ThePitcrewOnline

Day: 18 May 2025

  • WorldSBK: Instant classic Czech Race 2 settled by just 0.027s

    WorldSBK: Instant classic Czech Race 2 settled by just 0.027s

    After victory pole position and victory in Race 1 on Saturday, Sunday started well for Toprak Razagatlioglu as he saw off an early challenge by Nicolo Bulega in the Tissot Superpole Race but was thwarted on the finish line in Race 2 by his Ducati rival by just 0.027 seconds.

    TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE

    Much like in Race 1, Bulega beat Razgatlioglu to turn 1 at the start of the 10-lap affair.  This began a thrilling battle that lasted just under half of the race before the crucial moment came when Bulega cut the first chicane while battling Razgatlioglu for the lead.

    While running wide, Bulega added a second to Razgatlioglu’s lead that the Turkish rider was able to protect for the remainder of the race, with the BMW rider going on to secure a new race lap record on his way to the victory.  It was another comfortable 2nd place for the factory Ducati rider ahead of the two satellite riders behind him.

    Danilo Petrucci recorded another podium finish and was ran close by Sam Lowes.  Behind them came a charging Alvaro Bautista who came from 10th to 5th with some audacious move in the 10-lap sprint to secure a second-row start for Race 2 in the afternoon.

    Alex Lowes split the Honda HRC riders, with Xavi Vierge only just pipping Andrea Locatelli to the line for 8th place.  Jonathan Rea was also right behind in the battle for the crucial top 9 positions that set the grid for Race 2 but fell short behind his teammate.

    Axel Bassani had been in contention for a top-9 spot but was docked with a double long-lap penalty for jumping the start.  Up front, there was definitely some renewed vigour that Bulega could challenge Razgatlioglu more than in Race 1 heading into the final full-distance even in the afternoon.

    TISSOT SUPERPOLE RACE RESULTS

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

     

    RACE 2

    For the third time in succession, Bulega beat Razgatlioglu to the first corner at the Motul Czech Round as the BMW rider struggled to get the hole shot from his three successive pole positions.  The pair were fortunate to get to the chicane before everyone else as just like in Race 1 the filed concertinaed up with disastrous consequences for some.

    Once again, Bautista found himself caught in the madness that he hoped he would avoid having started from P5 instead of P10 but it was not to be for the Spanish veteran.  It was Rea who checked up going through the apex of turn 2 that saw a distraught Bautista and Vierge eliminated on the spot and Alex Lowes being forced to ride through the gravel and condemn himself to the back of the grid after taking the necessary avoiding action.

    Rea had got himself into 5th thanks to the chaos he had initiated but was unsurprisingly dealt a double long-lap penalty from the stewards.  Once he rejoined from both he ended up 12th and would finish 13th, although there had at least been flashes of pace this weekend for the Northern Irishman who continues his recovery from injury earlier in the season.

    Razgatlioglu stuck within range of Bulega for the first half of the 22-lap race, meanwhile Petrucci and Sam Lowes resumed their battle from the Tissot Superpole over the final spot on the podium, with the former once again securing 3rd place but by a very slim margin over his British rival.

    The other big mover in the first half of the race was Bassani who rose as high as 5th ahead of an impressive Remy Gardner.  In the end it was Gardner who prevailed while his teammate Dominique Aegerter fought his way up through the lower points-paying positions and another satellite Yamaha of Bahattin Sofuoglu had yet another long-lap penalty that ruined his progress for cutting turn 1 again after a solid ride until that point.

    With half the race completed Razgatlioglu passed Bulega with a surprise move through turns 16 and 17 having stalked his rival to identify his weaknesses around Most.  Although Bulega was back past at turn 1 shortly after, the next time around saw Razgatlioglu launch a successful block pass through the first chicane to steal the lead.

    It appeared that Razgatlioglu had it all under control as he sought the treble in the Czech Republic before Bulega started to reel him in right towards the very end of the 22 laps.  With 3 laps to go and rain starting to fall around the outskirts of the circuit, it suddenly looked as if the race was well and truly on instead of another forgone conclusion.

