Day: 24 September 2023

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Round 10 WorldSBK, Aragon, Spain, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), recover from a disappointing race 1, and claim his first win of the weekend, followed by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), in 2nd, and 3rd respectively. Could the reigning champion claim a double in race 2 ?

Perfect conditions again for race 2 with air temperature in the mid 20’s, and bright sunshine.

WorldSBK Aragon 24.09.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Lights out for race 2, and Bautista claimed the hole shot into turn 1, followed by an aggressive looking Rea, and Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK). Rea dived up the inside of Bautista to take the lead, and Locatelli swiftly followed getting into 2nd. Bautista was now 3rd, with Toprak 4th, and Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 5th.

Next lap of the 18 lap race, and positions were as follows; 1. Bautista 2. Locatelli 3. Rea 4. Toprak 5. Rinaldi 6. Vierge (Honda HRC) 7. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) 8. Lecuona (Honda HRC) 9. Vd Mark (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 10. Oettl (GoEleven Ducati).

Toprak took Rea up the inside to move into 3rd. The Pata Yamaha team mates were now 2nd, and 3rd.

Next lap and Bassani moved into 6th, getting past Vierge. Meanwhile at the front it was Bautista with the new fastest lap a 1:50.5, and he held a gap of 0.5s to Locatelli behind in 2nd.

With 15 laps left, and showing no ill effects from race 1, it was Bautista with yet another fastest lap, this time a 1:50.206. Behind it looked like Locatelli was holding up his team mate, with Toprak desperate to get through and catch Bautista. Further back Rea held a gap of 0.5s to Rinaldi in 5th.

With 13 laps of 18 remaining, Bautista had now extended his lead to 1.6s. Further back Rinaldi held a gap of 1.5s to Bassani in 6th. And yet again having another superb ride, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing), was up to 11th after starting from 24th on the grid.

With 11 laps left, drama for Petrucci after all the hard work he put in, his Ducati blew up with blue smoke pouring out the exhaust, and his race is over. Meanwhile at the front, undaunted, Bautista continued to extend his lead, now at 2.8s. Further back in 3rd, Toprak held a gap of 1.2s to Rinaldi, who had just got through on Rea, Rea now down to 5th.

Just over half race distance, and Locatelli was still frustrating his team mate, while the Yamaha R1 of Toprak looked down on power, and unable to get past. Out in the lead Bautista now held a gap of 4s, his team mate in 4th, Rinaldi was 1.2s adrift from Toprak.

With 7 laps remaining, it was Rinaldi who was setting quicker lap times then the Yamahas ahead of him, with the gap being cut down to 0.6s. Meanwhile further back it was 10. Vd Mark 11. Gardner (GRT GYRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), and 12. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW).

Next lap and Rea was now adrift, and out of contact with the group ahead of him in 5th, his tyres seemingly having fallen off a cliff in terms of grip.

With only 4 laps left, Toprak finally got through on his team mate into the corkscrew, just as Locatelli’s engine blew up with smoke spluttering out the R1’s exhaust. A frustrated Locatelli was forced to retire back to the pits. Rinaldi was now up to 3rd, in contention for another podium place.

WorldSBK Aragon 24.09.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Penultimate lap, and Gerloff had caught Vd Mark, and was looking for a way past the Dutchman.

Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to make it a double, Toprak 2nd, Rinaldi 3rd, Rea 4th, Bassani 5th, Lecuona 6th, Oettl 7th, Vierge 8th, Gardner 9th, and Gerloff 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  3. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  4. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  5. Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 504
  2. Razgatlioglu – 457
  3. Rea – 328
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Moto3: Unstoppable Masia in India

Image Credit: Joel Cooper Photography LTD

On a hot and sticky day at the Buddh International circuit. The inaugural Moto3 Indian Grand Prix was won by Leopard Racing Team’s Jaume Masia. Masia gave his all today, annihilated the rest of the field and stormed to victory in India. A statement win for the Leopard Racing Team rider and a clear message to the rest of the field.

A great recovery ride from Daniel Holgado after starting from row 6 to finish in 5th. Holgado battled his way through the pack to salvage as many points as possible for the championship. The Moto3 championship has all changed now with just 1 point covering the top 3 riders. Holgado and Masia are now level in the championship on 174 points and Ayumu Sasaki right behind on 173.

Image Credit: MotoGP

AS IT HAPPENED

Masia starting from pole position got a great start and led into turn 1. Sasaki moved up to 2nd and Scott Ogden dropped down to 6th. As they headed up to turn 5, Diogo Moreira moved up the inside of Matteo Bertelle and into 3rd.

