IndyCar has cancelled the 2020 running of the Grand Prix of Portland, due to Oregon state laws on public gatherings that will remain active throughout September. The race, originally scheduled for Sept. 11-13 is the seventh race to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement on the official website of The Grand Prix of Portland they said: “We are extremely disappointed and will miss the incredible fans who have supported us […] The safety of our fans, participants, volunteers, staff, partners and media will always remain our top priority.”
In 2019, Portland returned to the IndyCar series after a ten year absence , won by Penske driver Will Power. Unfortunately he will not get a chance to defend his win a year on.
In addition, IndyCar has also cancelled the doubleheader at Laguna Seca in California, making it the eight cancellation on the calendar. IndyCar called the cancellations: “a mutual decision between the series and promoters following close consultation and monitoring of the local situation. The series looks forward to returning to both venues in 2021.”
The 2019 running was won by Colton Herta who dominated from pole position. It was the first year IndyCar had held a race at Laguna Seca for 15 years.
In their place, IndyCar have added doubleheaders to three events already scheduled:
Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, 8th-9th August,
World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, 29th-30th August,
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2nd-3rd October,
It will be the third time that IndyCar will have travelled to Indianapolis this season having raced at the IMS earlier in July and later next month for the Indianapolis 500 on August 23rd.
“Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar.”
IndyCar is still scheduled to run 14 races this season.
In the build up to the race everyone is talking about Marc Marquez, and how gutted they are that he’s not racing. This is the first, yes first race he’s missed in his MotoGP career.
Fabio Quartararo did an interview before the race saying that in last weeks’ free practice the bike didn’t seem that good, but the progress through qualifying was outstanding. Fabio said last week that if Marc Marquez stays on track he would win the race and without Marquez in the race, it’s not going to be as good.
On the grid Jack Miller says he is looking forward to the race but it’s really hot at the track, probably as hot as Malaysia. Track temperature is 60 degrees and 40 degrees ambient temperature. The Ducati is looking good on the grid though.
Tyres are being talked about and the majority of the grid are going with hard front, soft rear with only Alex Rins going soft front and rear.
Into the first corner. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
The excitement builds during the warm up lap and the grid forms ready for lights out, and we are off!
Rossi had a good start but we had a skittle effect on the first corner, the riders involved were Oliviera, Smith and Binder. As a result of the crash, Oliviera is out of the race.
The riders are pushing the limits of these bikes, Rossi has been 0.6 secs behind the leader and you know Rossi , he’s always getting ready to make a move.
Miller left his seat for a second as the bike twitches. Rossi was being pushed by Maverick, who’s getting close to the Doctor.
Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins are running last places which isn’t hard to understand because of the injuries they are carrying.
Fabio Quartararo hasn’t really been challenged for first place. The only thing that could stop him is his own bike, with the Yamaha’s having issues in the heat.
Iker Lecuona came off with 19 laps to go, he was hoping to have kept the bike going but sadly, he couldn’t.
Alex Rins is making this ride count as he’s slowly coming up the grid, he’s now in 15th and in the points with 18 laps to go.
Alex Marquez is riding in 14th with 17 laps to go, Jack Miller has been under attack from a bunch of riders and sadly lost a couple of places. Unfortunately, he came off on turn 9 of lap 11 which was gutting as he’s a great rider and looked promising in this race.
Happy enough with today, we would have liked to have been a little more up the grid but I’ll take it! Hopefully we can spring up a few positions tomorrow 🚦#AndaluciaGPpic.twitter.com/WjcPCtR6zq
Rossi is now 6 seconds behind leader, Fabio Quartararo, and other then the tyres falling off, I don’t think he will be caught.
Bagnaia has overtaken Rossi for second place, let’s see if he can catch the leader.
With 13 laps to go, the bikes look to be struggling with grip on the front end but pushing these bikes is what these riders do.
Brad Binder has just taken a spill as the bike kicked back going round a corner, the bike said I am not having any of this, and flipped the rider. It looked like a painful exit to the race.
Alex Marquez is building momentum on his bike but he’s in the shadows of his brother’s reputation.
The Yamaha’s have been having problems all weekend and indeed Morbidelli’s has just given up sounding like a bag of nails and has now retired from the race.
Crutchlow has entered the pit lane and has an issue but decided that with the amount of riders on the track to go back out as he can score points.
Seven laps remain and only 14 riders out on the track so everyone can get a point.
Rossi is still keeping Vinales at bay in 3rd place and the last 3 laps seem to be as good as the previous laps as everyone on track is battling for places. Maverick is now up Rossi’s exhaust, they are that close!
Rossi is teasing Maverick but the Spaniard makes it stick and now the Doctor is chasing Vinales but he is pulling away.
LAST LAP
Everyone on track is pushing so hard, Maverick just had a little wobble but was okay; Fabio Quartararo wins for the second time this season followed by Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi.
It’s an all Yamaha podium which seemed unlikely at the start of this race.
After FP4 Marc Marquez looked like he was favouring his right arm by taking right hand corners in two movements, he was hesitant on left hand corners and not going as low as usual.
Qualifying 1
As all the bikes were going out on the track, Marc Marquez only managed an out lap which he did not finish, he went straight down the pit lane, got off the bike and walked to his trailer indicating that his surgically repaired arm isn’t feeling good from that, you could say.
