brit will have the backing from pretty much every spectator all weekend and after a positive season, he’ll be right up there battling for the podium come race day.

Replicating his victory at Brno last season will be his aim, his only win in Moto3 to date. The experienced lightweight class rider will thrive on the home support as he goes in search of his fourth podium of the season.

A big shout out to City Lifting/RS Racing duo Thomas Booth-Amos and Jake Archer too, as they make their grand prix debuts this weekend as wildcards. Be sure to back them all weekend from the grandstands. They’ve so far dominated the British Motostar championship on their Ryan Saxelby prepared KTMs.

As usual, the Moto3 class never disappoints on race day. A gaggle of riders will be battling it out for the lead right up to Luffield and Woodcote. Will Mir extend his championship lead, or can the chasing pack claw something back? Do not miss a moment of action.

Elliott York – @journoyork

25th August 201725th August 2017

Exclusive: Steve Buckenham Interview – Danny Will Not Be Riding For Us in 2018

The owner of Morello Kawasaki, Steve Buckenham, has confirmed that Danny Buchan will not feature in the team’s plans for 2018, whether it be in Superbike or Superstock. In this exclusive interview, Buckenham talks about a possible return to Superbikes, how he rates the new Superstock 1000 format, his personal opinion on Fraser Rogers’ season and just why Danny Buchan is not part of their team next season.

With Danny Buchan in your team, you must have known you’d be competitive from the start?

Everybody assumed that Danny would come in and as the 2014 champion, do very well. We had Josh Elliott and he gave us the 2015 championship but look at him this year. Until Danny got on the bike for pre-season testing, no one really knew how he would get on. I think even from Danny’s point of view, it’s been a bit harder than what he thought. This year, we have moved on a lot and that is because of Chris Sayle who builds the bikes, Sam Palmer and Ryan who work on the bikes and Danny who rides the bike very well. We are very happy with what Danny is doing.

However, with Fraser, it is a different story. I thought he’d be doing a lot better. He’s got nowhere near his times in places where he went well last year and I personally think that is down to a little bit of pressure coming from Danny. He may not admit it, but I believe it is.

I think it is a negative to bring in a rider of such stature in Danny Buchan, as I thought Fraser would have learnt from him instead. Fraser is used to being the star kid in the team; he was number one last year. Having said it’s a negative, I’d do it all again. Fraser went to Assen and competed in the IDM last week and I said to him, “you’ll do well over there”. It’s fast and it’s flowing and he we was doing well until he was taken out. Anything that is fast and flowing, Fraser will be fast. His downfall is that he is riding the bike like it is a 600cc Supersport bike. Danny’s bike has got hardly any scrape marks on the fairing but Fraser’s has got loads, because he carries so much more lean angle. Fraser could be on full throttle and Danny could be on three quarter throttle, yet Danny is still quicker.

Have you exceeded or under achieved in relation to pre-season expectations?

With Danny, he’s done exactly what I thought Danny would do. However, as I’ve said, in Danny’s eyes, it has been a bit harder than what he thought. With Fraser, I believe that he has really under achieved. Although he has gone quicker at some tracks, like Brands Hatch, that is all I can say. He has been disappointing this year. I compare Fraser now to how Danny was when he was 21. The lad has undoubted talent and bags of it but he just needs to sit and listen and take things on board. He is probably one of the fastest riders in the paddock on his day.

There is no favouritism at all. Not in any way, shape or form. Another reason why he may be struggling is because this National Superstock 1000 championship is one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive, in the paddock.

What did you expect from Fraser in 2017?

I expected Fraser to be on the podium and I expected him to be Danny’s wingman. It is his second year with us and I would’ve expected him to be doing more than what he’s done thus far. For example, on Friday at Cadwell Park he was doing 1.29s but on Saturday he was in the 1.30s. The team has stayed the same as last year so the bottom line is that Fraser is under pressure and struggling.

What have been the main challenges this season?

The competition! 100% competition, nothing else. Bike wise, Danny was a bit unlucky at Snetterton and also at Brands Hatch, as he was running 20HP down. They ran it on the dyno and the results showed that it had lost 20HP. I won’t go into why that happened but these things happen. Danny has challenged himself in some ways. When you’re riding well, winning comes easily – like in 2014 for Danny. But this year, he has been pushed and forced to hit every apex and not to make a mistake and suddenly, the lap times don’t come quite as easy and neither does the domination.

For me, Danny had to come back into this championship and win it. There’s no guarantee that he will win it just yet either. Danny and Richard Cooper – without taking anything away from anyone else – have a big point to prove. Even though there are young, up and coming riders chasing them down, none of them are ready to move to a Superbike. Danny and Richard are still the cream of the class and they’re both under such massive pressure. I think whoever loses this championship won’t get a ride in Superbikes next season. Someone who may be over-performing further down the points table however, may get an opportunity but that is the politics of this paddock.

