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  • Rally Turkey 2019 Review – Citroën One – Two brings Seb back into the Championship Fight

    Rally Turkey 2019 Review – Citroën One – Two brings Seb back into the Championship Fight

    Here is my recap of a timely victory for Sébastien Ogier with just three rounds of this year’s championship left. He was joined by his young teammate Esapekka Lappi, whilst Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen completed the podium.

    Friday

    With almost 160km over six stages, it would be a challenging day indeed. The start list looked like this – Tänak, Neuville, Ogier, Meeke, Mikkelsen, Latvala, Suninen, Sordo, Lappi, Tidemand.

     

    Well at the end of SS 2 – Içmeler 1 (24,85 km), we had a new leader, with Jari-Matti now leading for Toyota, whilst Andreas and Esapekka were within five seconds of the veteran Finn. Meantime, Seb Ogier suffered a puncture at around 18km. Championship leader, Ott was doing okay, holding fifth overall.

    Into SS 3 – Çetibeli 1 (38,15 km), and it all changed! Jari-Matti dropped out of the lead, falling to fifth, whilst Esapekka took the lead. Andreas was the young Finns closest challenger, with Seb now in third and Teemu in fourth.

    Jari-Matti hit back in SS 4 – Ula 1 (16,57 km), winning the stage and jumping into third. Also moving up the leaderboard was Thierry, whose pace lifted him ahead of Kris. Meanwhile, Ott held sixth place, now 21 seconds from the lead.

    Well, sadly Jari-Matti dropped back SS 5 – Içmeler 2 (24,85 km) and was now in tenth and fifty seconds from the lead. Kris won the stage from Thierry and Seb. Meanwhile Ott was now up to fifth overall. Teemu continued to knock on the door of the podium as well. Things were going well for the young Finn.

    Thierry won SS 6 – Çetibeli 2 (38,15 km) from Esapekka and Seb and this was now the top three, with the Finn leading Seb and Thierry in third. Andreas dropped back after a painful stage for the Norwegian, but eve he didn’t suffer as much as Ott who dropped one minute and 18 seconds, falling to seventh.

    The final stage of the day, SS 7 – Ula 2 (16,57 km) was won by Dani, from Jari-Matti and Thierry. The Spaniard moved up into sixth place as well. Meantime, Esapekka and Seb held a one-two for Citroen at the end of day one.

     

    STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE

    1. Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) 1:59:53.7
    2. Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) +17.7
    3. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +18.4
    4. Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +44.4
    5. Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:04.1
    6. Sordo / Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:25.2
    7. Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:32.1
    8. Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:37.4
    9. Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:42.5
    10. Tidemand / Floene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3:45.4

     

    Here’s the driver thoughts!

    Citroën Total WRT

    Esapekka Lappi (1st)

    “Obviously, it’s been a good day for us! We didn’t have any issues at all and I could do what I wanted in my C3 WRC. I think we adopted a smart approach and managed to find the right rhythm, trying to stay in the lines as much as possible. I’m not really a huge fan of slow, technical stages, so I’m pleased with my performance today. But there’s still a long way to go. We’ll just try to keep doing what we are doing and see how we get on.”

    Sébastien Ogier (2nd)

    “It was a really tricky day and I’m pleased to finish it in this position. I lost the splitter on the front bumper on the opening stage of the afternoon and that probably affected the car’s aerodynamics towards the end of the loop. Although conditions on tomorrow’s leg are expected to be a little less rough than today, there will still be some very tricky sections that we’ll need to get through without incident. I think we can expect it to be another big fight and you can count on us to be pushing hard!”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Thierry Neuville (3rd)

    “The morning loop was certainly not the way we wanted to start our rally, especially after our joint stage win with Andreas on Thursday evening. It was just not a competitive loop for us. The car was not working as we needed it and in the cleaning conditions, starting second on the road, we lacked grip and traction. We tried hard but needed a change of fortune for the afternoon. We had a great time through SS5 but it was in the tricky conditions of SS6 where we made up some important time. We actually had a puncture before the stage so had to swap onto the softer tyres. We didn’t give it a thought, we pushed hard and the rain at the end helped us to set the fastest time to get us back in the game. This rally is far from over, but we head into Saturday in more positive spirits.”

    2019 FIA World Rally Championship
    Round 11, Rally Turkey
    12 – 15 September 2019
    Thierry Neuville
    Photographer: Austral
    Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

    Andreas Mikkelsen (5th)

    “A great start to the rally turned unfortunately into an afternoon of frustration and disappointment. We were pleased to take the super special win on Thursday, and we had a competitive opening loop, clean stages and an awesome car. We were really in the fight and feeling good. It is an extremely complex rally, and you need to know when to attack and when you need to back off and take it easy. It’s so easy for something to happen. We struggled in the afternoon, especially in SS6. The conditions and tyre choice made the stage feel like ice, there was just no grip. The car was sliding and we lost a lot of time. We did our best with what we had.”

    Dani Sordo (6th)

    “We managed to end the day with the sort of competitive form that we knew we were capable of showing this weekend. Unfortunately, the puncture we picked up in the first stage got our rally off to the wrong start. It’s easy to get a puncture here but I didn’t even realise anything had gone wrong. We decided to try and complete the stage rather than lose the time to change tyres and that was the right call. We lost a lot of time but it could have been worse. I’m not the sort of person to hope for others to have bad luck but this a long and unpredictable rally so anything can still happen.”

     

    M-Sport WRT

    Teemu Suninen (4th)

    “I think it’s been a pretty good day for us and the car is working well. It’s always difficult to find the right balance between being fast and being careful here, but I think we’re doing okay. There are so many loose stones out there that you have to keep a margin to try and avoid the punctures.

    “I don’t want to set myself too high a target right now as I’m happy with the rhythm we have and think we have a good balance. But there is still a long way to go and of course anything can still happen.”

    Pontus Tidemand (10th)

    “It was really tricky for everyone today, but good for me to get the experience. We had a puncture on the first stage, but apart from that it was a really clean run.

    “The pace at the front was really high and for sure the top guys are pushing a lot, but we can already see in some sections that we are getting closer – which is what we need to focus on.

    “We’ll be first on the road tomorrow, but in a way that will be nice as it means we won’t have to experience the big ruts that we had today – and I’m looking forward to that.”

     

    Toyota Gazoo Racing

    Kris Meeke (7th)

    “I had quite a decent loop this morning. The rhythm wasn’t so good on the last stage of the loop, but otherwise it wasn’t bad given my lack of experience here. When the rain came on the second stage of the afternoon, it was really difficult. We were saving two medium tyres for the last stage, when we expected the rain to be worst, and our hard tyres were really worn from the first stage, so when it rained heavily in the middle of the stage, it was like driving on ice. The other two stages were fine, we just lost a lot of time on this one stage. Our speed’s been OK and we’re still here: there’s a long way to go and anything can happen.”

    Ott Tänak (8th)

    “It was difficult to enjoy the conditions running first on the road, but I felt much better in the car this morning than I did here last year, so the improvements  that the team have made to the car have been good. We knew the afternoon would be demanding, as the stages are even rougher on the second pass, and the weather was making it extra tricky. Unfortunately, we had a puncture in the middle stage: it can be a bit of a lottery here and we were unlucky today. Certainly, it was not the day that we were hoping for, but there is still a long way to go so we just need to keep going and see what happens.”