Cal Cruchlow was banging out good times and didn’t seem to have an issue with his wrist as he got to 3rd in Q1. Alex Marquez came off the track in Q1 but he did put a time in of 1’38.648
The top 3 in Q1 were:
1 : Miguel Oliveira : Red Bull KTM Tech 3 : 1’37.355
After qualifying these are the results for the top 12 riders:
1
Fabio Quartararo
FRA
Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)
1’37.007s
2
Maverick Viñales
SPA
Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.095s
3
Francesco Bagnaia
ITA
Pramac Ducati (GP20)
+0.169s
4
Valentino Rossi
ITA
Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.335s
5
Miguel Oliveira
POR
Red Bull KTM Tech3 (RC16)
+0.337s
6
Franco Morbidelli
ITA
Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)
+0.405s
7
Jack Miller
AUS
Pramac Ducati (GP20)
+0.416s
8
Takaaki Nakagami
JPN
LCR Honda (RC213V)
+0.457s
9
Brad Binder
RSA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)*
+0.589s
10
Joan Mir
SPA
Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)
+0.593s
11
Danilo Petrucci
ITA
Ducati Team (GP20)
+0.899s
12
Pol Espargaro
SPA
Red Bull KTM (RC16)
+3.270s
Fabio Quartararo at Andalucia MotoGP 2020. Image courtesy of Yamaha-racing
The Repsol Honda Team have confirmed that Marc Marquez will not be taking part in the race on Sunday.
Fabio Quartararo starts from pole. After he finished his timed lap he was going into turn one but the back end didn’t want to stay behind him, but he kept control and showed his skills. This is going to be a good race tomorrow.
Valentino Rossi finished 4th in Qualifying which means the Doctor has a great chance here if he doesn’t have engine issues like last week.
Maverick Viñales had a great performance again in qualifying.
Alex Rins didn’t look comfortable with his shoulder injury, it was looking like it was giving him some issues but on the track tomorrow it could change everything.
Andrea Dovizioso had a slow start at one point being down in 13th but by the end of Q1 he had made it up 4th.
If MotoGP was weird enough having no racing for over 8 months – nearly 9 months, then Moto2 and Moto3’s predicament was just frustrating especially for the riders, a four mouth wait between Qatar and the second round at Jerez.
Moto3
Saturday saw Fenati, Antonelli, Arbolino and Ogura all progress into Q2, the four were only separated by 0.393s. Q2 was just as busy with Q1. Fenati was the top Q1 runner in Q2 with Tatsuki Suzuki. The championship leader and winner of round one taking pole. Andrea, Migno and John McPhee taking the remaining front row. Sunday saw the sun shine with blue skies at Jerez. First up was Moto3, waiting to blast down the first turn with the track at 36c and air temps 27c. Everything seemed perfect except of course there were no fans.
Into the first corner, of the 2020 Jerez Moto3 GP. Image courtesy of Polarity Photo/KTM
The red lights quickly faded away, and there’s some pushing and shoving but Suzuki got the holeshot by some margin – it seemed he was gunning for the second win from two. Foggia and Tatay crashed with each other at turn one. Suzuki had a blinding first lap with a sizeable gap with about 20 bikes following him with Migno and Fernandez making the top 3. Lap 2 saw Vietti take third from Fernandez. By Lorenzo’s corner the gap that Suzuki had, was now gone. By lap four Vietti had taken Migno and then Suzuki on the start-finsh straight. By the end of the lap, Suzuki was fifth and Arenas was fourth.
From lap five the standard Moto3 dog fighting began, with Arenas and Arbolino joining into lap six. Arbolino quickly made his way to second behind Viettti. Vietti and Arblino in second, stayed in front whilst Migno, Arenas, Fernandaz and Rodrigo were all where playing musical “chairs” until lap eleven when Arbolino scuttled past Veitti for the lead and kept it. Vietti couldn’t keep second place though, falling back to fifth.
It was now a fight between Arbolino, Alcoba, Arenas and Binder. McPhee was now sixth behind Vietti. Arbolino’s lead didn’t last long before Arenas quickly grabbed first in a sort of group mele which you weren’t quite sure who would be where, or was going to fall – a very typical Moto3 moment.
Into Lap twelve it was Arenas, Binder, Alcoba, McPhee and Arbolino in the top five. Suzuki, the once leader was hanging on in sixth but by the end of the lap having a resurgence to fourth. Arenas was hanging on in first, Moto3 style because McPhee had managed to go from fourth to second with Binder sliding to fifth. Arbolino was now back in the hunt. The tustle continued with Binder briefly taking second at the end of lap thirteen but by lap fourteen Arbolino had retaken second and McPhee was fourth.
Arenas continued to stay in first with the main three protagonists of Arbolino, McPhee and Binder swapping and sniping for places behind him. Arenas like Suzuki wanted a gap, but that gap never really appeared as each lap passed Lorenzo Corner they where swamped next to each other preying for any one but them to make a mistake. Coming up to Lorenzo Arbolino went wide, along with most the train behind him – except for John McPhee and by not going wide he took first into the start-finish straight.
It wasn’t until lap eighteen that we finally saw the lead change. Arbolino made his move down the back-straight with Arenas droping behind Binder for third. McPhee managed to create more of a gap than Arbolino or Suzuki ever did but maybe because of the excessive dog fighting behind him. Arbolino, Vietti, Binder and Arenas were not in any mood to settle for anything less than first. With less than 4 laps to go the fuse was lit for the fireworks, either somebody would go wide or crash. The four were ready to pounce on McPhee.