Holgado was up 9 places on lap 1 and got off to a great start.  Coming across the line to complete the first lap and Masia had a gap of a few tenths to Sasaki in second. David Alonso our race winner last time out up 6 places on the opening lap.

During Lap 2  Joel Kelso crashed out at the beginning of the lap. Kelso was okay and walked away after a big highside. Midway through lap 2, a lead group of 6 formed with the rest of the pack behind led by Dutch wonderkid Collin Veijer. Bertelle got back up into 3rd getting by Moreira.

Masia and Sasaki were over a second clear of the group behind. Sasaki sat patiently behind Masia with a long way still to go in this Grand Prix.

Turn 1 at the beginning of lap 4 and Bertelle crashed out from 3rd place. It was a disaster for Bertelle after such a strong weekend getting his first-ever front-row start in Moto3. Bertelle will be looking to bounce back next weekend in Japan.

The gap to Toba in 3rd is 1.88 seconds from Masia and Sasaki leading away at the front. As it stood Holgado would be dropping to 3rd in the championship, 7 points behind on lap 5. Holgado and Alonso were on a charge and battling with each other as they tried to steamroll through the field to the front. Alonso got up the inside of Moreira at turn 8, only to nearly come off two corners later. Moreira got straight back through on Alonso and up to 5th.

With a quarter of the race done, there was a lead of 2.620 seconds with Masia and Sasaki ahead of Kaito Toba and Veijer battling for the final podium position in 3rd and 4th place. Coming up along the big straight Alonso got the slipstream and breezed by Moreira up the inside into turn 4 to retake 5th. The riders seemed spread out across the lap all battling for positions.

9 laps to go we had Masia and Sasaki still way out in front. A 2.3 seconds gap to Veijer in 3rd. The Husqvarna Intact GP team were set for a double podium here in India unless Toba, Alonso and Holgado could catch them.

At the halfway mark Ayumu Sasaki set the fastest lap of the race. Masia led from Sasaki in second with a 2.475 gap lead to teammate Veijer in 3rd. Toba still tried all he could to keep up with Veijer in the hunt for the final podium position. With the riders all spread out,  it looked increasingly unlikely that Alonso, Rossi and Holgado could catch the groups up ahead.

Holgado was up ahead of Rossi and Alonso now and up into 5th. Holgado had too big of a gap here to those in front and may have to settle for 5th. A great recovery starting from the 6th row of the grid.

6 laps to go now and Sasaki appeared to of made an error as Masia had a gap now of 0.735 seconds to Sasaki in 2nd. Tatsuki Suzuki and Ogden went down at turn 12 as Sector 4 lit up in yellow flags. A horrible crash but both riders were okay and thankfully walked away from the incident.

With 4 laps to go Masia now had a gap of 1.925 seconds to Sasaki in 2nd and it looked like Masia wasn’t slowing down either.  Sasaki dropped further back from the Spaniard and only 0.489 seconds clear of teammate Veijer in 3rd. Would Veijer hold station behind Sasaki in the closing stages given what’s at stake in the Moto3 championship? Toba wasn’t giving up on a podium either, still trying all he could to catch the Husqvarna Intact GP teammates ahead.

Even with the temperatures as high as they were in India, the tyre wear was minimal and grip levels remained high throughout the race.

3 laps to go and Masia is well clear now at the front of the race, with Husqvarna riders Sasaki 2nd and Veijer in 3rd. Veijer on Sasaki’s back wheel and Toba arriving into the mix for the battle for 2nd, 3rd and 4th places.

As Deniz Öncü moved up into the points into 15th, Masia was way out in front leading the race with two laps to go. Sasaki was clinging onto 2nd with Toba up into 3rd and Veijer in 4th.

Onto the back straight and Toba was all set to attack Sasaki, into the slipstream and Toba took the inside line and went up the inside of Sasaki into 2nd. Into turn 4 and Toba ran wide for Sasaki to come back through into 2nd. With the dicing at the front the championship lead was ever-changing between Sasaki and Masia at the top of the standings.

THE LAST LAP

Onto the last lap and Masia was over 5 seconds clear to Sasaki in 2nd. Sasaki was clinging on to second resisting the pressure from Toba and Veijer behind. Onto the back straight again and Toba pulled up alongside but was unable to take the place from Sasaki.