    Even exiting the last corner on the final lap Bulega was still not ahead but by the finish line he was, by just 0.027 seconds.  It was the sort of ending that Razgatlioglu used to suffer back in his Yamaha days when battling Bautista at tracks like Portimao and the Turk predictably made his frustrations clear on the slowing down lap while also pinning the blame on his bike.

    Bulega’s victory was thoroughly well deserved after his horrific highside on Friday and it brought a nice bit of variety after he himself blitzed everyone at Cremona a fortnight ago.  Razgatlioglu ultimately brings the points gap down to Bulega by 3 overall and 31 total this weekend, while Petrucci jumps ahead of a hapless Bautista for 3rd overall in the standings.

    RACE 2 RESULTS

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK

  • Rally de Portugal 2024, Saturday’s Report

    Rally de Portugal 2024, Saturday’s Report

    Onto the second day then of this classic event and the crews would have 122.92km’s over seven stages with three in the morning and the remaining in the afternoon and early evening. Adrien returned to the action and would open the road throughout the day.

    First up was SS12 Vieira do Minho 1 – 17.69 km and Seb was fastest out of the blocks, setting the best time from Ott and Kalle. The double Finnish champion was able to gain one position and moved into third overall at the expense of his Japanese teammate Takamoto. Further back Josh passed his own teammate Greg and moved into eighth position.

    Into SS13 Cabeceiras de Basto 1 – 19.91 km and once again Seb set the pace going fastest from Takamoto and Ott a further 2.4 seconds behind. The Frenchman was closing the gap to Ott who had a reduced lead of just two seconds. There was a swap again in positions between Takamoto who regained third position from Kalle.

    The final stage of the morning then, SS14 Amarante 1 – 22.10 km and Ott hit back setting the fastest time from Kalle and Takamoto. Seb was only fifth fastest and was now 11.8 seconds from Ott. Incredibly Kalle repassed Takamoto for third place again. Further back Elfyn was losing a few seconds to his younger rookie teammate in their fight over sixth place.

    After lunchtime service came the second running of SS15 Vieira do Minho 2 – 17.69 km. Ott was fastest by just three tenths of a second over Seb, the gap between them now 12.1 seconds. Kalle was third fastest and building a gap over Takamoto whose pace was not where it had been earlier. Martins in the Puma was the fastest of the three M-Sport Ford crews in the stage whilst Josh remained the highest placed driver from the team holding eighth overall.

    SS16 Cabeceiras de Basto 2 – 19.91 km was next and Ott again was fastest from Seb and Thierry. Martins was again fastest of the M-Sport crews, setting the sixth best time. The top M-Sport crew remained Josh who still held eighth place.

    Onto the penultimate stage then, SS17 Amarante 2 – 22.10 km and Kalle was fastest from Seb and Thierry. However, there was drama for the overall leader Ott who at around two thirds of the stage completed had a failure of his powersteering giving him a huge issue with the control of the car. In fact, Martin took over changing gear for Ott. This all meant that the lead changed after the Estonian lost 46 seconds and fell to third overall. Also gaining a position was Thierry as he passed Takamoto for fourth overall.

    The final stage then, SS18 SSS Lousada – 3.52 km and Seb was fastest from Thierry and Sami. Ott managed to keep third overall with a gritty drive in the Superspecial. Greg was the top M-Sport Ford crew in this one setting the seventh fastest time.

    Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

    Classification after Day Two

    1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 3:01:04.7
    2 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +27.6
    3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +36.1
    4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 +44.6
    5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +46.8
    6 S. Pajari M. Salminen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:58.4
    7 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:15.9
    8 J. McErlean E. Treacy Ford Puma Rally1 +4:13.2
    9 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 +4:41.7
    10 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Toyota GR Yaris +7:07.5

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Elfyn Evans

    “It’s not been the day we were hoping for today. The feeling hasn’t been too bad behind the wheel, but we weren’t able to find the speed to go with it. We won’t give up though and we have to stay positive and try to find something to improve for tomorrow. The pace was there at the start of the weekend, so we have to understand why it’s gone the way it has. Tomorrow is a new day, and we’ll give it everything to push for some more points.”