Again the back straight was the centre of the action with Arbolino snuffling out Mcphee’s lead and regaining first again. Binder crashes mid way through lap twenty-one. The final three left in the hunt was Arbolino, McPhee and Arenas. Into Lorenzo’s corner and Arbolino goes wide again, allowing Mcphee back into first place, going into the last lap.
Albert Arenas winner of the Jerez 2020 Moto3 Race. Image courtesy of Polarity Photo/KTM
McPhee kept the pace going into turn one on the last lap. But McPhee was being prevented by Arbolino and Arenas from creating any gap, because they were snapping and sniping at his heal, ready to pounce. Arbolino was indeed ready to pounce and he made his move down the back straight into the braking area. McPhee slid back to second, but Aranas wanted second and into the corners before Lornezo Corner, he made his move. McPhee was having none of it, he made his move going sharper and closer to the apex then Arbolino and Arenas did but by doing so he went wide on the exit into the straight, slightly touching the grass and promptly hitting Arbolino causing McPhee to crash in a plume of dust. Arbolino went on to stay on his bike and to take second, Ogu took third with Arenas taking the top spot.
Moto2
In Q1 Fabio DI Ginnantonio , Xavi Vierge, Hafizh Syahrin and Joe Roberts all progressed into Q2. Only Vierge could make any substantial improvement on their grid placings in Q2 with Ginnantonio last, Roberts sixteenth and Syahrin one place up in fifteenth. At the front it was Martin who took pole with the other Jorge (Jorge Navarrro) taking second with the final front row being taken by Sam Lowes
The second race of the day saw the battle of the Jorges for the holeshot, with Jorge Martin and Jorge Navarro in second with Sam Lowes on third. Martin made the holeshot, with the other two on the front being consumed by the rows behind them, resulting in a huge gap for Martin by the first corner. The other Jorge – Jorge Navarro, crashed into the kitty litter. By the middle of the lap after the long back straight, the top three had shaken out as Martin, Canet and Marini followed by Lowes with Schrotter in fifth.
jJorge Martin into the first corner of the 2020 Jerez Moto2 race. Image courtesy of Polarity Photo /KTM
Into Lap three, and we saw a break-away group of four; Martin, Marini, Canet and Nagashima. Marini was on a charge, and just after the long back straight, he made his move swiftly under cutting Martin. Marini first, Martin second and Nagashlm third, with Canet and Bezzecchi behind them. Jorge Martin was slowly but surely heading backwards, with Nagashima taking second at Lorenzo’s corner. At the end of lap five, Bezzecchi made the pass to take fourth from Canet.
The top three of Marini, Nagashima and Martin stayed that way with an increasing gap made by Marini into lap Seven, when finally Bezzecchi made his move along the back straight and going tighter into the apex pushing Martin back into fourth. Unfortunately for Bezzecchi, it was not to last because into turn 10 on lap eight, Bezzecchi’s front folded on him after going onto the rumble strip and he crashed. Schrotter, into turn 11 on lap nine crashed looking winded from the fall. Two riders crashing in one lap removed two potential candidates for the podium
With fifteen laps to go, Marini seemed, along with Nagashima and Martin content with their positions. That though wasn’t the case for Sam Lowes, as he was sixth on lap eight, he inherited fifth after Schrotter crashed. By the end of lap eleven, Lowes had caught and passed Canet for fourth. Lowes then started hunting down Martin for third. By lap eighteen, Lowes was only a second behind but Martin was starting to match Lowes lap times.
It wasn’t just Lowes thinking he could grab another place, Nagashima also contemplated the same thing as he was closing in on Marini. Into lap twenty-one, Lowes now only .6 seconds behind Martin but his pit board showed a 0.5s to push him forwards. As much as Nagashima was catching Marini, he was, with 3 laps to go stil 1.585s behind Marini. It was to be a last lap attempt for both Lowes and Nagashima.
— Sky Racing Team VR46 (@SkyRacingTeam) July 19, 2020
Luthi meanwhile crashed on turn nine, on the 22nd lap but by the start of the final lap the gap was 1.562 to Marini, which meant that Nagashima had settled for second. Barring the racing gods intervening, the same went for Lowes who was now 1.158s behind Martin. Being racers of course, ‘it ain’t done ‘til the flag drops’ on your bike and that indeed was the case with the final five being Marini, Nagashima, Martin, Lowes and Canet.
Despite waiting over four months for the championship to continue we saw a polished race worthy of its wait. Whilst lacking the drama of the MotoGP race or the Moto3 race, it certainly wasn’t a filler race. Despite obtaining a second place, Nagashima maintains behind championship leader after the win at Qatar. Baldassarri second with Jerez’s race winner a worthy third. The long list of title contenders still have every chance given the nature of the intermediate round. That said, Nagashima is a surprise contender. Next up is the Gran Premio Red Bull de Andalucía or Jerez to you and me.
Its July and after four months of delay, MotoGP roared into life and finally held its first race of the 2020 Championship in the sunny climes of Jerez with its spaceship start/finish. Four subjects became clear as the weekend went on and one of which we have known for a while: Marc Marquez, Alex Marquez/Pol Espargaro, Dovizioso/Ducati and Quartararo/Rossi/Yamaha.