What do you make of the new National Superstock 1000 championship format?

I think some teams have criticised it because they may not have the budget to do it competitively. We are fortunate in the sense that I own a business and I can throw more or less anything at it. For our team, there is no budget.

My own opinion on the 50 mile back-to-back races is that it is wrong to have them. I think it should just be a Sprint Race on Saturday, followed by the Feature Race on a Sunday. I’d say that 99% of the Superstock 1000 guys would agree with me on that. Some of the teams in the championship are not set up to do the 50 miles back-to-back races. When you’ve got to refuel and change tyres in 10 minutes, even for our team, that is hard going. Everything has to fall into place to do that with some degree of success. It takes one thing to go wrong and you’ve had it.

However, whilst some people may agree with my proposed format, some people would be scared to challenge Stuart Higgs on it, as they all asked for more track time. So, Stuart would say, “you’ve got what you asked”.

What are the main differences between a Superstock bike and a Superbike?

It’s quite funny actually. I hear all these different people saying this and that about how easy it is to come off a Superbike and ride a Superstock bike – it’s absolutely rubbish. Josh Elliott, as I’ve mentioned, is a former champion but for whatever reason, he can’t find the set-up for the Tyco BMW.

Superstocks are no different when it comes to setting the bike up. We use a ride height gauge which some teams don’t use and then, they wonder why their bikes won’t steer. These bikes are probably closer to Superbikes than they’ve ever been. Our bikes have Superbike linkages. Although the swinging arm may not be a Superbike one, they’re just as long as a Superbike one. They will only allow us to run SC2s on the bike because if we ran SC1s, the likes of Danny and Richard would be mixing it with Superbike times and that’s not what the organisers want.

Fuel tanks on a Superstock bike are standard whereas when we ran the Superbikes, they were factory tanks, where they are positioned under the seat. The difference is the money involved – £2500 for a factory tank and just £500 for what we use now. The chassis is exactly the same as a Kawasaki Superbike, it is just the set up for some circuits that will alter. There’s a lot of differences such as callipers, forks, yolks and brake disks. The electronics are different too; Superbikes run Motec and we run kit. We have more electronics on our kit package than what the Motec packages have on the Superbike.

Is being in a ‘factory’ supported team necessary to win races in the Superbike class?

One thing that I don’t think that matters in BSB is having the big lorries and huge hospitality. Reason being, the McAms Yamahas aren’t performing like they should, yet we are and we haven’t got all of the big lorries and awnings. It’s the same thing for Sylvain Guintoli – he is supposed to be in a factory Suzuki team yet he’s nowhere. I take my hat off to people like Josh Brookes who just get on the bike and ride it well. Anyone who says you need factory support to win is talking like a twat quite frankly! They could have all the money in the world and all the lorries in the world but that won’t buy you knowledge to build the bike or the skill to ride a bike well, even when it isn’t set up.

So, your 2018 plans: will you be back in the Superbike class?

We might be. We are not prepared to run the Superbike if we are not able to get a proper rider on it. In 2015, our bikes were identical to Bournemouth Kawasaki in every way. We put Keith Farmer on the bike at Donington Park for a test and also for the Sunflower meeting at Bishopscourt. He turned to us and said, ‘there’s nothing wrong with the bike, it’s your riders’. We wouldn’t go in and throw money at it if we couldn’t get a proper rider on the bike. We don’t want to be making up numbers.

We had Peter Baker in 2015, who achieved everything he possibly could at club level. Peter’s dream was to have a go at Superbikes and with all the best will in the world to him, we knew that he wasn’t going to shine through in BSB. It came to a point where I had to say, ‘listen mate, you’re not quick enough’. We then put John Ingram on the bike, who got us a 12th place at Brands Hatch – our best to date. We then had Danny Johnson and Victor Cox. Danny didn’t have a fair crack at the whip if I’m totally honest. My own opinion is that the people working on Danny Johnson’s bike weren’t good enough, as they couldn’t get the balance of the bike sorted. Danny himself had a lot of potential.

For 2018, I can tell you that we have Josh Elliott testing for us in September. We are unsure whether it will be in Superbike or Superstock. I think he has gone backwards since he left us, down to the team he rides for now. If Josh was on our bike for 2017, Danny Buchan would have had an ever tougher time of things at the front.

Kevin Manfredi would be more than happy to ride for us; he was extremely happy with our bikes when he tested them and wants us to step up to the European Superstock 1000 series. He actually said that our bike is better than what he rides right now in the European Superstock.

So where does Danny Buchan fit in?

I can confirm that Danny Buchan won’t be riding for us at all next year. Not in Superstock 1000 and not in Superbikes. It’s not that we aren’t interested in bringing Danny into Superbikes but he wants to go to a team that is already established. He doesn’t want to be what would technically be a ‘development’ rider if he was to come up with us. If Fraser wants to stay, then he’ll be with us. We will have another top rider alongside him, whether that be in Superbikes or Superstock.

