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Moto2: Binder Takes Dominant Win as Fernandez Crashes Out in Aragon

The fourteenth round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship took place at MotorLand Aragon, as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took his second victory of the season.

The race took place after the MotoGP race, meaning the track was coated with MotoGP’s Michelin rubber in the early phases of the Moto2 race before the intermediate class re-painted the lines with their Dunlop tyres. Often, this condition can create increased grip in the early stages of the Moto2 running, and it was Binder who made the most of this.

The South African made the holeshot, scampered off out front by over one second and didn’t look back.

Behind the 2016 Moto3 World Champion, the battle was strong, with Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46), championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) all fighting over second place in the early stages, before Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) arrived in the final part of the race.

Alex Marquez, Aragon Moto2 2019. Image courtesy of Gareth Harford/MarcVDS

The race for Alex Marquez was changed from the middle of the first lap, when Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) crashed. Fernandez had been strong all weekend and over the last few weekends had proven himself to be the most likely rider to be able to challenge Marquez for the 2019 Moto2 World Championship title. The #40, though, crashed out on lap one at turn ten and did not advance from last place until lap seven.

As the race approached its final stages, it was becoming more clear that Marquez, who was second, would not be able to catch Binder in front. Instead, after dropping Luca Marini from the second-place battle, Marquez was having to contend with a charging Jorge Navarro in pursuit of his first Moto2 win, and coming on strong towards the end of the race with the tyre-friendly Speed Up.

It wasn’t until the beginning of lap nineteen that Navarro was able to take second place from Marquez. There were only three laps to close down and pass Binder who had a comfortable advantage.  Naverro entered the final lap with a chance to win, but two mistakes – in turn one and turn ten – cost him his first win.

In comparison, Binder was faultless throughout and took the difficult KTM to the second win of its final season. Aragon is a circuit which has been kind to Binder in the past, winning the Moto3 title there in 2016 – incidentally a race which was won by Jorge Navarro – by finishing second, and converting pole to victory there in 2018. Perhaps, though, this was his best performance in MotorLand, such is the difficulty of the KTM Moto2 chassis this season, and it proved why KTM are right to promote him to MotoGP in 2020 even without the intermediate class world title.

Navarro’s race was typical of his season, fast in the end but dropping too much in the beginning of the race which prevented him from being able to directly challenge Binder for the win. Additionally, it seems the nerves which have been attributed to his poor starts came into play once more in the final lap. With some more composure perhaps Navarro could have had a chance into the final two corners, but either way there is no doubt that the #9 is improving and the first intermediate class win can surely not be far.

For Alex Marquez, the race went perhaps better than expected – Augusto Fernandez not scoring, combined with the #73’s third place means that his championship advantage is extended to thirty-eight points over Navarro who takes second place in the standings from Fernandez (forty-six points back of Marquez). At this rate Marquez could confirm himself as World Champion in Australia.

Luca Marini finished fourth after being dropped from the second place battle, over five seconds from the win. Yet, it was a decent ride from the #10, who took his best result since his podium in Mugello in a difficult season for last year’s Malaysian GP winner.

Behind Marini was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), the Brit making a strong result out of a good weekend, one which he will hope can set up a strong end to his season. Tom Luthi dropped back after the opening laps when he was fighting for the podium and finished sixth, ahead of Iker Lecuona (American Racing), Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40), Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Mar VDS) who completed the top ten.

Fabio Di Giannantonio at the 2019 Aragon Moto2 race. Image courtesy of Speedup Factory.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) was unable to repeat his performance of Misano and finished eleventh, ahead of Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46), Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) and Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) who took the final point in fifteenth.

Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) was sixteenth ahead of his home round in Buriram. The Thai was ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) in seventeenth, Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) in eighteenth, Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) in nineteenth and Jesko Raffin (Dynavolt Intact GP) who completed the top twenty in place of the injured Marcel Schrotter.

Twenty-first over the line was Simone Corsi (NTS RW Racing GP), ahead of Augusto Fernandez, Jake Dixon (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team), Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Xavi Cardelus (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team), Gabriele Ruiu in place of Mattia Pasini at Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2, Gerry Salim in place of Dimas Ekky in IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia, and Joe Roberts (American Racing) who was the last of the thirty finishers.