Veijer, Toba and Sasaki all diced and swapped places.  Mid-way through the lap, Veijer went up the inside of Sasaki only to collide with the back wheel of Sasaki and be taken out on the last lap. Disaster for Veijer after a superb performance in the race. Toba swept through to take 2nd place from the colliding Husqvarna teammates with Sasaki eventually finishing in 3rd.

A superb performance from Leopard Racing Teams Jaume Masia. Total dominance in Delhi from start to finish!

We head to Japan next weekend with a championship on fire! Just 1 point separates the top 3 riders in the championship. After crashing out in last year’s race in Motegi, Holgado will be looking to bounce back with a win and take control again in the championship.

Image Credit: MotoGP

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Delhi Delight for Bezzecchi

Image Credit: MotoGP

In the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, Marco Bezzecchi was simply too good at the Buddh International circuit. Bezzecchi finished the race over 8 seconds clear of Jorge Martin in 2nd and Fabio Quartararo in 3rd place. 

Championship leader Pecco Bagnaia crashed out losing a lot of points in the championship race. We head to Japan next weekend with Pecco only 13 points clear of title rival Jorge Martin.

AS IT HAPPENED

Martin got off to a great start and moved up to first into turn 1, with Pecco up into 2nd ahead of Bezzecchi in 3rd. Only a few corners later, Martin went wide into turn 4 and Pecco got through to take the lead of the race.

Binder was up 4 places into 8th mid way through lap 1. A great start for the KTM rider but Aprilia man Viñales was down 10 places at the end of lap 1 due running wide into turn 1 at the start of the race.

Martin dropped back further into 3rd with Bezzecchi blasting by as Martin opened the door running wide. At the end of lap 1 Bezzecchi went by Pecco and took the lead of the race for the first time at the start of lap 2.

All of the riders with a soft rear tyre had to be careful to not burn the tyre out so early on in the race. Bezzecchi set the fastest lap with Pecco 2nd and Martin 3rd. Martin resisting the pressure from Marc Marquez behind and had a lot of work to do to catch Pecco and Bezzecchi ahead.

KTMs Jack Miller had a disastrous start to the race running way down in 20th place in the early stages.

Martin was desperate to get by Pecco cleanly and get after Bezzecchi as Bezzecchi was 1.237 seconds clear as they come to the end of lap 4.

Martin with the slip steam along the back straight got ahead of Pecco into turn 4. Martin now with 2.159 seconds to make up to catch Bezzecchi. Bezzecchi continued his blistering run of form this weekend and looked to pull even further away at the front.

Yellow flags waved in sector 1 as Marc Marquez crashed out at turn 1. Out from 4th place, but able to re-join and recover into the top 10. A superb performance all around this weekend from both Marquez and Joan Mir.

A third of the way through now and Bezzecchi leads 3 seconds clear of the fight for 2nd place behind. Martin was just ahead of Pecco in 3rd. Fabio in 4th place matched the pace of those in front but a second behind the fighting pair in front.  Pecco swarming all over the back of Martin on lap number 8 of 21.

Lap 9 and Bezzecchi is 3.492 seconds clear of Martin in 2nd and Pecco on Martin’s back wheel in 3rd. Fabio and Joan Mir both looked comfortable in 4th and 5th place. Both Fabio and Mir having the best races for some time so far this afternoon in Delhi.

With 11 laps to go and as Marc Marquez went by his old teammate GASGAS rider Pol Espargaro, Bezzecchi is running away with it here in India. Technical problems for Aleix Espargaro saw the Aprilia rider out of the race and with Viñales down in 10th, it was a torrid weekend for the factory Aprilia team.

Coming into the final third of the race and Pecco with so much more inside grip went by Martin into turns 8 and 9 and made it look easy.  Pecco looked to pull away now from Martin with 8 laps to go.

Sector 2 and yellow flags a plenty as Pecco Bagnaia crashed out of the grand prix! Jorge Martin was now just 13 points behind in the championship if Martin manages to hold onto 2nd place. Fabio moved up to 3rd place and was set for a podium for Yamaha.

4 laps to go and as Martin zipped his leathers back up, Bezzecchi was miles ahead in the lead, 6.814 seconds clear of Martin in 2nd. Fabio 3rd and with Mir running wide opened the door for Binder to move up into 4th place.

With a few laps left the top 3 places looked sown up. Yamaha and Honda must be delighted with all of their riders sat in the top 10.