Q1 saw Rins and Pol Espargaro taking the the top two slots to forward themselves into Q2 and Binder lost out by .128s.
Q2 saw a new fastest lap, set by Fabio Quartararo, which saw Marc Marquez not being able to match the two Yamaha machines. Quartararo had a dominate session with him initially setting a time of 1:37.064 and his second run saw a time of 1:36.993. It took Vinales several attempts to beat that time, and put in a lap of 1:36.844. In the dying minutes Quartararo, went faster with a new track record of 1:36.705. The #93’s best saw him fall away to Quartararo’s time in the last two sectors.
Start of the 2020 MotoGp season, at Jerez round One. Image courtesy of Box Repsol/Honda
That set up a front three of Quartararo, Vinales, and M.Marqeuz. Vinales made the holeshot, with Quartararo bogging down and in the first few meters and going 2nd, with Vinales grabbing the lead. Backwards Quartararo went, because by the 6th corner, Miller undercuts him at the apex. By the second lap at turn one he was down to p5, with Quartararo going wide.
Whilst Quartararo, was busying himself going backwards, Vinales wanted to create a big enough gap from the man behind. Marc Marquez is not only is a great pole setter and race leader but he can hunt you down. Lap after lap, just waiting to pounce like a panther. Vinales’s gap making approach had a huge blow with a double wobble into turn 8, and MM93, was on the back of his wheel.
Lap 2 saw the gap between MM93 and Miller equalized, Quartararo’s backwards movement down the pack finally ended at Lorenzo’s corner. Miller crashes – a short race for him. Lap 3 was the time for Marc to pounce, with a shortened calendar season, he cannot afford to wait or to make mistakes. Actually none of the front runners can. Corner 5 where the Honda propelled Marc Marquez pounced, realizing that Vinales had gone slightly wide, undercutting at the apex, but Marc brakes and goes wide himself, Vinales retaking the lead as quickly as he gave it away but Marc continued to hound Vinales right up into the Pedrosa corner retaking the lead again. Vinales doesn’t give and tries again at Lorenzo’s corner. A.Espargaro crashes at the end of lap three.
Lap four saw a .5s gap between MM93 and MV12 but there were signs that the Honda and Marc were at the limit, twitching and sliding wide (not by much but still visible). Lap 5 was an eventful yet expected result of the instability of the Honda, Marc motor-crossed through the kitty litter at turn four. Replays showed, Marc, sliding along and saving a near crash. Ending up back on track at p18, swiftly advancing to p16. How many more saves before a crash. That left the top three as Vinales, Miller and Quartararo. Quartararo, quickly started sniffing around the rear of Miller’s Ducati.
Vinales now had a 0.6s lead from Miller. But Miller had a problem in the shape of the Petronas Yahama coming towards him like a bullet and into Lorenzo’s corner, Miller goes wide and Quartararo nabs second. Meanwhile by the end of lap six, Marc was p14. Lap 8 saw Brad Binder crash but returning to the track and Marc climbing to twelveth place. Lap nine saw the top three compressed with Quartararo being the fall guy; Miller and Quartararo were ready for any mistakes. Vinales was making mistakes, and into Lorenzo’s corner he went wide allowing both Quartararo and Miller to slide past him. Both Yamaha’s where on softs, and at this stage with Rossi in an invisible eighth, it was seemly a great toss of the dice which now looks bad.
Andrea Dovizioso at Jerez 2020 MotoGP. Image courtesy of Ducati
The next couple of laps saw, the top five, of Quartararo, Miller, Vinales, Bagnaia and Dovizioso all staying together with little attempts to overtake. Meanwhile by lap thirteen, Marc was ninth, quickly taking Oliveira then Rossi for eighth. Into Lorenzo corner saw PEspargaro taking Doviizioso and lap fourteen was ready and so was the Ducati that was powering Dovizioso, which with its grunt, allowed him to retake fifth place. P.Espargaro goes wide himself and allows Morbidelli to take p6, with Marc hunting them both down.
Lorenzo’s corner sees some more action with Dovizioso sliding past Bagnaia. Most of lap 16 saw Marc in eigth place who was watching in front of him two packs of Dovizioso, P.Espargaro, Bagnaia and Morbidelli scrapping. Lap seventeen saw Marc outbreak Morbidelli into Pedrosa corner. By turn eight, Marc passed Bagnaia. Into Lap 19 and we saw Marc around the back of PEspargaro’s bike ready to snaffle fifth place with fourth shortly after. Before that displacement was to occur, Rossi’s non descript race, came to a sad end with engine failure. By Lorenzo’s corner Marquez had just done the job on Doviziozo.
The 20th lap around Lorenzo corner saw the bunched up threesome of Vinales, Miller and Marquez, play undercutting with Marc Marquez taking 3rd away from Miller. But if Marquez thought that he could just ride on to take Vinales, he was mistaken as Miller in the next corner retook third but he went wide after passing so Marquez got his third position.