    Kalle Rovanperä

    “It’s been quite a good day for us in the sense that we were able to gain a couple of positions, both in the overall standings and in the road order for tomorrow. We had much softer conditions than we have seen here before and the second pass was really rough, so it was tough for the tyres and the cars. We haven’t quite had the optimal speed so it might not be easy to keep Ott behind us, but of course we will try our best tomorrow to take as many points as we can.”

    Sébastien Ogier

    “It’s been another tough day today. This morning it was quite enjoyable but in the afternoon the conditions were so rough with huge ruts. It took a lot of effort to keep it on the road without issues and I was glad to get to the end of the day. It was not the way we would have liked to take the lead, and I really feel sorry for Ott, but it’s also part of the game in this sport and things like this can happen, especially when conditions are rough like today. We just have to focus on our job and try to finish it tomorrow on what is still a long and demanding Sunday.”

    Takamoto Katsuta

    “This morning I had a good comfortable feeling in the car and good pace, and I was able to have a nice fun fight with Kalle. In the afternoon, when the conditions totally changed and became rougher, it was much harder and unfortunately we lost a position. But now I just need to focus on what I can do tomorrow. The gaps are still quite close, and I will try to keep pushing and see what happens.”

    Sami Pajari

    “I’m quite happy with the performance that we had today. It’s not so easy to read the pace because we could see there was some road cleaning effect. The morning especially was quite enjoyable with a nice flow. This afternoon there were some extremely rough sections, which was something new for me in this car, but we managed to get through it and let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Ott Tänak

    “The power steering loss was sudden, and obviously the stage still had a lot of bedrock and roughness to it, so there wasn’t anything else I could do. The first stage this morning was not so great, but after that we managed to find something that clicked. I really enjoyed driving the car out there today and was controlling the pace and feeling good grip. Obviously, our issue was very unfortunate, but we are still in the fight tomorrow.”

    Thierry Neuville

    “We had a solid day today. The car was feeling good, and it allowed us to push on every stage – today was strong and we are satisfied with the position we are in considering our road position. We’re never 100% happy with the pace but it was definitely there, and we were similar to Kalle despite having different tyre choices. There’s still a lot to learn about the tyres. With six stages left and now being so close to the podium, we will be going full attack tomorrow.”

    Adrien Fourmaux

    “It has been a mixed day for us today. It was challenging to open the road, but we found some improvements within the setup, and we are happy with the changes we made. Nevertheless, it’s frustrating when you don’t have a fight going on around you and you are just driving in a league of your own. We’re keeping our heads up and we are going into Sunday fully focused on maximising our points tomorrow.”

    2025 FIA World Rally Championship
    Round 05, Rally de Portugal
    15-18 May 2025
    Photographer: Dufour Fabien
    Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Oliver Solberg

    “It’s been another good day,” said Oliver. “We had to use more of the hard tyre today and that took some more getting used to on these roads. Yesterday, there was more of a hard base to the road, but today it’s a little bit softer with some more ruts and rocks being pulled out.

    “The feeling from the car on these tyres is not quite like it was yesterday, but at the same time we have a good lead and we’re just trying to manage that gap. We are trying to go around every rock, but there are quite a lot of them!

    “The last stage in Lousada was really cool, like always. No donuts this time, but I hope we still managed to give everybody a bit of a show. The fans here are just incredible, it’s really like an honour to come and drive in front of them. I wanted to make some tyre smoke and slide the car a little bit.

    “And there’s more of that coming tomorrow with the really famous Fafe stage. That place is just incredible – the fans have been up there and sleeping up there for days waiting to get their party started!”

     

    Sunday

    The final day will see the crews tackle six stages over 72km’s. Can Seb hold on and take a seventh victory in this rally or will there be more drama for the crews?