    Jari-Matti Latvala (9th)

    “It started well this morning. The time on SS2 was surprisingly good, as I didn’t  push hard. Then I drove too carefully on the next one, but we were able to compensate a bit for that with a good time on SS4. The car was going well, although we knew the afternoon will be rougher. In SS5 we lost the rear bumper, it got very noisy in the car and I was struggling to concentrate on the pace-notes: I cut a right-hand corner and we had to drive the end of the stage with a flat tyre. We expected the rain to come more for the final stage than for SS6, and so we had the hard tyres on which was the wrong choice, and we lost a lot of time. But this is rallying, and sometimes these things don’t work out. Now we need to look forward as a lot of things can still happen in this rally.”

     

    Saturday

    Well, with 110km over six stages today, it would be a very interesting day. The start list looked like this – Tidemand, Latvala, Tänak, Meeke, Sordo, Mikkelsen, Suninen, Neuville, Ogier, Lappi.

     

    It was a good start to the day for Seb, who won SS 8 – Yesilbelde 1 (33,00 km) by a huge almost 17 seconds over his younger teammate. Esapekka now had a one second lead over his world champion teammate. Just like last year, Thierry had a torrid start to his Saturday, losing almost four and a half minutes and dropping from third to ninth. Now Teemu Suninen was holding third place behind the two Citroen’s.

    Into SS 9 – Datça 1 (8,75 km) and Andreas took a good stage win and moved ahead of the M-Sport Fiesta piloted by Teemu. The big drama came from Ott and the Toyota team. The Estonian dropped out of the running, after suffering an electrical problem with his car.

    Another stage win for Lappi in SS 10 – Kizlan 1 (13,30 km) going faster than Thierry and Andreas and Seb, who was now ten seconds behind his younger teammate. Further back, Jari-Matti and Kris were battling over sixth and seventh, with the Finn now ahead of his teammate.

    Seb hit back in SS 11 – Yesilbelde 2 (33,00 km), winning the stage and reducing the gap to just 2.2 seconds, whilst Andreas was opening up the gap to Teemu in their battle for the final podium spot.

    With Thierry, Dani and Teemu setting the top three best times in SS 12 – Datça 2 (8,75 km), Seb was fourth, but crucially seven seconds faster than his teammate, the Frenchman moved into the lead. Kris and Jari-Matti once again changed places in their battle over sixth and seventh after the Finn lost almost seven seconds.

    Now, Esapekka won SS 13 – Kizlan 2 (13,30 km), reducing the gap to Seb to just two tenths of a second for the lead after the champion who was third fastest, but four and a half seconds slower. Jari-Matti got back in front of Kris after the Brit lost twenty seconds.

     

    STANDINGS AFTER DAY TWO

    1. Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:20:12.0
    2. Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +0.2.
    3. Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:17.1
    4. Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:26.9
    5. Sordo / Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 WRC) +2:24.7
    6. Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3:14.4
    7. Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3:29.5
    8. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +4:38.2
    9. Tidemand / Floene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +6:55.8

     

    The thoughts of the drivers after day two.

    Citroën Total WRT

    Sébastien Ogier (1st)

    “It was a very good leg for us, with a decent pace and no technical issues whatsoever on our C3 WRC. It wasn’t an easy day, however, but we made a bold call on tyre choice this morning and it paid off. This afternoon, we had to deal with incredibly hot and abrasive conditions for the tyres. I tried to be careful and not take too many risks to minimise any problems. Our goal now is to get to the finish line in this position and if we can add some points in the Power Stage then that would be a bonus.”

    Esapekka Lappi (2nd)

    “It doesn’t matter if we are leading or second this evening, the main thing is to bring home this result for the team. I’m very pleased with my own performance so far, despite my small mistake on SS12. We set some good times again today by adopting a sensible approach and with a C3 WRC that is clearly quick on this surface.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Andreas Mikkelsen (3rd)

    “We have had a good performance today and been properly on the pace, so there are plenty of positives to take away. I made just one small mistake in the opening loop, in SS8, due to the dust, but otherwise it’s been a pretty faultless day. The car has been working incredibly well which has given us the confidence we needed. Tyre management has again played a key role, and I had high tyre wear by the end of the afternoon loop, but all in all we are in good shape heading into the final day.”

    Dani Sordo (5th)

    “The objective for us today was to remain in front of our closest rivals in the manufacturers’ championship, and we have managed to do this. It has been another tough day but we have made no mistakes. Our overall strategy was good and we made the most of our tyre choice to maximise our performance across the loop. We now have to focus on the final stages of this rally, knowing that anything can happen, and maintain our advantage.”

    Thierry Neuville (6th)

    “There’s no hiding from the disappointment we are facing from today. We have put so much effort into these fights so it’s hard to take when it could have been easily avoided. It was a very simple thing, a slow right-hander and a tight left; I thought I saw the corner in the dust but it was a small ditch and we ended up on our side. We lost over four minutes of time getting the car back on its wheels. It is what it is, we just have to keep pushing and remain positive. We have seen many times that the situation can turn quickly when the title fight is so close.”

     

    M-Sport WRT

    Teemu Suninen (4th)

    “I struggled to get into the rhythm this morning, but this afternoon was really good and we found good pace on all of the stages. My tyres were in pretty good condition and I was pleased with that because it’s something I’ve been working to improve. Unfortunately, we had some small damage on the car which meant we couldn’t take full advantage on the last stages – mainly because the driver kept knocking bits of aero off!

    “I came here to do my best, and even though fourth place would be nice I think we have to go out there and see what we can do tomorrow – just go flat out and see if we can make it onto the podium.”

    Teemu and Jarmo were knocking on the door of a podium by the end of Saturday. Photo credit, M-Sport

    Pontus Tidemand (9th)

    “I’ve really enjoyed the day and being first on the road meant that I could choose the line, but of course that also means that the times weren’t going to be great. I had to clean a line for the cars behind, and even on the second pass I needed to push through the ruts to open the line. But it’s good learning and in the last two stages I felt quite a good rhythm in the car – so let’s see if we can build on that tomorrow.”

     

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Jari-Matti Latvala (6th)

    “From the first stage this morning it was very slippery with a lot of loose gravel, running second on the road. It started to get better on the shorter stages, and the third one was really nice: a fast stage that suited me very well and the time was reasonably good. This afternoon, I tried to attack on the long stage to keep the pressure on, but I struggled after that because my tyres were so worn. Tomorrow our road position will be better and that will help us to see our real performance compared to the others. We’ll also try something with the car to help the tyre wear and to learn for the future.”

    Kris Meeke (7th)

    “It’s been a tough day. There was a lot of road cleaning and that was a factor, but we also have some work to do to improve our pace on this type of surface. We tried our best but those behind us on the road just kept coming through faster than us. Tomorrow, we just need to bring it home and score the points for the manufacturers’ championship. It’s close between myself and Jari-Matti, but whether I’m in front or he’s in front, it doesn’t matter.”