The only retirement from the race was Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who was unhurt after his crash.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

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F2 Russia preview: title in De Vries’ hands

The 2019 Formula 2 Championship could be decided at this weekend’s penultimate round in Sochi, Russia, as points leader Nyck de Vries has his first chance to wrap up the title.

De Vries has been the runaway title leader this year, having amassed three wins, seven further podiums and four pole positions, and finishing in the points in every race bar one. This has put the ART driver on 225 points going into the penultimate round at the Sochi Autodrom, 59 clear of nearest rival Nicholas Latifi.

Mathematically speaking, there are still four drivers that can take the title away from De Vries: Latifi, Luca Ghiotto, Jack Aitken and Sergio Sette Camara. But such is the gulf between De Vries and his challengers, that if those four fail to score even in the feature race, De Vries can wrap up the title by finishing anywhere in the top five—or as low as seventh, if he also secures the four points for pole position.

But while it’s unlikely that all four of De Vries’ rivals will finish outside the top ten in Saturday’s feature race, they can’t afford to squander any opportunities this weekend as at least one of them needs to outscore De Vries by 12 points or more to take the fight down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Carl Bingham, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

With the top five focusing on the championship this weekend, those drivers sitting just behind them in the standings will be hoping that preoccupation will give them a chance to steal some major results before the end of the season.

Nobuharu Matsushita currently sits sixth in the championship, out of title contention on 116 points. The Honda junior driver said earlier in the year that his goal was to finish in the top four in the standings, to earn him the necessary superlicence points to graduate to F1 with Toro Rosso.

But although he has two feature race wins to his name this year, Matsushita is still 37 points adrift of fourth-placed Aitken—perfectly achievable with 96 points still up for grabs, but a tall order given Aitken’s form this year.

And as if Matsushita’s goal of fourth place wasn’t already far enough away, he may yet drop another place in the standings this weekend with Renault junior driver Guanyu Zhou only one point behind him in eighth.

Zhou, who recently tested Renault’s 2017-spec F1 car, has been F2’s standout rookie this year, accumulating four third-place finishes and a pole position at Silverstone. However his maiden win at this level still eludes him, and he will be hungrier than ever to claim it this weekend and tee himself up as a 2020 title contender.

Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

BWT Arden and the Sauber Junior Team by Charouz will once again field full entries this weekend, after both entered just one car each at Monza following the tragic loss of Anthoine Hubert and injury of Juan Manuel Correa at Spa last month.

GP2 and F2 veteran Artem Markelov has been brought in to take over Arden’s second car alongside Tatiana Calderon. He will carry the number 22, as Hubert’s number 19 has been officially retired for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Sauber have signed Matevos Isaakyan to fill Correa’s place for the final two rounds. The 21-year-old drove for SMP in the World Endurance Championship last year, and finished runner-up in the 2017 Formula V8 3.5 series. Together with Markelov and ART’s Nikita Mazepin, Isaakyan will make it three Russians on the grid for their home event.

Last week, Correa’s family issued an update on his condition that said he had been removed from his induced coma and no longer needed an ECMO machine to assist his breathing. However, he remains in a serious condition in intensive care and is awaiting major surgery to his right leg, which is being delayed until his lungs are capable of withstanding the operation.

Carl Bingham, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship
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Moto3: Supreme Canet Cruises to Aragon Win as Dalla Porta, Arbolino Struggle

The fourteenth round of the 2019 Moto3 World Championship took place in MotorLand Aragon, as differing fortunes befell the championship contenders, changing the complexion of the points battle ahead of the season’s trip to Asia.

It was the pole sitter, Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) who led the early stages. The Spaniard had a clear pace advantage throughout the lap, but the slipstream in the back straight was enough to keep the pack attached to him, so he couldn’t escape.

Aron Canet, race start, Aragon Moto3 race 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

This was temporary, though, as fighting between those behind Canet allowed the #44 to break away, and by half race distance he had three seconds on the field.

It was, therefore, a race for second in the final part, and that was a fight contested between eight riders. As the race drew on it became clear who the main contenders for the podium would be: Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) all looking strong.