Thank you to Steve Buckenham for his time at Cadwell Park, as well as Chris Sayle for his technical input. We wish the team all the very best moving forwards.

Image courtesy of Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography

25th August 201725th August 2017

Brookes: At Silverstone, The Plan is to Win Races

I caught up with Josh Brookes once more at Cadwell Park. In this latest feature with the effervescent Australian, we talk about the Suzuka 8 Hour, the plan for the remainder of 2017 and what the plan for 2018 may be? Is WSBK still an option?

You took your first win of the season at Thruxton and you’re coming strong at the right point of the year.

It’s kind of how I anticipated things to happen. We were hoping for a little bit better at Brands Hatch but we still took a step in the right direction and we could’ve had a double win, so that showed that we were going in the right direction. I anticipated an easy start into the season to get the ball rolling and get some points on the board before really going for it.

Do you feel now that the bike is working well, that you can challenge week in, week out?

I feel the bike has been strong all year and that I’ve had the package all year. That is why I signed for the team. Having all the right pieces however doesn’t necessarily mean the bike goes well every time you step on it. You have to adapt it and the set it up at each circuit you go to. It’s not perfect and there is still work that needs doing. However, as a rider and as a team, you’ll never be perfectly satisfied and you’ll always think there’s room for improvement. I think we are starting to learn the bike more and more as the season goes on and we are refining the parts that are perhaps our weak areas. As you’ve seen this weekend, Cadwell Park has been a bit of curve ball.

Are you shocked that you’ve struggled this weekend, given your past results?

I wouldn’t say “shocked” because I’ve been in racing too long to be shocked or expect every weekend to go perfectly. However, I’m surprised that the bike isn’t working better. If I was half a second off or something then that’d be better but to arrive after FP3 still struggling with basic set-up, it seems a bit of a surprise.

If you look at the general build of the bike, it is different to the 2015 Milwaukee Yamaha. I can’t reference click for click or spring for spring what set-up we used two years ago, however, I can use it as a guide to what may work. So far in 2017, the exact set-up I used two years ago isn’t achievable on this bike. One reason being the bikes don’t have the same parts and then, when you try to match it, it clearly doesn’t always work out. In some ways, 2017 is a blank canvas. Yes, I have the knowledge of the bike as does Stewart Winton, so information from 2015 is there, but like I say, it’s a totally different bike.

In comparison, the series has really come on in the year I’ve been away. I reached a point in 2015 where I was able to win most races come the end of the year and now, that lap speed and the race times aren’t going to get you near a win, or by no means anywhere near a dominant win. I’m not at all surprised by that though; I always expect riders to improve, bikes to improve, new riders to come along and teams to refine their package.

You’ve had a couple of front end crashes lately. Is this a recurring issue that needs investigating?

The first one that I had was at Knockhill, which was a surprise and quite odd as the bike was almost perfectly upright. As the crash was the first of the year, I just put it behind me and didn’t think much of it. Then, we had another front-end crash at Brands but I was in a race chasing down ‘Shakey’, so again, I just put it to the side and thought nothing of it. However, the one at Thruxton was one of the most surprising crashes of my career. It was completely unexpected and out of character. That has put a question mark on the other two accidents now; I’m starting to think back and wonder if there is something more to it. I don’t want to create an issue that isn’t there but it is definitely worth us as a team looking at a particular area of the bike to then improve it, so that the front end issue goes away.

Is there anything that you could’ve done as a rider to avoid the crashes?

I’ve run over it a number of times in my head and the only one I think that could be explainable is Brands Hatch. I tried to stay on the back of ‘Shakey’s’ rear wheel and had I not done that, maybe it would’ve been more avoidable. But, it is a race! I’d never get any good positions if I just accepted safe results and rode on the side of caution. The one at Thruxton was a complete surprise. I had enough of a gap where I could just ride conservatively and not risk too much whilst I also had to keep pushing on and not become complacent because the gap wasn’t massive either.

What is the plan for the remainder of the year?

At Silverstone, the plans is to win races. That is the only way I’m going to win a championship. If the championship isn’t destined for me this year, then so be it. I’ve got to go out and ride the races and ride as hard as I can. Whatever the points are at the end of the year, if they signify that I’m the winner then we can go out and have a few beers but if not, then we’ll make a plan for next year and come back stronger.

You and Yoshimura Suzuki went to the Suzuka 8 Hour with the expectation of a podium but it wasn’t to be.

The thing with an endurance race is that you’ve got three riders so you kind of put trust into the other guys, likewise for them putting the trust in myself. Either way, everyone can make a mistake and that’s how you have to approach a race like that. You can’t race the race on your own and you can’t do it without them. You have to accept whatever happens as a team.