    Ott Tänak (Retired/ Rally2)

    “On the road section after the first stage this morning, the car wouldn’t fire up ready for the next stage. We worked a lot and we tried to find the reason but it seems it was something internal – an ECU failure – so there was nothing we could do. Of course, it’s frustrating, especially in a moment like this when we

    are fighting for our first title. It definitely makes everything a lot harder, but that’s the way it is. It’s not going to come in an easy way, and we just need to accept that and fight on.”

     

    Sunday

    Well, into Sunday and could the Citroen team wrap up a 1-2? With 38km over four stages to complete the rally the start list looked like this – Tänak, Tidemand, Neuville, Meeke, Latvala, Sordo, Suninen, Mikkelsen, Lappi, Ogier.

    The first stage, SS 14 – Marmaris 1 (7,05 km) would be run later as the power stage, and Ott showed that his was ready to take some good points, winning the stage from Andreas who was going well still and Jari-Matti third.

    Into SS 15 – Gökçe (11,32 km) and with Seb taking it easy and looking after his tyres for the final stage, Jari-Matti won it from Andreas, was pulling away from Teemu, and Dani. In fact, the two Citroen drivers set exactly the same time, going fifth fastest.

    A good stage win for Andreas in SS 16 – Çiçekli (13,20 km), beating Jari-Matti by just three tenths of a second meant that barring disaster in the final stage he’d be picking up a well deserved podium. The Citroen’s at the front were very much in control and taking it easy.

    The final stage then, SS 17 – Marmaris 2 Power Stage (7,05 km) and Ott took maximum points after setting a time that both Seb and Thierry couldn’t beat. The top five in the stage was rounded out by Jari-Matti and Teemu.

    Well, what a victory for Citroën! Their first 1-2 since 2015 when Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg stood on the first two steps of the Rally Argentina podium – Yes, it has really been that long!

    The Citroën team celebrate a great result. Photo credit, Citroën Racing

    FINAL STANDINGS

    1. Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:50:12.1
    2. Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +34.7
    3. Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:04.5
    4. Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:35.1
    5. Sordo / Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 WRC) +2:25.9
    6. Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2:59.1
    7. Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3:53.3
    8. Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +5:34.8
    9. Tidemand / Floene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +7:22.9

     

    The thoughts then of the drivers.

    Citroën Total WRT

    Sébastien Ogier (1st)

    “We really needed this win if we were to have a chance of getting back into contention in the championship so I’m really happy to bring it home for the team this weekend. We knew that anything could happen at a rally like this where it is really rough but we managed to keep out of trouble by adopting a smart approach. It’s a good morale boost for everyone as we move into the end of the season! We all know that we have to keep working really hard. We’ll savour this win and then get down to work again tomorrow.”

    Esapekka Lappi (2nd)

    “It was a very demanding event, one which I didn’t really enjoy last year so I’m obviously pleased with my performance this weekend. We managed to have two very good first legs, displaying the same kind of pace as Seb and Julien, which is no easy feat. Today, the challenge for us was to get the car over the line and help them as much as possible. Our C3 WRC was perfect this weekend. We had no issues whatsoever and that was one of the keys to us securing this great result.”

     

    Hyundai Motorsport

    Andreas Mikkelsen (3rd)

    “It has been a good rally for us and I am delighted to be back on the podium. We have concentrated on staying away from drama, keeping out of trouble and maintaining a good pace, all of which we have managed well. We were particularly strong on the first pass of each loop, but less so on the second runs, which is something we have to look at. Overall, though, we can be happy with this third place. We’ve taken a decent haul of points for the team, which is most important.”

    Dani Sordo (5th)

    “Our target for today was to bring the car home and to secure our fifth place. With Andreas in third place, we have been able to take some important points for the manufacturers’ championship, which is good news. Without our puncture on Friday morning, we would have been able to put up an even stronger fight but these roads in Turkey can be extremely rough, so to make it to the end of the weekend in fifth place is not so bad.”

    Thierry Neuville (8th)

    “It has definitely been a disappointing and difficult weekend for us. In the dust on Saturday morning, my instincts told me to go too much to the right and we ended up in a ditch on our side. Four minutes of time loss later and we were in a very different rally. From there, our focus on was on scoring some points in the Power Stage. I gave it everything I could, and there was nothing more. That’s how it is. We have three rounds of the season left, so let’s move onto the next one and see what happens.”

     

    M-Sport WRT

    Teemu Suninen (4th)

    “This has been a good weekend for us. I think we had the right balance between showing good pace and driving well through the stages without any mistakes or problems. And I think we made a really big step forward from where we were last year – with the pace but also with managing the tyres so that was really good to see. A big thanks to the mechanics also because they had a lot of work to do on the car this weekend.”

    Pontus Tidemand (9th)

    “This was my first gravel rally with the Fiesta WRC, and actually my first proper gravel rally this year, so I would say that it has been a good weekend for us. The car and the team were working really well and I would say like to say a big thanks to them and to everyone who has supported me so far this year.

    “In the last two stages yesterday and also today I felt I had quite a good feeling with the car and was starting to understand a lot more. Okay there was a lot of cleaning and we had to open the road for much of the event, but we have the experience now and can work on looking where to improve for the next one.”

     

    Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

    Jari-Matti Latvala (6th)

    “I tried to keep a good rhythm today and enjoy the driving, and the stages were nice today, much better conditions and not so rocky and rough. We came here expecting that we would have more performance than last year, but it seems that all the teams have made some steps forward. We also did some work but we were struggling in the hard, rocky conditions and were using our tyres too much. This is something we have to learn for the future, but I know that the next rally in Wales will suit us a lot better.”

    FIA World Rally Championship / Round 11 / Rally Turkey 2019 / Sep 12-15, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC

    Kris Meeke (7th)

    “Today was just about preserving our position and bringing home the points for the team. It’s been a tough weekend, since the long stage on Friday afternoon when we lost a lot of time in the rain, which put us into a bad road position for Saturday. We’ve struggled for a bit of speed here and it was about damage limitation in the end. But we’ll come back stronger in the last three rallies.”

    Ott Tänak (16th)

    “We had nothing to lose today and we gave it everything, and we’re happy that we were able to get these points from the Power Stage. I’m sure it gives an extra boost and motivation going forward. Of course, it is still disappointing what happened yesterday. We always want to fight back and fight back hard. I’m sure everyone in the team will keep pushing. There are now three rounds left so there is nothing else we can do, other than push to the maximum and do our best.”

     

    DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

    1. Ott Tänak – 210 points
    2. Sébastien Ogier – 193 points
    3. Thierry Neuville – 180 points
    4. Andreas Mikkelsen – 94 points
    5. Kris Meeke – 86 points
    6. Jari-Matti Latvala – 84 points
    7. Teemu Suninen – 83 points
    8. Esapekka Lappi – 80 points
    9. Elfyn Evans – 78 points
    10. Dani Sordo – 72 points

     

    MANUFACTURERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

    1. Hyundai WRT – 314 points
    2. Toyota Gazoo Racing – 295 points
    3. Citroën Total WRT – 259 points
    4. M-Sport Ford WRT – 184 points

     

    Summary

    Well, this really is a strong result for Citroën, Seb and Esapekka. Closing the gap to Ott in the championship to seventeen points. Meanwhile, Andreas found some great form, gaining a well-deserved podium. Teemu Suninen also had a great event for M-Sport, setting some good times and scoring a brilliant fourth place. Thierry was thereabouts after at the end of Friday, but this event once again bit him hard on Saturday, when he was in a strong position. Whether he can challenge for the title now, is questionable, even if it is on mathematically. It wasn’t such a great event for Toyota, but Ott and the team remain in strong positions in both championships, and they will do well in the remaining events.