THE LAST LAP 

Onto the last lap and VR46 superstar Marco Bezzecchi was miles ahead of the rest. Bezzecchi started the lap 6.576 seconds clear of Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin in 2nd and in 3rd place to start the lap was 2021 world champion, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo.

Martin went into turn 4 and ran wide letting Fabio go by. Martin only to come back round the outside of Fabio at turns 5 into 6. A crazy overtake from The Martinator to get back up into 2nd. Fabio not giving up on 2nd tried to get up the inside of Martin in the following corners.

As Bezzecchi was celebrating cruising along the start straight, Jorge Martin clung on to take 2nd place and crossed the line with Fabio finishing in 3rd.

With 7 races left in the championship and with Pecco dropping the ball into the gravel. Martin is just 13 points now behind Pecco in the championship as we head to Motegi in Japan next weekend.

Race Classification

Image Credit: MotoGP

Championship Standings

Image Credit: MotoGP

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Moto2: Acosta Extends Championship Lead with Indian GP Win

Pedro Acosta takes the inaugural Indian Grand Prix Moto2 race win at the Buddh International Circuit. He was joined by his closest championship challenger, Tony Arbolino, and American rider Joe Roberts.

Polesitter Jake Dixon got a great start when the lights went out but Acosta next to him got an even better one and was leading on the way down to turn one. From row two, Alonso Lopez got the best start on the grid and was on the inside of the entire pack and took the lead into turn one.

There was a large crash at turn one occurring in the middle of the pack with Jeremy Alcoba hitting Marcos Ramirez, who in turn hit Celestino Vietti. Somkiat Chantra and Taiga Hada were also involved. This incident caused a red flag, and the race was to be restarted at a shortened distance of 12 from the original starting positions.

Due to this incident, Alcoba was given a long-lap penalty for irresponsible riding.

On the second restart, both Dixon and Sergio Garcia got a good start with the Spaniard taking the lead of the race but ran deep and pushed Dixon out wide. Acosta took over the lead and started to break away from the rest of the field.

Also on the restart, there was a crash at turn four involving championship contender Aron Canet, Sam Lowes and Ai Ogura which caused a yellow flag and led Canet to retire on the following lap.

Arbolino carved his way through the field from seventh and was fighting with Garcia during the first few laps. They changed positions at almost every corner and fought cleanly throughout.

By lap 3, Acosta was the fastest rider on the circuit and started to increase the gap to the riders behind him.

Dixon and Lopez were fighting and made contact, resulting in both riders going down on the third lap at turn four. Dixon looked to be in pain, but was able to rejoin the circuit, as did Dixon. However, Dixon went down two laps later at turn twelve and retired the bike.

After being given a long lap penalty before the restart, Alcoba’s penalty was upgraded to a double long lap penalty for failing to take it in the required number of laps. He then crashed in the long lap loop when taking the penalty on the ninth lap.

Joe Roberts had a good qualifying and was on the back of the pack who were chasing down race leader, Pedro Acosta. The American rider was behind Garcia and the pair were fighting for the final podium place. On lap ten, Garcia made a mistake at turn twelve and opened the door to Roberts who was right behind him.

It was on the following lap where the Italtrans Racing Team rider was able to pass Garcia on the inside of turn nine. The move didn’t stick as Garcia passed Roberts at turn one on the next lap, but Roberts got back through. It was a constant back and forth on the final lap.

Roberts got through at turn nine but ran wide onto the grass and it would have been a certain penalty had he not given the position back to Garcia. The Spaniard then also ran wide and allowed Roberts to pass him into the final corner.

Acosta crossed the finish line in first place with a 3.5s lead ahead of Arbolino and Roberts rounded out the podium. He was followed by the rider he spent the final few laps battling, Garcia and Manuel Gonzalez completed the top five.

Zonta van der Goorbergh had his best finish of the year in sixth place followed by the returning Darryn Binder. Barry Baltus finished the race in eighth ahead of Marcos Ramirez and Filip Salac.