By Lap 22 Marquez was on the heals of number two; Vinales and it seemed inevitable that he would be quickly consumed by the Spaniard. But it was that same corner where Marquez had motor crossed earlier which punted him to eighteenth. Turn four decided to take a second helping of Marc’s position. This time the bike did not slide but high sides him onto the tarmac and rolling and bouncing him in the kitty litter. Marc initially managed to walk off to behind the railings and was looked at by the medical staff but was taken back via a stretcher. A later update confirmed that he had broken his right arm. He is due to have surgery on the 21st of July. With a shortened championship this could be enough to finish of any chances of retaining his championship.
With a 4.7s gap, Fabio Quartararo was on course to win the race, but behind him second and third were up for grabs. Morbideli came like a missile up to Miller’s bike down the back straight, causing Morbideli to wobble and nearly loosing it causing him to drop to sixth. Fabio Quartararo’s win is an important win for both him and his team and also for the French. Johan Zarco had been a great Moto2 Champion but now smeemingly lost in MotoGP due to both the bike and and his attitude, the French needed a new man to cheer. Hopefully things will change for Zarco. For Fabio it’s important because your debut win is always special and you have chosen the right team and after so many near misses last year its even more special.
Round one of the 2020 MotoGP. Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo and Andrea Dovizioso at the podium celebrations. Image courtesy of Yamaha racing
Yamaha have improved their bike for the 2020 season, and with no Marc Marquez for at least another Grand Prix, it’s all for Yamaha to grab points to win the Championship, but which rider (and Yamaha), Vinales or Quartararo? Only time will tell, even with 3 or 4 races out and currently with zero points Marc can come back. Rossi is not on the pace to either Vinales or Quartararo, that has been amplified by this race. The result could be that Pertronas Yamaha SRT may not take his services for 2021.
Pol Espargaro, has signed for Honda for the 2021 season with Alex moving team and with the Jerez result it initally seems a good bet by the team. If Rossi is all at sea, Dovizioso could also be in the same boat. After being second in the championship for three years running there’s only so much in your tank!
Going into the 2020 F1 season, we were set to have the most Grands Prix in the entire 70-year history of the sport. However, the COVID-19 pandemic heavily compromised the F1 schedule and a revised calendar of eight races was published with two Grands Prix held at the Red Bull Ring in Austria and Silverstone in Britain, with the rest also taking place within Europe. They were joined later on by a circuit that had never hosted a Grand Prix before: Mugello.
Scuderia Ferrari Media
Well now we have some more welcome additions to the newly revised Corona edition of the 2020 schedule. The Nürburgring will host the Eifel Grand Prix on 11 October, Algarve will hold the Portuguese Grand Prix on 25 October, and Imola will host the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on November 1st. For the first time in F1’s history, Imola will be a two-day Grand Prix event as opposed to the traditional three-day format.
Mark Thompson, Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
The first and last circuits will sound familiar as they are former Grand Prix venues, with the Nürburgring GP circuit having last hosted a Grand Prix back in 2013. This was part of an alternating arrangement with Hockenheim every other year since 2007, before the Nürburgring dropped off the schedule ahead of the 2014 season.
Hockenheim had become a fan favourite over the years and hosted Grands Prix in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019 before being left off the initial 2020 calendar, and it had been in the running to host a race this year on the revised schedule before the circuit boss ruled out that possibility. I may be in the minority but I much prefer the Nürburgring, so I’m absolutely elated to hear that F1 is finally returning to what I would consider the rightful home of the German Grand Prix.
Next up is Imola, which was previously the home of the San Marino Grand Prix and F1 last raced there in 2006. Since then, it has had a minor change to its layout, with the old last chicane Variante Bassa section being moved over and used for the motorcycle layout. However, car racing now completely skips past it so when F1 goes back there, they’ll be running from Ravazza to Tamburello completely flat out on the not-so-straight start/finish straight.
Imola and Nürburgring are very old school and have a lot of long corners with plenty of elevation change, and are of course both known quantities to the F1 world, however the third track in question is not.
The Algarve circuit is located in Portugal, which last held a Grand Prix in 1996 at Estoril. Algarve hosts World Superbikes and even held a round of the GP2 2009 Championship, as well as being a test venue for Formula One. Therefore it has a lot in common with Mugello. A lot of you may recognise it as the circuit from in the first episode of The Grand Tour, in which Clarkson, Hammond and May went there to see which was quickest between the McLaren P1, the Porsche 918 and the Ferrari LaFerrari.
Like in my Mugello article, I have a video of an onboard lap I recorded in advance on Project CARS 2 in a Formula Renault 3.5. Again, as in my Mugello article, please excuse my terrible driving and usage of driving line because I am not David Tonizza.
Starting the lap you have a huge drop before running into a very fast right-hander called Primeira, which will definitely separate the men from the boys in qualifying. Then a quick right-handed flick before the Lagos hairpin which takes you onto a very fast and steep left hander, and a long run towards the Torre Vip hairpin.
Run through the flat out turn seven into turn eight which is rather deceptive and I reckon a lot of drivers may be compelled to commit to it being flat out but it does tighten up before it opens back out again. You don’t have time to think about that as you’re already entering Samsung corner, which looks tighter than it is as you come out of it and enter a huge dip.
The Craig Jones corner is next, and I would be very surprised if it wasn’t flat for the F1 drivers, as it sits on a steep incline and Portimão corner follows, which is also very blind. I can imagine a few drivers will lock their brakes here as they are turning more and more trying to open the corner.