    The next event is Wales Rally GB in 15 days, on the weekend of the third to the sixth of October. Elfyn Evans is set return, and he will be out testing this week. Look out for my preview in the days before.

  • MotoGP: Vinales Takes Misano Pole From Espargaro, KTM

    MotoGP: Vinales Takes Misano Pole From Espargaro, KTM

    Cloudless skies meant high temperatures on the Rimini Riviera, and for the MotoGP riders that meant grip at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli was at a premium as they qualified for the thirteenth round of the 2019 World Championship.

    Q1 saw four or five riders all battling for the top two positions to advance to Q2, but in the end it was Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who topped the session from Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), the pair moving through to the pole position shootout.

    Maverick Vinales celebrating his Pole for the San Marino GP 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl

    The Q2 session was very tight, with four riders fighting for pole position: Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). The Yamaha riders had been dominating the weekend, but Marquez had been fast, and remained in touch throughout free practice, although the Honda was proving difficult to manage – especially in the high speed right-handers in sector three.

    Marquez was keen to ensure that no one was in his tow, as was Quartararo on his second run. Vinales and Marquez both did three runs, although Marquez’ middle run did not see a flying lap, as he boxed before he started one. This meant both riders were out of sync with most of the rest of the field. Vinales managed to find himself some free space in the final lap, whilst Quartararo was trying to shake Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Marquez was behind Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

    After slowing on the first flying lap of his final run to try to escape the attentions of Pol Espargaro, Quartararo ran wide on the exit of turn eleven, and lost his lap as a result. Espargaro had remained in the Frenchman’s slipstream, though, and put the KTM on provisional pole position.

    At the same time, Vinales in free air and Marquez behind Rossi were both on fast laps that would have displaced Espargaro. Vinales was able to finish his lap cleanly, and took provisional pole from Espargaro by almost three tenths with a stunning lap, making the most of the Yamaha’s strong front end and comfort in the middle of the corner in the second half of the lap.

    Things proved more complicated for Marquez, who caught an off-the-pace Rossi early in the lap. The speed of the Honda put Marquez in the position to pass Rossi into turn eleven, but the Spaniard ran off the track and onto the green. The move from the #93 did not impress Rossi, who block-passed the World Championship leader in turn fourteen. There was no contact, but the temperature of their rivalry increased once more, and tomorrow could provide some interesting exchanges between the two.

    Valentino Rossi durring Qualifying at the 2019 San Marino GP. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl

    With both Rossi and Marquez ruining each other’s final lap – although Rossi’s wasn’t especially fast in any case – meant pole position was handed to Vinales, his second in Misano in the last three years. The #12’s race pace looks strong, but he will need to start well, as dropping behind the powerful KTM of Espargaro could leave him vulnerable to those behind.

    KTM’s best qualifying performance in their MotoGP history was nearly pole position, but nonetheless a second place in a dry qualifying was an impressive performance from Pol Espargaro, especially on a track where Yamaha have been so dominant this weekend.

    Fabio Quartararo perhaps should have had pole position, but he was too concerned with those around him. It was a mistake from the Frenchman to not focus on himself, but not one that he is alone in making – even in this session most of the riders were cruising at some point to find themselves some track position. The qualifying was not a disaster, anyway, for the #20, as he will still line up on the front row, and on the inside for turn one which means he can avoid the pinch in turn two.

    Franco Morbidelli was close to the front row but didn’t quite have the pace in the second half of the lap compared to his Yamaha stablemates. Fourth place for Morbidelli, though, gives him a good chance tomorrow.

    It is rare to see Marc Marquez off the front row, but for just the second time this season it is what we will see tomorrow. His pace is theoretically enough to go with the Yamaha riders, but the effort he has to put in to achieve that is significantly more, it seems. There could be some interesting fights between him and Rossi, all of a stone’s throw from Tavullia, but it is likely that the pair won’t meet each other on track, and that it is the other M1 pilots who Marquez has to worry himself with.

    Andrea Dovizioso at Misano 2019. Image courtesy of ducati

    A sixth place start for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was a surprise, but it was achieved on his final lap of Q2. All Ducati riders have struggled this weekend, so for Dovizioso to salvage a second row start is something he will be disappointingly pleased with.

    Missing out on the second row may well have cost Valentino Rossi a shot at the podium, and with a KTM and a Ducati in front of him there could be yet another frustrating afternoon in a home GP for The Doctor. A weekend that started out quite promisingly seems to be falling away from the Italian, who will start alongside Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who should be expected to make progress from ninth and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) on his return to racing.

    Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) will start tenth ahead of Johann Zarco, who qualified eighth but will start eleventh thanks to his grid penalty from Silverstone, and wildcard rider Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) who, aside from Dovizioso, has been the only Ducati with any real promise this weekend.

    The fastest rider to miss out on Q2 was Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), although he was close with his penultimate lap to moving through to the second session. The Italian will start his home race from thirteenth ahead of a struggling Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) and a frustrated Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who join the reigning Moto2 World Champion on the fifth row.

    Row five sees Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) line up ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team). The Ducati stablemates line up sixteenth and seventeenth respectively, ahead of the still-injured Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) on row six, which highlights Ducati’s struggles in Misano this weekend, despite winning the San Marinese round last year.

    On row seven, the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 duo of Miguel Oliveira and Hafizh Syahrin qualified ahead of Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing); Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) was the slowest rider in Q1 despite a strong weekend for the Spaniard, and will start twenty-second, ahead of only Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who had to go to the medical centre after a FP4 crash and missed Q1 as a result.

    Featured Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl

  • Moto2: Di Giannantonio Scores Maiden Intermediate Pole

    By the time the Moto2 riders got out on track for their thirteenth qualifying of the 2019 World Championship, the surface in Misano was positively cooked, and conditions were therefore difficult – making the most of the MotoGP rubber early on would be key to a good starting position.

    Q1 saw Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) top the session with his final flying lap from compatriot Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Iker Lecuona (American Racing) and Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), all of whom moved through with Marini to Q2.

    Fabio Di Giannantonio pole setter for the 2019 San Marino GP Moto2 Race. Image courtesy of +EGO SPEED UP

    The Q2 session saw Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up) score his first Moto2 World Championship pole position in his second home race of the season – although, the #21 is a Roman. Di Giannantonio’s rookie season in the intermediate class has been a strong one, and this pole position is one which he has earned throughout the year. Lining up alongside the Italian will be championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), with whom Di Giannantonio fought a cold war in Brno, and Silverstone winner Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who recovered well from a crash in FP3 and set himself up well to go back-to-back for the first time in his career in tomorrow’s race.