As they moved onto the final lap, there was a breakaway trio of Ogura, Foggia and Lopez, although fighting between Foggia and Ogura, as well as a strong first half of the lap for McPhee, allowed the group to close up again halfway round the lap.

Dennis Foggia, Moto3 race, Aragon MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

It was Foggia who entered the back straight first, handing the slipstream to those behind. Although it seemed a strange decision for Foggia to decide to lead when he had the option to trail Ogura onto the back straight, it made sense because Ogura’s speed through the middle part of the lap was strong, so hanging on to get the tow would be difficult. Therefore, Foggia’s best hope of second place was to lead, but the slipstream was enough to bring Ogura alongside into turn sixteen, and the Japanese was able to out-brake the Italian and hold the line on the inside, allowing no option of response for Foggia.

Alonso Lopez, having missed out on a home GP podium in Jerez last year due to track limits violations and another in Barcelona this year when Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) passed him in the final corner, was desperate to make the rostrum. He was very late on the brakes into the final corner, but he nearly hit Foggia, and had to correct his line to avoid the #7, which took him out of the battle.

On the inside of all of this was John McPhee, who had lost his left knee slider earlier in the race which was especially compromising in Aragon, since MotorLand is very much anti-clockwise. Missing the knee slider compromised McPhee’s feel in the left handers, so to even be in the podium fight was impressive. Lopez running wide to avoid Foggia granted McPhee fourth place, but he was unable to do anything about either Foggia or Ogura, and so had to settle for the wooden spoon.

Aron Canet crossed the line 4.581 seconds ahead of this battle, which critically did not include either Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) or Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), the two riders with whom Canet is fighting for the championship. This meant that the victory brought Canet to within two points of the championship lead, a polarisation of the previous week when he was forced to retire in Misano with mechanical problems. There is no better way Canet could wish to enter the Asian tour of the World Championship.

For Ogura and Foggia, the podium represented two different things. For Ogura, the first top three on a Sunday in the World Championship, his first piece of silverware from a Grand Prix, and the result of a fantastic rookie season in which he has fought in the front group many times. On the contrary, for Foggia, the podium represents a return to form, the realisation of his potential in a season which has been quite difficult and where he has played second-best to his rookie teammate, Vietti, on many occasions.

John McPhee’s ride to fourth was quite special considering the limitations he faced in the numerous and dominating left handers in MotorLand, and with Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) crashing out and Niccolo Antonelli (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) sitting this round out due to injury, it was enough for the #17 to climb to fourth in the championship.

Fifth place went to Lopez, who missed the podium this time by less than two tenths. It is becoming quite difficult to continue to watch him come so close to home GP podiums, only to miss out by the smallest of margins. Fortunately for the #21, he is Spanish, so still has one more chance at a home rostrum this year when he arrives in Valencia for the final round.

Sixth place went to last week’s winner, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC 58 Squadra Corse), ahead of a resurgent Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0), the rookie having a superb ride from twenty-ninth to seventh. In eighth was Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team), ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) and Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), the Italian making the same tyre gamble as Ogura – choosing the hard rear compound – but unable to make the same use of it as the Japanese rookie, instead completing the top ten.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta crossed the line tenth, but a track limits violation on the final lap – for the second time in seven days – cost him one position, meaning the Italian is classified eleventh at the end of a difficult race and tough weekend for the championship leader, who at least retains some advantage ahead of Thailand in two weeks.

Carlos Taty, Moto3, Aragon MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Wildcard and front row starter Carlos Tatay (Fundacion Andreas Perez 77) could not convert his starting position, and finished twelfth – nonetheless a milestone weekend for the Spaniard, one week on from clinching the Red Bull Rookies crown. Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) finished thirteenth ahead of Celestino Vietti, who has suffered this weekend with pain after his involvement in the crash in Misano took Niccolo Antonelli out of action this weekend, and Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) who took the final point after starting from the head of the front row.

Andrea Migno (WWR) finished sixteenth, ahead of Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power), Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP), wildcard Gerard Riu Male (Baiko Racing Team) and Romano Fenati’s replacement at VNE Snipers, Julian Jose Garcia, who completed the top twenty on his Grand Prix debut.