A rollercoaster-esque downward turn 12 then meets turn 13, a slow speed yet still very open hairpin which will be undoubtedly tricky to get the optimal exit speed needed for the last two corners. Sagres starts out tight but opens up on exit and that leads to the iconic Galp corner, a downhill flatout right hander that many drivers will love, before a small incline that leads to the end of the lap.
Algarve like Mugello is high speed, undulating and will no doubt be a favourite of all these drivers. Whether or not it will produce good racing with these cars is another matter, but at least the worst case scenario is a boring race on an amazing set of circuits as opposed to boring racing at Sochi.
The Nürburgring, Algarve and Imola circuits join the already confirmed Red Bull Ring, Hungaroring, Silverstone, Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza, Mugello and Sochi on the revised 2020 schedule. With the FIA having ruled out the Americas to host any racing this year and very little chance of any happening in far east Asia, the most we can perhaps expect is two more Grand Prix in the Middle East, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi.
13 Grand Prix have been confirmed, and the most we will get is 15. I do not feel envious of Codemasters, but I do hope they add in Mugello, Nürburgring, Algarve and Imola in next year’s game.
To some, the incredible form of Scott Dixon is nothing of a surprise. After winning at Texas, Indianapolis, and Road America he sealed his 49th career win, three behind IndyCar and Formula 1 legend Mario Andretti who stands at second on the all-time list. This will be his 18th consecutive season in American open-wheel racing with a win on his quest to achieve his sixth championship title.
Dixon proved his class on the restart of the season, finishing 4.411 seconds clear of rival Simon Pagenaud at Texas Motor Speedway where he led 157 of the 200 laps. What immediately followed was another dominant win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning by over 20 seconds over Graham Rahal. Finally, a win at Road America gave him his third consecutive win, with seemingly no let-up in sight.
Chris Jones / IndyCar Media
Since then, we have had three more races: one other at Road America, and two at Iowa Speedway. Despite starting 17th in both races, Dixon rose to an incredible second and fifth place to solidify his lead at the top of the standings
How has Dixon done this? A mixture of raw pace, consistency, experience, and well-executed strategy calls. Interestingly, despite not starting anywhere higher than the third row of the grid five of the last six races he has finished on the podium four times, a testament to how good his race strategy and decision-making skills are.
However, all three Penske drivers are firmly in the hunt. Simon Pagenaud, Will Power and Josef Newgarden will be looking to stop Scott Dixon’s momentum heading into the second half of the season.
Dixon says that he is in impeccable form, in an interview he states:
“For me right now, I’m physically stronger,” he said. “Mentally, I’m in a better place than ever.”
Bad news for his competitors, but great news for race fans.
Safety is Key
A significant moment in IndyCar history was the implementation of the Aeroscreen, designed by RedBull Advanced Technologies. The engineering consultancy of the championship-winning Formula 1 team proposed the concept in 2016 only to be rejected for the Halo device.
The device improves the design of the Halo in a significant way. The polycarbonate ballistic windscreen protects the driver from any debris that would otherwise bypass the titanium frame. Additionally, the windscreen can withstand a hit from a 2lb (0.9kg) object at a speed of 220 mph (354kmh). Thus, pieces of a car, that for any reason, rise to meet the cockpit of a competitor are very unlikely to reach the driver inside, and we now have evidence to back this up.
During lap 144 at the Iowa Speedway, a botched pitstop left Will Power’s car with a loose left front wheel. Subsequently on lap 157 Power understeered into the wall, breaking the front suspension, and sending one of his tyres over the car itself. Luckily, the tyre deflected off the windscreen and away from the driver. Power heaped praise on the effectiveness of the Aeroscreen following the race:
“Man, I can’t thank IndyCar enough for everything they’ve done safety-wise with the Aeroscreen and halo inside the Aeroscreen,” he said. “You just saw Colton Herta go over the top of someone, and they’ve just done a tremendous job. It’s better than any other series that have invented something like it. Just a very good job,”
The crash he was referring to involved Colton Herta on lap 157. Due to a confusion during an aborted restart he accelerated into the back of Rinus Veekay. Horrifically, Herta can be seen being thrown into the air above Veekay. Luckily, the Aeroscreen kept the Dutchman safe as Herta’s car lands on top of him.
Without the Aeroscreen it is highly likely that both these incidents could have resulted in serious injuries for all the drivers involved.
The Aeroscreen, while still criticised for things such as overheating the drivers in the cockpits, is a positive contribution to safety in motorsport and certainly here to stay.
McLaren’s Rise to Prominence
Chris Jones / IndyCar Media
Two years ago, McLaren were struggling in Formula One with a series of reliability issues with their Honda powertrain and a car that did not meet the team’s expectations. A disastrous campaign resulted in them losing two-time champion Fernando Alonso. However, it forced them to embark on a fundamental restructuring process that would lead them back to the front of motorsport.
Since then, it has been a remarkable turnaround for the team, with two podiums and two fastest laps to its name in Formula One this year. McLaren also have been racing in IndyCar alongside Schmidt Arrow Peterson, rebranded as Arrow McLaren SP. This seems to have been a partnership made in heaven with a serious of impressive drives from both Patricio O’Ward and Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew.
An impressive race at Road America saw Patricio O’Ward score his first pole position, but unfortunately lose the win to Chip Ganassi star Felix Rosenqvist on the final lap of the race. Not too long after at Iowa Speedway both Arrow McLaren Chevrolets were among the fastest cars in the field even if the results for both cars did not reflect their outright pace.