    The ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team duo of Remy Gardner and Tetsuta Nagashima head up the second row, and are joined Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS); while Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) heads up row three from Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) on the Briton’s birthday and Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) who had by far his best qualifying performance of the season with ninth place.

    The top ten is rounded out by the returning Enea Bastianini, as he lines up at the front of row four ahead of Italtrans Racing Team teammate Andrea Locatelli and fellow compatriot Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) who ensures that the fourth row is an all-Italian affair. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) qualified thirteenth ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) who will be disappointed to see his teammate on pole from the vantage point of fifteenth.

    Jorge Martin KTM Moto2 Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    The Red Bull KTM Ajo pairing of Brad Binder and Jorge Martin head up row six from Iker Lecuona, meaning KTM have a sixth-row lockout.

    Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) was the fastest rider to miss out on Q2, qualifying nineteenth. The Thai rider will be joined on the seventh row by the MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward pairing of Stefano Manzi and Dominique Aegerter who were twentieth and twenty-first respectively.

    Row eight will see Simone Corsi (NTS RW Racing GP) from twenty-second as he replaces Steven Odendaal on the NTS, something he will continue to do for the remainder of the season. Corsi will be joined by NTS RW Racing GP teammate Bo Bendsneyder and Joe Roberts (American Racing) on the eighth row, whilst Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) heads up row nine from Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing). On the back row, Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) will start ahead of the two replacement riders, Adam Norrodin (in place of Khairul Idham Pawi at Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Andi Izdihar (in place of Dimas Ekky at IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia).

    Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) suffered a broken clavicle in practice, and will miss the remainder of the weekend as a result, and most likely next weekend’s Aragon GP as well.

  • Moto3: Suzuki Hands SIC 58 Home GP Pole

    Moto3: Suzuki Hands SIC 58 Home GP Pole

    In Misano, the conditions were almost perfect for the Moto3 riders as they headed out on track to qualify for the thirteenth round of the 2019 World Championship.

    In Q1, Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) was the big name to have to try to get himself into the top four and advance to Q2 after the second-placed rider in the championship missed out in the final stages of FP3 on Saturday morning. It proved to be a successful session for Canet, who went through to Q2 in second place behind Niccolo Antonelli (SIC 58 Squadra Corse), with Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) and Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) joining Canet in the second session.

    Q2 saw advancements from Suzuki and Canet, the Japanese rider taking pole position for Paolo Simoncelli’s outfit on the circuit named after his late son, whilst Canet rescued what could have been another dreadful qualifying with his final lap to go second and give himself a strong chance to erode some of the points advantage of championship leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) tomorrow.

    Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) had a quite anonymous session, but took third place for his second home race of the season. He went from pole position to win at Mugello earlier in the year, and has given himself a good chance to do the 2019 Italian double with a front row starting position for tomorrow.

    Jaume Masia (WMR) is newly unsponsored for this weekend, as is teammate Andrea Migno (WMR), but it did not slow the Spaniard down, qualifying fourth ahead of Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Niccolo Antonelli (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) who will start fifth and sixth respectively for their home race.

    Lorenzo Dalla Porta crashed at the end of his first run in Q2, and the Leopard Racing squad had too much work to do on his Honda by the time it got back to the garage that the 2018 Misano Moto3 winner forfeited his second Q2 run. His first run had him in fifth place, and fortunately for the championship leader there were few improvements in the second half of the session, meaning he will start from seventh tomorrow, with Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) – who topped both Friday sessions – and Leopard Racing teammate Marcos Ramirez joining the #48 on the third row.

    Andrea Migno has had a reasonable weekend, and had a reasonable qualifying, starting from tenth, with Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) joining him on row four.

    It was thirteenth place for Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46), the only VR46 rider to not live in the Rimini area, something which cost reportedly him his spot in the VR46 Riders Academy. The #7 will be joined by John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) – who crashed on his final lap in turn four – and Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) on the fifth row; whilst row six is comprised entirely of riders who failed to set a valid lap time in Q2, with Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) having both of his fast laps cancelled for track limits and both Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Romano Fenati crashing on their first runs and missing the rest of Q2 as a result, Masaki going down quite hard in the process.

    The fastest rider to miss out on Q2 was Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing), who probably had the pace to make the second session, but poor track position for his final lap meant he had too much traffic, and missed out to Fenati despite the Italian’s Q1 being compromised by a crash on his first lap. The Italian duo of Stefano Nepa (Reale Avintia Arizona 77) and Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) will join Sasaki on the seventh row.

    Alonso Lopez at the 2019 Misano qualifying session. Image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol

    Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) will head up row eight and will be joined by Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia), who was fast on Friday morning before a pair of crashes on the first day compromised his weekend, and Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who qualified twenty-fourth in place of brother, Can, who hurt himself on Friday and was declared unfit.

    Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) has been unable to match the performance of his time-topping teammate, Arenas, throughout the weekend, and qualified down in twenty-fifth place, ahead of Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) who will join the #25 on row nine.

    It was a tough qualifying session for CIP Green Power, with Darryn Binder qualifying one place ahead of teammate Tom Booth-Amos, the pair occupying the front two positions of the tenth row, whilst wildcard rider Meikon Kawakami (Fundacion Andreas Perez 77) qualified thirtieth for his first Grand Prix appearance. Fellow GP debutant, VR46-backed Italian Elia Bartolini (Sky Junior Team VR46) qualified last, in thirty-first.

  • MotoGP: Marquez Leads the Charge to Misano

    MotoGP: Marquez Leads the Charge to Misano

    This weekend the MotoGP World Championship heads to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for round twelve of the 2019 season.

    Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) arrives in Italy for the second time this year with the championship lead, one which grew dramatically in Britain at the last race courtesy of Fabio Quartararo’s (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crash which took Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) down as well. Marquez’ points lead now sits at seventy-eight over Dovizioso and, although Misano is not a circuit that has traditionally been a particularly strong one for Marquez in the premier class – only two wins, both in the sketchy conditions of 2015 and 2017 – it is difficult to see a sizeable shift in the championship momentum this weekend.

    Andrea Dovizioso at the 2019 Misano Test. Image courtesy of Ducati

    It was indeed Dovizioso who won last year in Misano, nearly three seconds ahead of Marquez who inherited second after Jorge Lorenzo crashed to begin the downward spiral that has been his last twelve months. Last year’s performance from Dovizioso was somewhat crushing, pulling away with superior tyre management and pace compared to his rivals. In the test two weeks ago, though, Dovizioso complained of a poor feeling with the Desmosedici and, although the grip in Misano is famously inconsistent and unpredictable, that could put the #04 further on the back foot for this weekend.

    Misano is an interesting track, since, although it is not necessarily a favourite for any of the riders, it has a reasonable amount of variety, with the direction changes and slow, short-radius corners being contrasted by those three fast right-handers in the third sector. There are no excessively long corners, none in which the rider spends a lot of time on the side of the tyre, but despite this there is a strong history for Yamaha in Misano, perhaps due to the M1’s comfort and ease with which a MotoGP rider can find lap time out of it, which in a small circuit like Misano can be useful – when corners are coming up every other second, it can be positive to have a bike which is easy to control.