Raul Fernandez (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) was twenty-first in a disappointing race for the reigning Moto3 Junior World Champion. Behind him were Niccolo Antonelli’s replacement at SIC 58 Squadra Corse, Davide Pizzoli; Stefano Nepa (Reale Avintia Arizona 77); Can Oncu’s replacement at Red Bull KTM Ajo, Deniz Oncu; Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race), Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3), the injured Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) who was the final classified rider in twenty-eighth.

There were only two retirements in the Moto3 race in Aragon: Jaume Masia (WWR) and Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing).

Featured image courtesy of Gold and goose/KTM

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MotoGP: Aragon Dominance Brings Title Within Reach for Marquez

The fourteenth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship took place at MotorLand Aragon, as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) dominated proceedings to record an eighth victory of the season.

It was a lights-to-flag beat-down of the opposition by Marquez, winning in the end by 4.836 seconds after slowing over the line to celebrate his latest triumph – the seventy-seventh of his career in just his two-hundredth start. Other important and alarming numbers from Marquez include his points advantage in the championship, which now stands at ninety-eight, meaning the Spaniard can wrap up his eighth world title at the next race in Thailand.

This victory, and the style in which it came, was predictable from FP1, when the World Championship leader led the session by 1.6 seconds over Maverick Vinales, who was the only rider within two seconds of Marquez. This year it has been easy to say that Marquez’ life has been made simpler, by a Honda which is as fast as the Ducati in a straight line, and faster than all the other bikes, meaning he does not have to push so far over the limit as in the past when the RC213V was relatively slow. However, the gap to the second Honda, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL), at the flag on Sunday was 10.390 seconds. In a period in MotoGP where the entire field can be within 1.5 seconds of each other over one lap, and a top fifteen within twenty seconds or less, the amount of time Marquez put into his opposition in MotorLand was nothing short of astounding, and for his rivals it was another demoralising exhibition of talent from the twenty-six-year-old.

Behind Marquez there was a good fight, the Aragon GP being almost reminiscent of the World Superbike rounds of early-2019 when Alvaro Bautista was capable of clearing off by fifteen seconds or more. Surprisingly, it was Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) who led the fight for second early on, before being overhauled by Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after the Spaniard had passed and dropped Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT).

Maverick Viñales at the 2019 Aragon Motogp Race. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

After Vinales passed Miller he decided to chase Marquez. This would prove to be a mistake from the #12, as he stressed his tyres excessively, leaving him defenceless at the end when both Miller and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso arrived with superior grip and superior power. It is easy to pick this hole in Vinales’ plan, but he was almost cornered into it. Vinales’ M1 is significantly slower in the straights than the Ducatis of Miller and Dovizioso, so he could not afford to sit behind Miller and wait for the final lap, or towards the end of the race, because Miller would have been able to fight back with the straight line speed and braking stability of the Desmosedici. Nor could Vinales pass Miller and then sit half a second ahead of him to protect his tyres, since that too would have left him vulnerable to an attack he would have been unequipped to repel. Therefore, trying to escape was Vinales’ only option in view of making the podium and yet it was the strategy which cost him the trophy. This highlights the necessity for Yamaha to continue to work to give its riders a more competitive package for next season, one which is not so vulnerable in the straights in particular.

Whilst it was a difficult race for Vinales and Yamaha to miss the podium on a track they were proving to be – surprisingly – quite competitive at, for Ducati a double podium was almost a miracle. Misano had been a disaster for Ducati and, apart from Miller’s lap to put him on the second row on Saturday in Aragon, it was looking as though it could be another tough race for the Bologna bikes. Dovizioso’s pace, though, was good, and the Italian made a decent start and made good progress from the fourth row to arrive in third place with ten laps to go, whilst Miller had a brilliant beginning to the race and looked after his tyres well. Both of them were able to take advantage of the grip-less Vinales in the end, and bring Ducati its first double podium since Brno, where the podium was identical to the one in Aragon.