I’ve done it seven times now and the goal before I retire from racing is to go on and win that event, so I’ll keep going back every year for the next ten years if I have to, in order to try and win it. You could call it a career target.

Sylvain seemed down about the result?

I think that Sylvain doesn’t like the media side of things. I don’t think that was a reference of him as a person or how he felt on the day because of the result. I don’t think he enjoyed someone coming up to him and pushing an iPhone in his face at that time. I don’t think he was interested in the piece to camera or motivated to do it. He just said ‘yeh, what Josh said’, because he wanted to get away and chill out. He probably agreed with what I said but rather than saying the same thing all over again, he just cut it down.

What are your plans for 2018 so far?

All of the conversation in general is in BSB, as WSBK isn’t a strong option; there’s very few paid rides in the series and there’s only four competitive seats. World Superbike isn’t even an interest to me at the moment because I think last year was enough to put me off that series for life! I’m talking to Tag, as it’s been a good year so far and a second year would probably be stronger. All options presented in front of me will be considered; if I get a good bike in a good team with a good salary then I will have to consider it. BSB is my focus at the moment.

WSBK is still an option, just not a strong one. I just really like riding motorbikes! Any championship where I am getting paid will be considered. As long as the racing is interesting and exciting and the pay to do it is good, then it is ‘an option’.

Image courtesy of Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography.

25th August 2017

British GP: MotoGP Preview – Blighty’s Calling

The home of black pudding. The home-ground for a pint of Marston’s Pedigree and fish and chips. The only place in the world where you spend most of your life on the phone, making complaints, or queuing to make a complaint. The land of which Barry Sheene was born on, yet the land of which many a famous rider left us on. It is time for the British Grand Prix. The most iconic race of all time, steeped in history on both positive and negative gradients. The Silverstone circuit hosts its eighth consecutive British Grand Prix in 2017 and whilst the Circuit of Wales was a white elephant, the British entourage has never been better, with three lions seeking home pride.

Marc Marquez leads the championship on his Repsol Honda, having not been off the rostrum since Mugello in June. He’s not been lower than second in the last four races, making him a worthy series leader. However, he isn’t having it all his own way, with Andrea Dovizioso beating him in a last corner shoot out in Austria. Is Marc rattled by the fact that he – the most determined of all racers – was forced to be second best? He comes to a circuit at which he knows well. Since stepping up to the premier class, he has finished, 2nd (2013), 1st (2014) and 4th (2016), whilst crashing out in 2015 from 2nd. He has taken three pole positions, with last year being the first year he wasn’t fastest after Saturday qualifying. Will his top three consistency be on show again this weekend or will Andrea Dovizioso chip away into a frail points advantage?

Dovi is 2nd in the championship, 16 points down on the five-time champion. The Ducati ace powered to victory last time out in Austria, taking his third of the year. The last rider to do that on a Ducati was Casey Stoner back in 2010. However, it is the first time since Stoner in 2008 where Ducati have got to the halfway mark in the season and still looked like genuine contenders. The Italian has had three podiums at Silverstone before and apart from 2013, he has finished every race in the top six whilst riding a Ducati. He was the British Grand Prix winner in 2009 at Donington Park; will he repeat his performance at Silverstone?

Maverick Vinales – despite enduring a poor run of form – is third in the championship, 24 points off leader Marquez. Vinales comes to Silverstone with happy memories from last year, with it being the venue for his first ever premier class race win – and thus far, Suzuki’s last. Vinales hasn’t won since the French Grand Prix, after a titanic scrap with teammate Valentino Rossi. The Spaniard has never had back to back sixth places so if he does finish 6th, it’ll be the first time. A podium on Sunday would be his 10th in the premier class. He only has one other win to his name at Silverstone and that was back in 2012 on the FTR Honda in Moto3.

Valentino Rossi will be making his 300th premier class start this weekend, a phenomenal achievement that no one else has been able to reach. It will be his 353rd across all classes and his 201st for Yamaha. The Italian’s form at Silverstone isn’t the greatest – one win in 2015 is all he has to his name in terms of victories. However, he hasn’t finished off the podium there since 2014. Rossi is the winner of eight British GPs, more than any other rider. To make it nine would be a big ask but not impossible. Since returning to Silverstone, Yamaha have won four races whereas Honda just two, so the bike clearly likes the fast direction changes the circuit has to offer. A recent test in Misano also looked promising so will we see a Yamaha battle at the top? Valentino has endured his worst spell in Europe since 2013, where – like this year – his only podium and win came at Assen. Rossi has to win again but will this round be the round he does it?