Feature Image Credit: Pedro Acosta (@37_pedroacosta) on X (formerly Twitter)

INDIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – RACE RESULTS
POS RIDER NAT TEAM BIKE TIME
1 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 22m 29.844s
2 Tony Arbolino ITA Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 33.387s
3 Joe Roberts USA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 36.350s
4 Sergio Garcia SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) 22m 37.221s
5 Manuel Gonzalez SPA Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) 22m 37.747s
6 Zonta Vd Goorbergh NED Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 41.281s
7 Darryn Binder RSA Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP (Kalex) 22m 41.488s
8 Barry Baltus BEL Fieten Olie Racing GP (Kalex) 22m 42.069s
9 Marcos Ramirez SPA OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 22m 42.422s
10 Filip Salac CZE QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 22m 42.634s
11 Dennis Foggia ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 22m 43.106s
12 Fermín Aldeguer SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) 22m 43.895s
13 Izan Guevara SPA Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) 22m 45.094s
14 Albert Arenas SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo (Kalex) 22m 50.761s
15 Sean Dylan Kelly USA Forward Team (Forward) 22m 53.130s
16 Borja Gomez SPA Fantic Racing (Kalex) 22m 57.054s
17 Alberto Surra ITA Forward Team (Forward) 22m 58.063s
18 Bo Bendsneyder NED Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) 23m 2.989s
19 Sam Lowes GBR Elf Marc VDS Racing Team (Kalex) 23m 24.292s
20 Rory Skinner GBR OnlyFans American Racing (Kalex) 23m 35.915s
21 Ai Ogura JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) +1 lap
22 Alonso Lopez SPA GT Trevisan SpeedUp (Boscoscuro) +1 lap
23 Taiga Hada JPN Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team (Kalex) +3 laps
  Kohta Nozane JPN Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 (Kalex) DNF
  Jeremy Alcoba SPA QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) DNF
  Jake Dixon GBR Inde GASGAS Aspar Team (Kalex) DNF
  Aron Canet SPA Pons Wegow Los40 (Kalex) DNF
  Somkiat Chantra THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) DNF
  Celestino Vietti ITA Fantic Racing (Kalex) DNS

 

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Japanese GP: Verstappen and Red Bull win big

Normal service was resumed at Suzuka in Japan after Redbull had a bit of a disaster in Singapore last week. Max Verstappen won the race by 19.4 seconds after having dominated the entire weekend right from the start of free practice, assuring everyone that the top is where they belong in 2023.

A second consecutive constructor’s championship was also wrapped by Redbull this weekend in Suzuka despite only Verstappen finishing the race, such is the dominance of the bulls this season. It was a race to forget for his teammate Perez after a series of incidents saw him penalized and also lose his front wing a couple of times in the process. The Mexican driver had to eventually retire his car but ventured out at a point during the race to serve his time penalty and retired again eventually after.

SUZUKA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 24: Race winner Max Verstappen of theGrand Prix of Japan at Suzuka .image curtesy of Clive Rose/Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool

Jubilation entailed McLaren as Norris and Piastri ensured a double podium finish for the British team and it was Piastri’s first ever podium in Formula 1. McLaren fended off Ferrari and Mercedes chasing from behind with pure pace and superior tactics to ensure they were the best of the rest in the race, a promising sign of things to come in the later stages of the season.

Ferrari and Mercedes were involved in battle throughout the race as they seemed to have a similar race pace. It all boiled down to strategy calls and utilizing the safety cars to come out on top and it ended as an even battel with Charles Leclerc finishing 4th ahead of Hamilton in 5th. An interesting battle developed towards the end of the race between Russell, Hamilton and Sainz, reminiscent of last week. Hamilton eventually came out on top of this mini battle for 5th while Sainz got the better of Russell, who could not make a one stop strategy work in a heavy tyre deg circuit.

Fernando Alonso was the only Aston Martin that finished the race in 8th place after his teammate Stroll had to retire early. Stroll was one among the five drivers that did not finish the race that was quite eventful if the leading Redbull was forgotten about.  Williams had a weekend to forget as both their drivers did not finish the race owing to multiple incidents and failures. Bottas was yet another non finisher as he had multiple incidents when he was overtaken and eventually the car was rendered undrivable by the Finn.

Alpine made up the final two places in the points with Ocon finishing 9th and Gasly finishing 10th.  Liam Lawson in the Alpha Tauri beat his teammate Tsunoda to finish 11th and yet again reminded everyone as to why he belongs in F1 amidst an inevitable return of Daniel Ricciardo coming soon. Alfa Romeo had only one finisher in Zhou at 13th while both the Haas cars finished last of the remaining drivers in the race.

With the constructor championship wrapped up by Redbull, focus is now shifted to when Verstappen would be crowned as the triple champion. A DNF for his teammate today means that Verstappen could wrap this up unusually on a Saturday as the next race weekend in Qatar offers a sprint race and a chance to score the needed points.

Featured Image courtesy of Bryn Lennon/Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool.

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