Fabio Quartararo, Aragon MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

Three seconds behind the battle for the podium, Fabio Quartararo was the second Yamaha over the line in fifth, fifteen seconds ahead of the next Yamaha, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), in eighth. Cal Crutchlow was sixth, ten seconds off the win but after a much better weekend than Misano. Perhaps the biggest surprise of Aragon was Aprilia, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) starting from fifth and finishing seventh, although the RSGP always seems to work well in MotorLand. Behind Espargaro were Rossi, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) who completed the top ten.

It should have been much more for Rins, who had podium potential, but taking out Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) on the opening lap in turn twelve dropped the #42 to nineteenth and a subsequent long-lap penalty further compromised his race, leaving him ninth.

Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) finished where he started – eleventh – after fighting with Nakagami, Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team, twelfth) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3, thirteenth) for most of the race. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was last for six laps after a mistake on lap four cost him seven seconds. The Spaniard recovered to fourteenth, finishing ahead of compatriot Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) who completed the points.

Sixteenth place went to Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) after another difficult weekend for the Italian who was ahead of Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – the lone factory RC16 rider finishing seventeenth on his first replacement ride for Johann Zarco due to Pol Espargaro’s withdrawal from the race following his FP4 crash on Saturday. Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) was eighteenth ahead of wildcard Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team) and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) who was disappointed in twentieth. Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was the only rider behind Lorenzo, the Malaysian being the final classified finisher in twenty-first.

Featured Image courtesy of Jamie Olivers/Box Repsol

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F3 Russia preview: Down to the wire

The fight for the 2019 FIA Formula 3 title comes to an end this weekend, as the championship heads to Russia’s Sochi Autodrom for its eighth and final round.

Runaway championship leader Robert Shwartzman has about as good a chance as he can hope for of claiming the title at his home race. The Prema driver has only one challenger remaining who can snatch the title away from him—his teammate Jehan Daruvala. But with 33 points between them against only 48 on offer this weekend, Daruvala’s chances are looking slim at best.

Discounting the points for pole and fastest lap, Daruvala must finish the feature race in first or second while hoping Shwartzman fails to score to even take the title fight to the final sprint race on Sunday. Meanwhile, a top two finish for Shwartzman in the feature race will earn him the title with one race to spare, regardless of how Daruvala scores.

If Shwartzman does leave Sochi with the F3 title, it will cap off a season in which the Russian has claimed three victories, five further podiums and helped Prema to clinch the year’s teams’ championship.

Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F3 Championship

While Shwartzman and Daruvala chase the top honours, there is a fierce fight behind them for third in the standings, between Hitech’s Juri Vips and Prema’s Marcus Amstrong.

Vips was a title contender back in the summer after victories in Austria and Great Britain, but has endured a run of pointless finishes since the Spa feature race. This has left him 58 points adrift of Shwartzman and only two ahead of Armstrong, whose two sprint race wins in Hungary and Belgium have propelled him up the standings.

Both drivers have plenty to prove by taking the coveted third spot. For Armstrong, that he can lead Prema’s title charge when Shwartzman likely graduates from F3 next season. And for Vips, that he still deserves Red Bull’s focus as their next best junior progression to Formula 1.

Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F3 Championship

Two new faces will be joining the F3 grid for the Sochi finale.

The first is 2017 Asian Formula Renault and Chinese F4 champion, Hon Chio Leong of Macau. Leong will race in the third Jenzer car, which has been notable for its revolving lineup this season with Artem Petrov, Giorgio Carrara and Federico Malvestiti all contesting at least one race as teammate to regular drivers Yuki Tsunoda and Andreas Estner.

Leong will also be with Jenzer at F3’s post-season test in Valencia, with the aim of competing on home soil at the non-championship Macau Grand Prix.

The second new driver is David Schumacher, son of former F1 driver Ralf and cousin to Prema F2 driver Mick. Schumacher joins Campos in place of Alex Peroni, who is missing the Sochi finale after fracturing his vertebrae in a crash at the last round at Monza.

UPDATE: There will be one further change this weekend, as ART’s David Beckmann will skip the Sochi finale due to a family emergency. He will not be substituted, meaning ART will field only two cars for Christian Lundgaard and Max Fewtrell.

Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F3 Championship
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PR: Ross Wylie to return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with In2Racing for 2019

Ross Wylie to return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB with In2Racing for 2019

We are excited and proud to announce that Ross Wylie will join In2Racing and make a return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB for the remaining 2 events of 2019 starting at Silverstone followed up by Brands Hatch in Mid-October.