    Similarly, it can be good to have a bike which turns well, and the Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda – at least in the hands of Marquez – all do this. The Yamaha and Suzuki are comfortable on the edge of the tyre, as is Marquez on the Honda, but what Marquez can do better than anyone else is spin the bike around, pivot almost around the front tyre using the rear tyre to steer, and with Misano’s short corners, this technique can be especially valuable. This seems to rule out Ducati, but thanks to the numerous hard accelerations in Misano, and accompanying hard braking zones, the Desmosedici comes back into the picture with its strong braking stability and torque. Perhaps the Desmosecidi represents the perfect compromise for the MWC, since it is relatively easy to ride, certainly more so than the RC213V, but has the torque, power, aerodynamics and braking stability to mean it can maintain a strong pace throughout a race distance and also be incredibly tough to pass successfully, as Marquez discovered last year in his battle with now-teammate at Repsol Honda Jorge Lorenzo.

    As previously mentioned, the grip in Misano is unpredictable, due to a variety of factors that no one can quite agree upon. The constant, though, is that the grip in Misano is always quite low. This plays against the Suzuki and Yamaha riders, since they need grip to use their corner speed advantage. All four Yamaha riders were inside the top five in the test two weeks ago, with Quartararo on top from Petronas Yamaha SRT teammate Franco Morbidelli; whilst the two factory Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders, Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi, were fourth and fifth respectively behind Marquez in third. Additionally, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was ninth on the combined times on his return to MotoGP action, whilst Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was fifteenth, albeit only one second off the pace. Although Vinales’ tones after the test were quite negative, all six inline-four bikes looked quite competitive in the test, but we will only find out whether that will translate to the race weekend on Friday, when we can judge the grip levels.

    Jorge Lorenzo at the 2019 British MotoGP event. Image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol

    Jorge Lorenzo missed almost all of the Misano test, as the Silverstone race had taken too much from his physical condition. The Spaniard is racing though this weekend, and will be looking once more to find his first top ten since his Austrian GP win last year.

    Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) is not a guaranteed starter this weekend, as the Portuguese rider suffered some shoulder problems after Johann Zarco collided with him in Silverstone. The #88, like Lorenzo, did very little at the test, Oliveira’s ability to race being a doubt heading into the San Marinese GP weekend.

    Featured image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol

  • MotoGP: Rins Beats Marquez in Classic Silverstone Duel

    MotoGP: Rins Beats Marquez in Classic Silverstone Duel

    The twelfth round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship took place in a strangely warm Silverstone, as Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) took a dramatic victory.

    Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took the holeshot from his 60th MotoGP pole position in his 120th premier class start. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Alex Rins were behind the championship leader.

    Rins lost the rear of his GSX-RR on the exit of the first corner, and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) rolled the throttle in reaction. The Frenchman’s response caused him to lose the rear of his YZR-M1, and it flicked him. It was unfortunate for the #20, who had been fast all weekend and looked to be a guaranteed factor in the podium fight. However, instead of a trophy, Quartararo left Silverstone with a concussion.

    Things were slightly worse for Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), who was right behind Quartararo when he went down. The Italian had nowhere to go, so hit the Petronas Yamaha and went down, his Desmosedici GP20 bursting into flames as it hurtled towards the barriers. Dovizioso himself had to be carried away on a stretcher which, somehow, was able to be done by the marshals before the rest of the pack completed the first lap, and thus there was no need for a red flag. Dovizioso was carried behind the barriers, where he was able to stand up. The #04 displayed signs of memory loss, and so had to be taken to hospital, where it was confirmed that he had no significant injury.

    Back to the British GP and Marquez was leading from Rossi, who was coming under pressure from Rins. That did not last long, though, as the Spaniard passed Rossi for third into turn eight on lap two with an impressive out-braking manoeuvre, taking yards out of Rossi into the Vale chicane. It was here that Rossi’s prospective struggles became apparent, immediately dropping off the back of Rins, out of the lead fight, and further into the clutches of fourth-placed teammate Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

    Vinales was eventually able to pass Rossi on lap seven in turn seven. But by this point he was over two seconds back of his two leading compatriots and with a lot of work to do. The bigger problem for Vinales’ victory hopes than his gap to the front was his lack of superior pace to the leading pair, who were able to keep the gap to him relatively stable throughout the majority of the remaining thirteen laps.

    That meant it was a duel between Marquez and Rins. As in Austria, Marquez led for the majority of the race, showing Rins the way, showing Rins his rear tyre; where he was strong, where he was weak. Marquez knew this, and around the mid-point of the race slowed to allow Rins through. The #42, though, saw Marquez’ tactics, and the threat they posed, so allowed the #93 back through six corners after he took the lead. Rins was entirely uninterested in showing Marquez anything, knowing that the seven-times World Champion is always capable of finding more time than you expect, especially with a target to aim at.

    Marc Marquez dueling with Alex Rins for the most part of the 2019 Silverstone MotoGP Race.Image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol

    Rins followed Marquez from lap two until the penultimate lap, when he made a move at Aintree, which was a surprise. The Suzuki rider had been especially strong on corner entry, in the last part of the braking, so to pass in a corner with no braking zone was strange. But Marquez fought straight back, reclaiming the lead into the next corner at Brooklands.

    At this point, Rins saw he had one chance left. This was strange for a penultimate lap, but Rins thought it was the final lap; he tried to ride round the outside of Marquez in Woodcote. Whilst Rins led, officially, onto the final lap, Marquez had – rightly – forced him out onto the run-off area on the outside of Woodcote. Unlike in 2014, at Brno, when Rins thought the penultimate lap was the final lap, the Spaniard did not completely roll out of the throttle on this occasion, and was able to re-engage before the first corner of the final lap. But he was never able to get close enough to make a move on the brakes.

    Marquez defended very well, taking excessively tight lines and blocking the path of the flowing Suzuki, meaning Rins was not able to try to pass before the final section. He knew he had to try to out-drive Marquez and the Honda through the final corner, and when Marquez had a slide in the middle of it, he sensed his opportunity, cut to the inside and took the victory on the line by 0.013 seconds, the second MotoGP win of his career in another battle with one of the greatest of the sport’s history.

    Second place for Marquez represented another final corner defeat to a rider with superior rear grip on the right side of the tyre. It also represented a twenty-point increase in his championship advantage thanks to Dovizioso’s retirement from the race, an advantage which now sits at 78 points, and an extension of his top two finishing record which stretches back to Austria 2018.

    Maverick Vinales’ third place was a welcome return to the podium for the Spaniard having missed it since the summer break. The #12 was close to his compatriots at the end courtesy of them fighting in the penultimate lap and Marquez’ protective lines. In reality Vinales’ only shot at victory was an overly ambitious move from one of the front two. Perhaps to be only in a somewhat detached third place was disappointing for Yamaha, having looked like they could be with three bikes on the podium through the weekend.

    Maverick Vinales ahead of Valentino Rossi at the 2019 Silverstone MotoGP race. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing Srl

    Fourth place for Valentino Rossi was determined from the start, where he missed performance from the rear tyre and was unable to match the speed of the Spanish trio who finished ahead of him. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) were eight seconds back of Rossi and split by Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), the ex-teammates also suffering with rear tyre problems in the race which saw them lapping over one second slower than they had in practice.