Dani Pedrosa lies 5th in the championship, 35 points off teammate Marquez and two down from Rossi ahead. Pedrosa has finished the last three races on the podium, meaning he could be a threat come race day. He hasn’t had four consecutive podiums in Europe since 2013, between Jerez and Catalunya so another podium would correct that stat. Pedrosa has never won at Silverstone and his only other premier class British Grand Prix win was in 2006, his rookie season. Dani is still very much in the championship hunt and a win, coupled with misfortune for those ahead, would place the plucky Spaniard right in the mix once more. His last podium at Silverstone came back in 2013, so whilst current form suggests a strong challenge, his recent circuit form suggests otherwise. We will only find out on race day.

Johann Zarco continues to impress in 2017, setting the fastest lap of the race and a new lap record at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. The Frenchman comes to Silverstone, having been disqualified last season, despite taking a win the year before. In 2014, he was 4th and qualified on pole so Silverstone definitely seems like a circuit Zarco likes. The reigning double Moto2 champion could do with another top six, as his 5th in Austria was his first top six since Catalunya. If he carries on beating the factory Yamahas, you have to wonder if Zarco will be given the factory bike for next year, whilst remaining in Tech 3. He’s doing the business and at the end of the day, he’s a top rider. Could Silverstone be another Zarco success story?

Lorenzo is next up in the championship. A 4th place last time out wasn’t too shabby but he was well off the winning time. The Spaniard has three victories at Silverstone, with the last one coming in 2013. Lorenzo also knows that he has to beat Andrea Dovizioso to remind Ducati why he was employed. Lorenzo was the last Spanish rider to win a race at the British GP on an Italian bike – 250cc, Aprilia, Donington Park, 2006.

Tech 3 rider Jonas Folger is eighth, having won the Moto3 race in 2011. The German retired from only his 2nd race at the Red Bull Ring and will want to be resurgent this weekend. A German rider has never won the British Grand Prix, nor have they ever scored a podium there. Then again, first time for everything, right?

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow is 9th in the championship. The British GP pole-sitter from last year had a terrible Austrian race but always goes well at Silverstone. A fine 2nd last year and being taken out whilst running 4th in 2015 are highlights that Crutchlow thrives on home glory. Crutchlow is riding a vintage Castrol Honda livery this weekend, unveiled by none other than New Zealander, Aaron Slight.

Completing the top 10 in the championship is Danilo Petrucci, who took his first ever podium at Silverstone in 2015. Despite two podiums, four DNFs – including last time out in Austria – have landed him further down the table than he would’ve hoped. Silverstone knowledge will be key for Danilo come Sunday.

Alvaro Bautista’s season has been a strange one. With the exception of COTA, every race he has finished has been in the top 10. On the other hand, he has crashed out five times. 11th in the championship, Bautista has bags of pace but crashes just a bit too often. He took his first ever premier class pole position at Silverstone in 2012 and for the last two seasons, has finished the British GP in 10th, riding an Aprilia. Keep your eyes peeled for Bautista the Bowling Ball.

Aleix Espargaro’s Aprilia was off the pace in Austria, being caught up in turn one shenanigans that landed him at the back of the field. The Spaniard forced his way through to 13th place, his worst finish of the year. Since 2013, Aleix has finished the British Grand Prix inside the top 10 and has yet to not score points at all in the premier class in Blighty.

Jack Miller has had an OK year, but of late, has gone off the boil. The Marc VDS Honda rider had his best result of 6th at Assen but is yet to get a top 10 since then. He has already signed a deal to join the Octo Pramac Ducati team for next year, so the pressure is off in terms of delivering results. Miller has never had a top five at the British Grand Prix since joining the paddock in 2012 and is yet to score points in the premier class at Silverstone.

Loris Baz is fighting to stay in the GP paddock and he’s fighting hard. The Frenchman is 14th in the championship and has had three top 10 results. A 9th last time out in Austria will propel him to hopefully remain in Grand Prix. He knows Silverstone well, taking a win in WSBK back in 2013. He is yet to score points at Silverstone in MotoGP.

Scott Redding’s first ever win came at the British Grand Prix – albeit at Donington Park. However, he has also done the business at Silverstone too, winning the 2013 Moto2 race. He crashed twice last year but finished 6th in 2015 and 10th the year before. Up until joining MotoGP’s premier class, he was yet to finish outside the top five at home.

Andrea Iannone occupies 16th in the championship and his season doesn’t look like it will get any better. The flamboyant Italian has a best result of 8th in the premier class at Silverstone but had never had a podium at the track prior to that. Suzuki won at the circuit last year, but given the struggles of the manufacturer this year, how much of last years success was down to the bike and how much was down to the rider?

Karel Abraham will remain in the paddock for another season with the Aspar Ducati team. Karel comes to the British GP with happy memories, including a row two qualifying performance back in 2011. The same year, he finished 7th in the race – his best result at Silverstone. Abraham has been doing a solid job in 2017, having not retired since Le Mans.