The 28-year-old Scottish born racer from Dumfries last raced in Carrera Cup GB in 2017 with Slide Sport Racing finishing 10th overall.

Ross started his racing career in Scotland racing Mini Max Karts from the age of 13 years old with great success and numerous championships before moving up to racing Mini’s with Celtic Speed in 2012 with 6 podiums. In 2013 Ross would then move on to Volkswagen Racing Cup racing a Scirocco R-Cup car, but his big break would come in 2014 and the British GT, where he won the GT4 class with Andrew Howard’s Beechdean Motorsport in an Aston Martin Vantage with 6 podiums Inc. 3 wins – 2 poles, plus also becoming BRDC Rising Star.

Ross would carry on his success in the British GT for 2015 – 2016 racing in a McLaren for Von Ryan Racing and Motorbase Performance racing am Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and finishing in 5th place in the Gulf 12 hours behind the wheel of Porsche Cayman GT4. 2017 saw a change of direction for Ross and dove tailing 2 championships the Britcar endurance series and the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, he had great success in both series with 10 podiums – Inc. 4 wins in Britcar and finished 3rd in the Rookie Championship and also in the top ten overall in the Carrera Cup GB. Ross would carry on his winning ways in 2018 but this time with Ferrari and AF Corse racing Ferrari 458 GT3 claiming 13 class podiums and 4 class wins.

In 2019 would stay with FF Corse and race in the GT Cup Championship (GTC class) plus selected Britcar Endurance Championship races in the new and very powerful 488 challenge car.

Nick says “Ross is a highly respected driver whom I have wanted to run in our Porsche for a number of years to have him working alongside Peter Kyle-Henney for the last 2 rounds will be great”

Ross commented “I am really pleased to be joining the Carrera Cup GB grid again this weekend since my series debut in 2017. I have known Nick now for a number of years & its great to finally be going racing together, In2 have been around the Carrera Cup paddock for as long as I can remember & I have no doubt they will do a good job in giving me a quick race car”.

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Russian Grand Prix Preview: Ferrari’s revival to continue in Sochi?

‘From Russia with love’ – there wasn’t much love, however, from Daniil Kvyat when he came together with Kimi Raikkonen at the first corner in Singapore. He may wish to keep his nose out of trouble at his home Grand Prix this time, as he returns to the track which saw his career take a bit of a nose dive, when he collided with Sebastian Vettel and lost his seat at Red Bull in 2016.

And, invariably, Vettel would much prefer to complete this year’s Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrome without incident, to build on his first F1 win in 392 days last time out at Marina Bay.

That victory gave us the hand-rubbing prospect of an intra-team war at Ferrari between Vettel and team-mate Charles Leclerc, with the latter leaving Singapore unhappy at the team’s decision to pit Vettel first. The undercut resulted in the four-time champion winning the race ahead of his upstart team-mate who, demonstrating brilliance and maturity in his debut season with Ferrari and only his second season in the sport, had taken his fifth pole position the day before.

GP SINGAPORE F1/2019 – DOMENICA 22/09/2019
credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

However, despite the tension at Ferrari, they nonetheless sent a message to Mercedes and Red Bull with their first one-two finish since the Hungarian Grand Prix of 2017, at a track where we expected the Prancing Horses to falter under the superiority of their rivals on what is a downforce-orientated circuit.

This, coupled with the fact that Lewis Hamilton seemed concerned by Ferrari’s sudden upturn, will hopefully lead us into an exciting Russian Grand Prix this weekend.

With lots of 90-degree turns, a couple of lengthy straights, and a twisty middle sector, you would lean towards Mercedes having the upper hand, but Ferrari’s surprising performance last race has tossed things up in the air.

Further down the grid, Carlos Sainz comes into this weekend seeking some improved fortune. He retired from the Italian Grand Prix due to leaving the pits with a loose wheel, and then a collision with Nico Hulkenberg on the first lap in Singapore all but ended his race. He did recover to 12th, though, as McLaren continue to supersede the works Renault team with the French manufacturer’s own engines in the back of their papaya car.