Rookie Oliver Askew impressed with his first podium in Race 1 and an impressive sixth after a late stint on fresher tyres. Meanwhile, it was a case of what might have been for O’Ward.
After making some impressive overtakes using the high line he gained five positions, eventually hunting down race leader Josef Newgarden for the win. Unfortunately, a slow pitstop cost O’Ward the lead lap and ultimately the race win. He finished in 12th, arguably an undeserved result for such an impressive drive.
Oliver Askew now sits at the top of the Rookie of the Year standings (115 points) while his teammate is firmly in the championship hunt, sitting in fourth (162 points). Though, after narrowly losing two race wins, O’Ward may feel that he should be sitting in second place only below Scott Dixon in the standings had results gone his way. Pato remains cautiously optimistic about the team’s chances this year:
“We want to win races, be a contender in the championship,” he says. “Everyone is pushing the same way as I am, with the same amount of energy and motivation. We have a great group of engineers and the car has felt good everywhere we’ve been.
The first race of the delayed 2020 MotoGP season ended up with three major riders with injuries with two requiring surgery.
Alex rins suffered a crash during Q2 on Saturday at turn 11 which caused a dislocation-fracture to his right shoulder, he was declared unfit to ride in the race.
Cal Crutchlow’s race day didn’t really start because he got injured during the warm up and was taken to a local medical facility in Spain. Crutchlow who races for LCR HONDA had surgery on his wrist and had two screws inserted into his wrist, he’s quoted as saying he will give it a go Friday and see how his wrist feels.
Meanwhile at HRC Honda, Marc Marquez also had issues in the first race of the season as he came off the track twice in the race, the second time he crashed and end up with a fracture on his upper arm. He as since had surgery to insert a steel plate in his arm on Tuesday and is resting but he wants to race this weekend. On Thursday afternoon he was declared fit to ride by the medical staff .
Its no secret that Formula E divides the motorsport community, but here’s why you should watch the Berlin finale that kicks off in just under a fortnight’s time.
The championship:
Image courtesy of Formula E
Formula E is undoubtedly one of the most competitive open-wheeled series you will find. With five different winners in the opening five races, the championship is wide open. Antonio Felix Da Costa has a slender lead going into the final six races; only eleven points clear of Mitch Evans in second. Third is Alexander Sims just a further ten points behind. In fact, eight teams are represented by drivers in the top ten. Both championships are wide open: lots of wheel to wheel action is certain.
New Faces:
The return of Formula E on the fifth August also sees the return of many drivers. However, three drivers that will not be returning to the grid are Dragon’s Brendon Hartley, Nio’s Ma Qinghua, and Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein. This opens up spaces for two new drivers to enter the frame: Rene Rast, and Sergio Sette Camara. Following Audi’s dismissal of Daniel Abt earlier in lockdown, the German team announced that Rene Rast would take his seat, with Abt later being confirmed for Nio. At the time, the dropping of Abt caused much controversy and many thought it a shame that he did not have a seat on the grid. However, Nio picked the German up and he is ready and raring to get racing again. Pascal Wehrlein and Brendon Hartley also announced that they had parted ways with their teams; leaving a seat for Alex Lynn’s to make his return at Mahindra and Sette Camara to join Dragon. With all the fresh faces wanting to prove themselves, we are guaranteed to see an exciting end to the season.
Six Races, Nine Days:
Once the season gets underway again the races will come thick and fast with three double headers, all in the space of nine days. Despite all taking place at the same venue, the Berlin Tempelhof, Formula E decided that there will be three different variations of the track, one for each of the double headers. On the fifth and sixth August, the drivers will drive the reverse layout of the traditional circuit, followed by the normal way around two days later on the eighth and ninth. However, for the final two races, we will see a new track, with turns four to fourteen given a complete shake up. These new circuits will add an extra dimension to the day as drivers have have to learn their way around and then race, all on the same day. Entertainment is certain to ensue.
More Environmentally Friendly Than Ever:
One of Formula E’s biggest selling points (at least for me) is it’s significantly better impact on the environment compared to other forms of motorsport. Any form of racing is going to have a negative impact on the environment, but being all electric, Formula E is going to be much better than that of the likes of Formula One. With all the races being at the same venue, the teams will not have to travel between events, greatly reducing their carbon footprint. Not only that, but the lack of spectators means less food and less travelling, both being two of the biggest contributing factors to the Climate Crisis. For people who love racing, but are concerned by Climate Change, the Big Berlin Finale is almost perfect.
In short, there’s many things to be excited about. Lots of racing, new drivers, championships wide open. The final six races of ABB FIA Formula E Championship are poised to be some of the greatest days of not only Formula E’s history, but arguably the entirety of motorsport.
As the countdown to the 2020 Bennett’s British Superbike Season ticks towards the series roaring into life at Donington Park on August 7th, here are a few fun facts about the series’ history for you to wow your mates with down the pub when taking in a (socially distanced) cold one. Each fact is relevant to its numerical position in the list.
1. The Birth Of The Championship
The British Superbike Championship (BSB) can trace its origins back to 1988 at the start of the Superbike racing boom, which coincided with the inaugural World Superbike Championship season.