Tito Rabat has had a better season in 2017 but it hasn’t been good enough for Marc VDS to retain his services for another year. Yet to have a top 10 this season, Rabat has failed to score points in the last three races. It may well be an uphill struggle from here on in and who knows where he will be riding next year? The good news is that every British GP since 2010 has seen Tito score points, so the odds are evening themselves out.

Pol Espargaro had his Austrian Grand Prix cut short, to give him his fourth retirement of the year. Having said that, the last finish he had was 9th and KTM’s first ever top 10. Espargaro’s recent GP history shows DNFs for the last two seasons and a 6th in 2014. His last British GP podium was in 2012, where he won ahead of Scott Redding and Marc Marquez. Will Silverstone turn orange on Sunday?

He was 10th in last years standings but currently, Hector Barbera ranks 20th in the championship. A dire season – mainly due to Avintia Ducati’s continuous front end problems – has resulted in a disastrous run of form for the Spaniard. If he fails to score points on Sunday, it will be the first time since the Avintia Kawasaki CRT days of 2014 where he’s endured five non-point-scoring rides (Indianapolis-Aragon). His best result at Silverstone since joining the premier class in 2010 is a 10th, in 2012. He was 14th last year and 13th in 2015.

Alex Rins is 21st in the championship – albeit missing five races and only scoring points in two others. The Spanish rookie finished 16th in Austria, despite looking a lot more at home on his Suzuki. Last year’s British GP was one of his worst finishes in the year, with 7th. A 2nd in 2015 and a win in 2014 do suggest that not all is lost. Riding a Suzuki that has won at Silverstone may give Alex the confidence he needs to score more points on race day.

Bradley Smith is 22nd and heads to his home race in need of points. Rumours suggest that Bradley may be out of a ride for next season, with KTM reporting to bring in Mika Kallio. Smith hasn’t scored points in the 2nd half of the season and was only 18th in KTM’s home race last time. The 26-year-old missed last year’s British GP but was 7th in 2015. His last podium at the circuit came in 2011 on a Tech 3 Moto2 bike.

Sam Lowes brings up the rear of the MotoGP table (as far as full-time entrants go) and goes into his home round with an uncertain future. Lowes goes well at Silverstone, finishing in the top 7 on two occasions in Moto2, although he was taken out of the race last year by Johann Zarco. Lowes finished 2nd in a World Supersport race in 2013, having been knocked off whilst leading by Kenan Sofuoglu on the last lap. Lets hope that Sam can add to his points tally on Sunday to prove to team bosses that he has what it takes to remain in MotoGP.

Now that you are equipped with all the facts and stats for Sunday, you can head off and digest the atmosphere of race day. Will Valentino Rossi shine once more or will Marc Marquez reign again? Could Andrea Dovizioso continue his fighting spirit and tackle the Silverstone circuit or will Maverick Vinales be Top Gun for a 2nd season at the British Grand Prix. All that really matters though is that it is the British Grand Prix and it’s being hosted in a country famed for good food. Double egg and chips anyone?

@MotoGPKiko

25th August 2017

WRC Rally Deutschland – Tanak takes win as Ogier builds title lead

M-Sport ended their Rally Germany hoodoo as Ott Tanak secured his second win of his career, as Sebastien Ogier took a huge leap towards the title.

Title rivals Ogier and Thierry Neuville of Hyundai were level on points coming into the asphalt event. However with Neuville breaking his suspension on the Panzerplatte stage.

Friday saw the debut of the ‘monsoon’ tyre after torrential downpour. Tanak responded best to hold the lead. Neuville sat third with Ogier fourth going into Saturdays action.

However with Neuville breaking his suspension and being unable to return until Sunday, Ogier seized the initiative and took it easy, sitting behind Andreas Mikkelsen in second and Tanak comfortably out front.

Mikkelsen, who was flying the flag for Citroën after Kris Meeke’s Thursday superspecial crash less than a mile into the event, helped boost his chances of a further drive with the team. His 2017 season looks uncertain and his second place did his chances no harm.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Deutschland (DEU) – WRC 16/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 – PHOTO : @World

He led for much of Friday but just couldn’t catch Tanak, who took the win by 16.4 seconds. Ogier couldn’t catch Mikkelsen and settled for third, knowing he’d be leading the championship.

Neuville re-joined the rally under Rally2, but couldn’t regain his confidence and finished outside the top ten.

Elfyn Evans had a rally to forget after being in the top five for most of the rally, only to lose fifth place to Citroen’s Craig Breen on the last stage. His DMACK tyres weren’t as competitive when the weather improved on Saturday, meaning he lost fourth to Toyota’s Juno Hanninen and fifth to Breen.

Toyota were enjoying a positive Rally Germany and were fighting for the top five, until Jari-Matti Latvala’s Yaris had a misfire and fell down the order, ending the rally seventh. Team mate Esapekka Lappi crashed, finishing outside the top ten after returning through Rally2.