Carlos Sainz, McLaren MCL34

Romain Grosjean did little to back up Haas boss Guenther Steiner’s decision to keep him on for the 2020 season by wiping out George Russell, while Kevin Magnussen will be dodging Russian plastic bags, with a bag getting caught in his front wing in Singapore, costing him a points finish and seeing him finish last of the runners.

Antonio Giovinazzi must now build on his point-score in Singapore with a strong result in Russia, as his seat at Alfa Romeo is still not secure. Nico Hulkenberg, out of a seat next season but continuing to perform impressively, is knocking on a few doors in search of a drive, having lost out on the Haas seat for next season.

The 2019 season had its dramatic flame reignited under the sweltering heat of Singapore, but will Ferrari’s revival cool with the weather as we head to Russia? Mercedes will certainly want to make that happens this weekend.

 

[Featured image – 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Saturday, Wolfgang Wilhelm]

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Moto3: Canet Demolishes the Field for Aragon Pole

Despite rain overnight and damp morning sessions on Saturday in MotorLand Aragon, the qualifying sessions for the fourteenth round of the 2019 Moto3 World Championship took place in dry conditions.

In Q1 it was Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) who topped the session with his final lap courtesy of a tow gained by some good track position. Joining Foggia in advancing to Q2 were championship combatant Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), wildcard and new Red Bull Rookies Champion Carlos Tatay (Andreas Perez Fundacion 77) and Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) who improved dramatically for qualifying having ended free practice twenty-seventh-fastest.

In Q2, it was a fantastic lap from Aron Canet on his first run to win him pole position. The Spaniard was able to find a good tow for the back straight, but more impressive was his first sector, and the move he put on Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) in turn nine – it was this which allowed him to take pole by a mammoth 0.701 seconds and put himself in prime position to close his twenty-two-point deficit to Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) in the championship.

Joining Canet on the front row will be Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Carlos Tatay, who both got some good track position for their final laps, bringing them both from outside the top ten to start second and third, respectively.

Row two is fronted by Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) in his best Saturday performance since his pole position in Brno last season. Joining the Czech rider on the second row are Celestino Vietti and Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), the Spaniard using the tow of Dalla Porta to perfection to line up sixth tomorrow.

Tony Arbolino will start tomorrow’s race from seventh as he looks to continue his forward momentum in the championship. The Italian will be joined by the same people he was alongside on last weekend’s Misano podium, as Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) qualified eighth, ahead of ninth-placed John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), who missed the flag for his final lap.

Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) will round out tomorrow’s top ten on the grid, heading up row four, where he will be joined by Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) and championship leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta who was simply not fast enough to challenge for the top positions and has a lot of work to do tomorrow to limit the damage that can be inflicted by both polesitter Canet and Arbolino in the championship.

Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) will start from the front of row five in thirteenth, and will be joined by Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) and Jaume Masia (WWR); whilst Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) heads up row six from Andrea Migno (WWR) and Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) who was last in his first Q2 appearance.

There was no change in condition for Q2, which theoretically handed an advantage to the riders who came through Q1, since it was the only dry session of the day to that point for the lightweight class riders.

The fifth rider in Q1 and therefore the fastest to miss out on Q2 was Stefano Nepa (Reale Avintia Arizona 77), who will start from nineteenth alongside Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) and Raul Fernandez (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) on row seven; whilst row eight sees Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) start from twenty-second ahead of Niccolo Antonelli’s replacement at SIC 58 Squadra Corse, Davide Pizzoli, and wildcard Gerard Riu Male (Baiko Racing Team).

The ninth row consists of Romano Fenati’s replacement at VNE Snipers, Julian Jose Garcia, ahead of Deniz Oncu, who is replacing his brother, Can, in the Red Bull KTM Ajo team, and Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power). Finally, row ten sees Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) ahead of Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and the injured Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power).

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) pulled out of the Aragon GP weekend due to pain in his shoulder on Friday, a result of his crash in Misano last weekend.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

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Moto2: Marquez Takes Pole, Fernandez Posed to Fight in Aragon

Qualifying for the Moto2 World Championship riders in Aragon for round fourteen of the 2019 season took place in good conditions as Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took pole position.