    Between Rossi in fourth and Crutchlow in sixth was Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who equalled his best finish of the season with fifth, completing a strong weekend in a good way, albeit thirteen seconds adrift of the win.

    Behind Miller in eighth were Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who completed the top ten, good results for both factories.

    Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) saw his race weekend go sour in qualifying, where he lost grip. The Italian was unable to rediscover the grip lost on Saturday afternoon and ended up fifteen seconds adrift of the top ten in eleventh place, five seconds ahead of Joan Mir’s replacement at Team Suzuki Ecstar, Sylvain Guintoli. Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was thirteenth ahead of the returning Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) and Karel Abaham (Reale Avintia Racing) who completed.

    Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) suffered a crash, but got back on to finish sixteenth ahead of fellow crasher Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) who also got back on for seventeenth, and was the final classified rider.

    After Quartararo and Dovizioso were out on the first lap, Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) collided on lap nine, for which Zarco received a three-place grid penalty for the next round in Misano. The final retirement was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) on the last lap.

  • Moto2: Fernandez Takes Second Moto2 Win as Marquez Crashes Out

    Round twelve of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship took place in Silverstone, as Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) took his second career GP win.

    Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) made the holeshot from pole position, with Jorge Navarro (Campetella Speed Up) in tow. The Spanish pair were significantly faster in the early stages of the race, pulling away by almost two seconds.

    Things changed, though, when Marquez crashed on lap six, leaving Navarro alone at the front. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), behind, started to reel in the Speed Up rider, bringing Augusto Fernandez with him. Seven laps after Marquez crashed and Binder took second from Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), the South African hit the front.

    Binder held the lead for three laps, before Navarro was able to respond. Having had some time to regroup, Navarro was able to pull a small gap for himself when he returned to the front, but Fernandez’ pace on the penultimate lap when he passed Binder put him in position to pass his compatriot for the lead on the final lap.

    Fernandez made his move in the second part of the Vale chicane, a strange move and certainly an unexpected one on the part of Navarro, who was unable to respond before the finish.

    The race was a tyre management exercise, and Fernandez was the best at it. Normally, Speed Up look after the tyres well, but despite Fernandez’ aggressive style and slightly harsher Kalex frame, he was able to find more grip in the final stages than his rivals, and his second Grand Prix win arrived as a result.

    Jorge Navarro has had few better chances to win a Moto2 race, but he was unable to take this one. It seemed that Marquez’ crash unsettled the #9, and perhaps the reasonably significant lead that he inherited as a result played on his mind. Either way, it was a decent result to end a strong weekend from the Spaniard, who moved to joint-second in the championship on points, along with Fernandez and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) – the three of them thirty-five points behind Marquez.

    Third place for Brad Binder was extremely impressive. He failed to make Q2 directly on Saturday and was clearly riding at the very limit of the bike for the whole race. When Remy Gardner passed him on the penultimate lap, there was a good response from Binder. The South African made his move on Gardner for third as Navarro tried to make his move for the lead on Fernandez, in Brooklands, but while Navarro was unable to make his move stick, Binder was able to pull the KTM down to the apex and prevent a counter-attack from Gardner. It was a well-deserved rostrum for the 2016 Moto3 champion.

    Brad Binder, 3rd place in the Moto2 race, at the British MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    Whilst Gardner missed out on the podium, the British GP represented a return to form for the Australian who went slightly off the boil after Jerez, where he was involved in the turn one crash, and the rear tyre changed. Tetsuta Nagashima made sure of a double ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team top five in Silverstone with fifth.

    Sixth place went to Fabio Di Giannantonio (Campetella Speed Up), who was ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) after the Italian came from eighteenth on the grid. Eighth was Tom Luthi, who will have been disappointed to fail to make significant in-roads into Marquez’ championship lead, instead slipping into a battle for second with Fernandez and Navarro. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) finished ninth ahead of Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who completed the top ten.

    Iker Lecuona (American Racing) was eleventh ahead of fellow KTM rider Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Mattia Pasini (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2), Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) who took the final point.

    Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) was sixteenth, ahead of Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward), Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward), Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) who completed the top twenty.

    Twenty-first went to Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) who was ahead of Joe Roberts (American Racing), Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP), Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing), Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Teppei Nagoe (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) who finished last in his third race replacing Dimas Ekky.

    After Marquez dropped out, Bradley Smith’s replacement ride for Khairul Idham Pawi at Petronas Sprinta Racing was the next to come to an early end, before Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) crashed out on the final lap.

  • Moto3: Ramirez Secures Second Win as Canet Completes Remarkable Recovery

    Moto3: Ramirez Secures Second Win as Canet Completes Remarkable Recovery

    Round twelve of the 2019 Moto3 World Championship took place at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, in which Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) took victory, his second of the season.

    Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) made a strong start from pole position and made the holeshot. It was the #14 rider who most people were worried about escaping, having had a strong pace throughout the weekend. Some early fighting in the first corners allowed him a small advantage, but the high-speed nature of Silverstone meant that the pack soon closed back up.

    Tony Arbolino and Marcos Ramirez. Image courtesy of Hondaproracing.com

    For most of the first half of the race, the pack remained quite close together, but as the race approached the final ten laps, thirteen riders pulled themselves significantly clear at the front, identifying themselves as the leading group.

    Throughout the second half of the race, Ramirez made progress and with five laps to go he came into the top positions. Onto the final lap Ramirez was second to his teammate, championship leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing), and ahead of pole sitter Arbolino, who passed Ramirez in turn one. Ramirez came back at Arbolino once more into Stowe, and when Dalla Porta ran wide in Vale, the Spaniard was well-placed to take advantage.

    Some battling between the two Italians, Dalla Porta and Arbolino, in Village and The Loop gave Ramirez an advantage going into the Wellington Straight, towards Brooklands, and this proved enough. As the two behind fought over second, the #42 was able to ride relatively alone in the final part of the lap, and take his second career victory, ahead of Arbolino and Dalla Porta.

    Despite the strong fighting at the front, a lot of attention in the race was diverted further back in the pack, towards Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), who had been taken out by Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) at Village on lap three. The #44 rider was able to remount quickly, and a strong recovery ride saw him go from last, without a hope of a point, to thirteenth in fifteen laps. The failure of Dalla Porta to take victory, finishing third, in combination with Canet’s tremendous comeback could be critical come Valencia.

    Whilst Marcos Ramirez was delighted to pick up his second win of the season, Tony Arbolino will have been somewhat disappointed with second place, having inflicted relative dominance on the Moto3 field throughout the weekend. Nonetheless, taking four points out of Dalla Porta saw him close to thirty-eight points adrift of his compatriot in the standings, and if he continues to work in that direction, this title fight could quite conceivably become a three-way scrap.

    Niccolo Antonelli (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) had a relatively quiet race, but came home to finish fourth ahead of teammate Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC 58 Squadra Corse). Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) had his best finish of the season in sixth place, ahead of teammate John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and the SKY VR46 duo of Dennis Foggia and Celestino Vietti in eighth and ninth respectively, in what was a very ‘Noah’s Ark’ top ten, rounded out by Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura.

    Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) was eleventh having run on at Maggots in the middle of the race, ahead of Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) and the recovered Canet. Gabriel Rodrigo’s replacement at Kommerling Gresini Moto3, Jeremy Alcoba, was fourteenth, while his former Monlau teammate in CEV, Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), completed the points scorers in fifteenth.

    Sixteenth went to Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP), who was ahead of Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai), Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) who started from the front row, Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) who completed the top twenty.

    Filip Salac at the British MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) was announced by VNE Snipers to be partnering Tony Arbolino in 2020, but he was unable to celebrate that news with a good result, finishing twenty-first on his first visit to Silverstone. The Czech rider was followed over the line by Stefano Nepa (Reale Avintia Arizona 77), the pair split by little more than half a tenth. Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) was twenty-third, ahead of Can Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power), Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race), Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3), Maximilian Kofler (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), the wildcard falling close to the end of the race, and Brandon Paasch (FPW Racing) who was last on his Grand Prix debut.

    Despite the hectic racing, only Arenas and Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) retired from the race.

    Featured Image courtesy of Hondaproracing.com

  • Leclerc fends off Mercedes duo to take Italian Grand Prix victory

    Leclerc fends off Mercedes duo to take Italian Grand Prix victory

    Charles Leclerc has claimed his second ever win in F1 at this afternoon’s Italian Grand Prix, the first time a Ferrari driver has won at Monza since 2010.

    The Mercedes pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton finished second and third respectively, having pushed Leclerc for much of the race. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg came home fourth and fifth.

    The other Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, by comparison, faltered. Vettel span at the Ascari chicane on lap seven and collected the Racing Point of Lance Stroll as he rejoined. He received a ten-second stop/go penalty for ‘rejoining the track in an unsafe manner’, behind only disqualification in terms of harshness. He damaged his front wing and pitted twice on his way to a lowly P13 finish.

    Leclerc started from pole position with Hamilton alongside him, and led into turn one despite Hamilton initially getting a better start.

    Ferrari Media

    The pair came into the pits on lap twenty and lap twenty-one respectively; Hamilton changed onto the soft tyres, while Leclerc went onto the hard compound.

    On lap twenty-three, Hamilton attempted to pass Leclerc round the outside going into the Variante della Roggia chicane but was forced to take to the escape road, saying over the radio that Leclerc hadn’t given him a car’s width of room. Leclerc was given a black and white flag as a warning, but escaped a penalty.

    Hamilton continued to pressure Leclerc, and on lap 36 Leclerc locked up going into the first chicane and cut across the kerbs. Though this allowed Hamilton to further close on him, the Ferrari driver successfully defended his position and maintained his lead. The stewards noted that Leclerc had failed to take the apex at turn two, but decided that no investigation was necessary.

    At this stage in the race, Hamilton’s medium tyres were starting to fade and Bottas began to reel him in, his own tyres some seven laps fresher than Hamilton’s.

    Wolfgang Wilhelm

    Hamilton locked up and took to the escape road on lap 42, allowing Bottas to move up into P2 and chase down Leclerc. Though he then got to within DRS range of Leclerc, a couple of errors meant he was not able to make any attempts to pass for the lead.

    Leclerc crossed the line just over eight tenths ahead of Bottas to take his second career victory, much to the joy of the Tifosi in the grandstands. The win moves him ahead of Vettel in the championship. Hamilton, meanwhile, pitted late on to chase the extra point for fastest lap. Bottas’s P2 finish means Hamilton’s championship lead has been shortened by two points.

    Alex Albon finished in sixth ahead of Sergio Perez, with Max Verstappen coming from nineteenth on the grid to end up eighth. Antonio Giovinazzi and Lando Norris complete the top ten.

  • F2 Italy: Aitken wins sprint race as De Vries extends title lead

    F2 Italy: Aitken wins sprint race as De Vries extends title lead

    Renault development driver Jack Aitken took his third win of the 2019 Formula 2 season in the Monza sprint race, while Nyck de Vries took another podium to extend his title lead.

    Aitken started from reverse grid pole ahead of Giuliano Alesi and Jordan King and got away well from the line to hold the lead into Turn 1. Behind him King moved up to second, while Callum Ilott overtook a slow starting Sergio Sette Camara for fourth.

    Sette Camara was then hit from behind by Luca Ghiotto into Turn 1, with the Italian damaging his front wing in the process.

    King kept with Aitken throughout the opening laps, staying generally within a second of the Campos driver. With the tow helping King to close up on the straights, Aitken began weaving before the braking zones to try and drop King from his slipstream.

    Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

    On lap 7 King made a successful move for the lead, passing Aitken into the Rettifilo. Aitken tried to fight back at the Roggia chicane on the same lap but was forced wide, although on lap 9 Aitken repayed the favour by passing King into Turn 1.

    As Aitken and King continued to battle throughout the lap, Ilott closed up behind them, having previously passed Alesi for third on lap 5.

    On lap 11 the fight for the lead came to a head as King dove to the inside of Roggia. Aitken was forced to cut the chicane, but rejoined the track still in the lead as King missed the apex himself and surrendered second place to Ilott.

    As was the case with King, Ilott then stayed with Aitken but was unable to get close enough for a move as Aitken continued weaving to break the tow. However, on lap 19 race control showed Aitken the black and white driving standards flag and ordered him to stop changing direction into the braking zones.

    On the final lap, Ilott was finally able to draw close enough to challenge Aitken into Turn 1, but a massive lock up sent the Ferrari junior down the escape road and spinning out of the race. With Ilott out, Aitken took the chequered flag at the end of the lap with two seconds in hand over King.

    Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

    After charging to the feature race podium yesterday, championship leader Nyck de Vries took another strong result in the sprint race to boost his title lead yet further.

    De Vries made steady progress in the first half of the race, moving up from sixth on the grid to follow closely behind the leading trio of Aitken, Ilott and King by lap 11. His hard work was almost undone on lap 18 when a lock up at Turn 1 dropped him behind Nobuharu Matsushita, but a 5-second time penalty for Matsushita ensured De Vries would finish ahead to inherit third place when Ilott span out.

    De Vries also benefited from his main title rivals both enduring disappointing finishes outside the points. Nicholas Latifi, who spun on his way to the grid before the race, struggled for pace throughout and finished in tenth.

    And after making contact with Sette Camara on the opening lap, Ghiotto hit the DAMS driver again on lap 7 and not only dislodged his front wing entirely but also gave Sette Camara a race-ending puncture which brought out a brief Virtual Safety Car. Ghiotto remained in the race, but finished last of all in 15th place.

    Joe Portlock, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship

    Matsushita’s penalty dropped him to fifth in the end, behind Guanyu Zhou who started from the back of the grid after retiring from the feature race. Mick Schumacher finished sixth and gained an extra two points for the fastest lap, Alesi finished seventh, and Louis Deletraz took the final point in eighth.

    After finishing third in both races of the weekend, De Vries leaves Monza with a 59-point advantage over Latifi, who in turn is only 11 points clear of Ghiotto. There are 96 points remaining over the final two rounds of the season.

    Aitken’s sprint race win elevates him to fourth place in the standings, two points behind Ghiotto and two ahead of Sette Camara. Matsushita has overtaken Zhou for sixth following his feature race win on Saturday.