Hyundai’s only hope was Hayden Paddon, who took eighth after an early puncture scuppered his chances.

Veteran driver Armin Kremer in an M-Sport entered Ford, took ninth with Eric Camilli taking the WRC2 class win with tenth place in the rally.

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo took the powerstage win, with Lappi, Latvala, Ogier and Breen taking the top five and the extra points it provided.

This saw Ogier take his title lead to 17 points, with Neuville needing to pull off some impressive results in the remaining rounds of the season.

M-Sport Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said: “Everyone in the team is extremely happy as you can imagine. After all the work that went on behind the scenes, we knew that we could challenge for a strong result but never dreamt of achieving anything quite like this.”

24th August 201724th August 2017

Steiner: Haas hopeful for “new opportunity” at high-speed Spa

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has said his American team is looking forward to this weekend’s power-dependant Belgian Grand Prix, having struggled in the low-speed races prior to the summer break.

Haas began July with its best result of the season so far, when Romain Grosjean finished sixth in Austria. But since then the team’s form has hit a considerable slump: at Silverstone, Grosjean dropped back from a top ten start to squabble with Saubers and McLarens outside the points, whilst in Hungary Kevin Magnussen was the sole Haas finisher in thirteenth, only three places higher than his disappointing qualifying position.

But Steiner believes that the engine-favouring characteristics of the upcoming races at Spa and Monza ought to bring about a return to form for the American team.

“We struggled a little bit in Hungary with it being a low-speed track,” Steiner said. “We are bringing some items for low downforce or low drag for Spa and Monza, and we are as confident as we can be that it works.

“If you’re good in Spa, you normally should be good in Monza too…so, let’s hope we are good in Spa.”

Steiner added that Haas has “tried to hit the reset button” in its preparation for the second half of the season:

“Hungary certainly tested the team, but it showed how hard we work to overcome adversity while remaining positive. Belgium is a new race and a new opportunity. Everything is possible here. We will try hard and we will come back again.”

However, the Austrian did also confirm that Haas will revert back to using Brembo brakes this weekend, despite successful running of Carbon Industrie alternatives in Britain and Hungary, as they continue hunting for a solution to their recurrent braking issues: “At Spa we will be running Brembos to start off with and then we will see, but at the moment the plan is to run Brembos.”

In addition to that, Steiner said that there will be no major performances updates fitted to the VF-17 this weekend (besides the usual adaptations for Spa’s low-downforce demands), though the team is “working through the data we gained from our last wind tunnel test” ahead of a possible upgrade package for Japan or the United States.

Whether or not Haas opts to bring a last raft of updates in October will likely depend on the progress of its 2018 car development, which Steiner says has been complicated by the late mandating of the Halo system:

“We’ll [have to] work on how we get the weight down on other parts of the car because we are at the minimum weight, otherwise our car just gets too heavy [with the Halo]. We also need to find the best solution aerodynamically to integrate the Halo into the overall body.

“It’s head scratching. For sure, there is work to be done.”

23rd August 2017

Sauber bringing key aero update to Spa

Sauber will be completing its second major upgrades package of the season this weekend in Belgium, in a bid to offset its year-old Ferrari engine deficit.

The update—a new floor—will form the second part of a significant aerodynamic upgrade that began at the last round in Hungary, where new bodywork and an improved cooling system were fitted to the C36.

The is the first major update to the car since Sauber revised its floor, sidepods, brake ducts and bodywork during the race weekends in Spain—where Pascal Wehrlein scored the team’s first points of the season—and Monaco.

It is hoped that the completed second package will help Sauber to counteract the shortfall in power of their 2016 Ferrari power units, particularly with the Belgian Grand Prix and the following race at Monza providing some of the most engine-dependant racing on the F1 calendar.

Speaking about the upgrade to Autosport at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Marcus Ericsson said, “Hopefully this next update will work a bit better than the upgrade we got [in May] as it didn’t really give us the jump we had hoped.

“When we got the car working, like in Silverstone in the race, we could keep similar pace to the Haas cars, and Vandoorne wasn’t much faster. We are not too bad, when we get our car together.”

Nevertheless, the team will be wary of expecting too much from the new parts this weekend—especially as at the chassis-specialist Hungaroring, the first instalment of Sauber’s new aero package saw Wehrlein and Ericsson qualify on the final two rows of the grid, and finish the race two laps down and last of those still running at the flag.

It is likely this will be Sauber’s final big push to improve the competitiveness of the C36, before it turns its attentions fully to constructing next year’s challenger.

23rd August 201723rd August 2017

F2 Spa Preview: is time running out for Leclerc’s challengers?

When Formula 2 returns after the summer break, it enters its final quarter, where the 2017 title will be decided once and for all. It will take a comeback of epic proportions from Oliver Rowland or Artem Markelov to catch Charles Leclerc, but it is far from impossible. The break presents a perfect opportunity to reinvigorate their championship campaigns, and neither is the kind of driver to go down without a fight.