In Q1, Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up) topped the session to move through to Q2 along with Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia).

In Q2, it was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who took pole position ahead of his main championship rival, Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40), by over one tenth of a second. The two main championship rivals will be joined tomorrow on the front row by the aggressive Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), last year’s winner of this race, which sets up tomorrow’s race to be entertaining in the battle for the lead.

Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) heads up the second row from Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) who seems to have rediscovered some form this weekend. The final spot on the second row will be taken by Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up); whilst row three sees Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) ahead of Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2).

Iker Lecuona (American Racing) completes the qualifying top ten and heads up row four, being joined by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) and Misano runner-up Fabio Di Giannantonio. On row five, Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) starts ahead of Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Andrea Locatelli; whilst Marco Bezzecchi is with Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Somkiat Chantra on row six.

Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) was the fastest rider to not make Q2, and will start tomorrow’s race from nineteenth, alongside Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) and Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) on row seven.

The eighth row consists of Marcel Schrotter’s replacement at Dynavolt Intact GP, Jesko Raffin, in twentieth, ahead of Joe Roberts (American Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusts Idealavoro Forward); while row nine sees Jake Dixon (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) ahead of Simone Corsi (NTS RW Racing GP) and Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3); and the tenth row has Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) in front of Xavi Cardelus (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) and Gerry Salim (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) who is replacing Dimas Ekky this weekend. The back row has only one rider, with Gabriele Ruiu (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) who this weekend is in place of Mattia Pasini.

Featured Image courtesy of David Goldman/Marc VDS

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MotoGP: Marquez Continues Aragon Domination with Pole Position

After a damp FP3 on Saturday morning which saw limited running from most riders, qualifying in Aragon for the fourteenth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship took place in perfect conditions.

The first session saw a surprise, as Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) prevented Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) from advancing to Q2 using the tow of Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who topped the first session.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was 1.6 seconds faster than everyone in Friday morning’s FP1 session and, although the championship leader had not been close to the 1’46.8 that gave him that advantage since FP1, pole position was almost guaranteed. Once more, Marquez was unable to match his 46.8 from Friday morning, but his 1’47.009 was enough for pole position by 0.327 seconds over Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT).

Fabio Quartararo, Aragon MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Europe

Marquez’ pace is superior for Sunday’s race, but it looks like the battle for second place will be between Quartararo and Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who line up alongside the #93 on the front row.

Jack miller (Pramac Racing) produced a surprise by putting his independent Ducati in fourth place in a track where the Desmosedici has not been entirely comfortable this weekend. There is another surprise in the middle of the second row, where Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will start from tomorrow after a brilliant lap following Marquez at the end of Q2. The last spot on the second row went to Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) who seems to be staring down the barrel of a fourth-consecutive fourth place finish tomorrow.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) starts from the front of the third row, highlighting the strength of Marquez on the same bike, who was 1.313 seconds quicker than the #35. Franco Morbidelli and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will join the Briton on row three.

Crutchlow’s late lap to go seventh pushed Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) off the third row, and the Italian will start back in tenth which could limit his chances. Andrea Iannone was unable to make much of his Q2 appearance and will start eleventh courtesy of Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) missing qualifying due to a crash in FP4 which could also see him miss tomorrow’s race, which he would start from twelfth.

Thirteenth place went to Alex Rins, the Spaniard being the fastest rider to miss out on the pole position shoot-out. There is a lot of work now for Rins to do tomorrow, but his pace is strong and he can still make a good result if his start is good. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) qualified fourteenth, whilst Danilo Petrucci’s struggles aboard the Ducati Team Desmosedici GP19 continued, the Italian finishing only fifth in Q1 to qualify fifteenth overall.

Sixteenth place went to Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) who is having another tough weekend aboard the satellite Desmosedici. Joining the reigning Moto2 World Champion on the sixth row are fellow rookie Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and 2014 Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing).

Mika Kallio’s replacement of Johann Zarco at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for the rest of the season came as a shock earlier in the week, but the Finn has had a decent weekend in Spain on his return to racing after the injury he sustained in Germany last year. Kallio will start nineteenth, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) and Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) on the seventh row, Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) will head up a two-man back row from Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team) who is wildcarding this weekend for the first time since Barcelona.

Featured Image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol

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