The first BSB season was contested under Formula TT rules with race number one taking place in May 1988 at the Carnaby track on the site of a former RAF base near Bridlington in East Yorkshire. The first race winner was Darren Dixon who piloted his Suzuki RG500 all the way to the first championship title later in the year.
Dixon went on to become a star in the field of sidecar racing, winning the World Sidecar Championship in 1995 and 1996. Dixon’s son Jake came second in the 2018 BSB Championship and now competes in Moto2.
2. Always The Bridesmaid
Fact number two refers to the second position in the BSB Championship achieved by Chris ‘Stalker’ Walker four years on the trot between 1997 and 2000.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking of these second placed finishes came at the climax of the 2000 season. With just three laps remaining in the final race, Walker led the pack only for his engine to fail on him. Despite trying desperately to reignite his machine, the mechanical problem allowed title rival Neil Hodgson to overtake Walker not just in the race but overall in the championship.
3. Niall’s Treble Triumph
They say three is the magic number and it certainly was for Niall Mackenzie who became the most dominant rider of the 1990s, taking the BSB title three years in a row in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Riding on the spectacular Cadbury’s Boost Yamaha team—run by former Grand Prix rider Rob McElnea—Mackenzie racked up 14 wins over the course of the 1997 season. This record was only bettered by Leon Camier with 19 during his dominant 2009 title win, and only Shane Byrne has won more BSB titles than the super Scot.
The Mackenzie name lives on as Niall’s sons Tarran and Taylor both now compete in the BSB and Superstock championships respectively.
4. Champions From Afar
Over the course of British Superbike history, there have been four riders from outside the UK and Ireland who have finished the season top of the pile.
The first was Australian Troy Bayliss who piloted his GSE Ducati 996 to the 1999 title before going on to win a hat-trick of championships in World Superbikes. Spaniard Gregorio Lavilla only got his ride aboard the Airwaves Ducati 999 just days before the start of the 2005 season as a substitute for the injured James Haydon, but ended the season as champion after surprising many and holding off the challenge of the Honda riders and team-mate Leon Haslam.
Ryuichi Kiyonari became the first Japanese rider to claim the BSB title when he prevailed at the end of the dramatic 2006 championship decider at Brands Hatch. ‘Kiyo’ repeated the feat in 2007 and then after a spell in World Superbikes returned in 2010 to make it a hat-trick of titles all aboard the HM Plant Honda CBR1000RR FireBlade.
The most recent foreigner to win the British championship was Australian King of the Cadwell Park Mountain Josh Brookes who won his first (and to date only) BSB crown aboard the Milwaukee Yamaha R1 in 2015.
5. Rockin’ All Over The World
Five British Superbike riders (including two former champions) have gone on to win the World Superbike crown after making the move from the domestic series.
As mentioned earlier, Troy Bayliss won the British title in 1999 before going on to add the World crown on three occasions in 2001, 2008 and 2009. Lancashire rider Neil Hodgson capitalised on Chris Walker’s dramatic engine failure in the final race of the 2000 season to win the BSB title aboard the GSE Ducati 996 (same bike ridden by Bayliss the previous year) and then conquered the world in 2003.
James Toseland rode the Paul Bird-backed Vimto Honda VTR1000 during the 2000 BSB season before moving up to the World Championship, winning the global crown on two occasions in 2004 and aboard the HannSpree Ten Kate Honda in 2007.
In the same year that Toseland bagged his second World Championship, Tom Sykes made his BSB debut aboard the Stobart Vent-Axia Honda FireBlade. After a year with Rizla Suzuki in 2008, Sykes made the step up to WSBK with Yamaha Moto Italia. Four years after making his World Championship debut in 2013, Sykes won his maiden title aboard the Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R.
Perhaps the most successful rider to have won the WSBK title after making his debut in BSB is none other than Jonathan Rea. After making his bow aboard the Red Bull Honda FireBlade in 2006 and then eventually stepping up to the factory HM Plant Honda team for 2007, finishing second in the championship behind team-mate Ryuichi Kiyonari, Rea made the move to World Supersport for 2008. After eventually making the step up to the WSBK Championship in 2009, Rea went on to record five successive World Championships between 2015 and 2019, becoming the most successful rider in the history of the series.
6. Shakey’s Supremacy
We couldn’t mention this number without making reference to the six British Superbike titles won by the most successful rider in the championship’s history, Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne.
Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne At BSB Oulton Park 2017. Image courtesy of Ducati
The first of Byrne’s titles came aboard the Monstermob Ducati 998 in 2003 before spells in World Superbikes and Moto GP. After returning to the British series in 2006 with Rizla Suzuki and Stobart Vent-Axia Honda in 2007, another ride aboard a Ducati (this time the 1098) yielded his second championship in 2008.
Following another brief stint in the World Superbike Championship and then a return to BSB with HM Plant Honda, Byrne reunited with former team boss Paul Bird in 2012 and netted his third British title the same year aboard the Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki, repeating the trick in 2014. After the PBM team switched to a factory backed BeWiser Ducati Panigale 1199, Byrne notched another two back to back titles in 2016 and 2017.
Another rider will have to go a long way to depose Shane Byrne’s place in the BSB history books.
Those are our top six facts from BSB history. We look forward to seeing what the 2020 season can add to that when we hit Donington Park on August 7th.