The eighth round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship takes place at the legendary Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, a favourite of many of the drivers thanks to its incredibly fast, twisting layout. It also marks the first weekend of the second double header of races in F2 this season, with the ninth round at Monza coming just a week later. The pressure is on to deliver, with time fast running out.

The Formula 2 grid lining up in Belgium will look a little different to the one viewers have grown accustomed to. Rookies Louis Deletraz and Nyck de Vries are swapping seats from round eight onwards, with the Swiss driver making the switch to Rapax and the Dutchman joining Racing Enigeering. Though the mechanics behind such a move are unknown to us, it is surprising, considering Racing Engineering’s poor form this year, and de Vries’ relative success with Rapax. Deletraz will not partner Rapax regular, Sergio Canamasas in Spa, but rather ex-Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi, who will be filling in for his fellow Spainaird, who is missing the round due to personal issues.

As ever, all eyes will be on Charles Leclerc, who will hope to do a repeat of his result at the track in GP3 last year, when he successfully converted pole position into a feature race win. And with rumours growing that he is poised to take one of the Sauber seats in Formula 1 next year, the expectations will be higher than ever that he continues the dominant form that he has been showing all year. After the stripping of his pole in Budapest, he will be looking to get his record back on track, and his team, Prema, will be looking for him to do so as well to help them close the gap to DAMS in the team standings.

His teammate, Antonio Fuoco will also be hoping to draw on his experience from GP3 to help him improve upon his, at best, shaky form of 2017. He, like Nyck de Vries, qualified well in 2016, and scored one podium over the weekend, picking up a strong haul of points. But for their fellow GP3 graduate, ART’s Alexander Albon, a repeat of last year is far from what he needs, after a poor qualifying saw him pick up only two points over the whole weekend. The Thai driver has looked reliable throughout his rookie season, but has thus far fallen just short of doing something remarkable to turn heads in his direction, Spa represents the latest in a dwindling number of opportunities for him to pull that off.

Albon’s teammate, Honda junior Nobuharu Matsushita had an ultimately forgettable outing in Belgium last year. However, Matsushita is having one of his better seasons, taking the most recent race win in the sprint race in Hungary. He is a driver, while too far down the standings to actually feature in the title battle, could prove to play a part in the championship outcome if it all comes together for him.

Pertamina Arden’s Norman Nato is another example of a driver who could spoil the fun for the championship leaders. While Arden have struggled at times this year, Nato undoubtedly possesses the ability to win races and score podiums, it is just a matter of have a consistent weekend. That is also the problem for his teammate Sean Gelael, who sits in seventeenth in the driver standings, compared to Nato’s seventh. His season has been plagued with bad luck, but he has also failed to take advantage of fortune when it has come his way. In Spa he will most likely be a driver who occupies the lower points paying positions, rather than a contender for pole or a win.

Racing Engineering’s Gustav Malja was one of six drivers who occupied the GP2 podium in Belgium last year, taking second in the sprint race. But, the Spanish team is not at the level they were last year, and while the Swedish driver has scored a podium already this season, Racing Engineering need to conquer their set up demons if Malja, or newcomer Nyck de Vries are to deliver this weekend. It is a similar story for teams such as Campos Racing and MP Motorsport. All three teams tend to run at the back of the field, and though some of their drivers, such as Malja, but also Jordan King (MP Motorsport), have the ability to score points, they are not going to be running with the likes of DAMS, Prema or Russian Time.

Trident, who currently take the record for fielding the most drivers this season, seem to have finalised their line-up for the remainder of 2017, with Santino Ferucci graduating from GP3. The Haas development driver scored points in his debut in Hungary, but in Spa he has a chance to prove whether or not this was simply a case of beginner’s luck, or proving that he has what it takes to step up. Consistency in their line-up will likely help the entire team, and maybe help lift them from last in the team standings.

As they are most weekends, DAMS and Russian Time will be the teams looking to cause trouble for Leclerc. But for Russian Time to get back on terms with their nearest rivals, they need Artem Markelov to recover well from his poor weekend in Hungary – marred by his crash in the feature race. His teammate Luca Ghiotto, meanwhile, needs an upturn in his qualifying performance to deliver the results his race pace warrants. He remains the only driver in the top five not to score a race win in 2017.

Neither team seem quite able to match his and Prema’s one lap pace in qualifying, though DAMS has been steadily improving in this aspect all season, so it would be unfair to count them out just yet. While it is Latifi who is hitting his best form this season, it is his teammate Rowland who needs to deliver in Spa if he wants to stay in the hunt. The Brit cannot afford to let Leclerc extend his lead much further, or he will quickly become impossible to catch and the championship will be over before Formula 2 ever reaches Abu Dhabi.