I’m all here for Formula One facts and stats. The more obscure they are, the better. So when Max Verstappen carved his name onto the walls of the sport’s history with his first career pole position – the 100th driver ever to achieve the feat – last Saturday at the Hungaroring, the cogs began to twirl in my brain and Literally Some Wikipedia pages were opened.
One thing led to another, and before long on a dreary Thursday evening I pondered this (get ready, this is an obscure one with a capital O): who in F1 history has ever taken one World Championship pole position, and one win under similar rules, but without both being at the same Grand Prix weekend? As it turns out, only five drivers have done it. Here’s who they are.
1. Robert Kubica – 2008 Bahrain GP pole, 2008 Canadian GP victory
I’ll start the list with the only driver currently on the F1 grid, and the only one still currently able to escape it. Serial comeback king, serial public denouncements at the hands of a controversial Canadian, it’s a shock to the system to think back on the titan Robert Kubica once was and realise those ‘serials’ don’t extend to his win tally – just a fateful encounter with that same Canadian’s homeland event in June 2008 prevents him from being in the winless zone.
And it’s a crying tragedy. It’s so easy to forget for most when George Russell is batting him around the park most weekends (oddly though, not in the actual Drivers’ standings – 1 point to 0 there), but Robert’s 2008 season with BMW Sauber was chilling to the bone; one of the best individual seasons there’s been in the 21st century. Keeping the title alive until the penultimate race in an F1.08 chassis that had its development cut short for that dismal ‘09 season, it could’ve been so much more than a single pole in Bahrain and that victory.
A career kicked into life by dislodging, of course, Jacques Villeneuve in the summer of 2006 looked set to hit new heights after a season spent racing at an even higher level than ‘08 with Renault, and a pre-contract with Ferrari agreed for 2012. But, in distressing circumstances, it was all cut short. A participation in the Ronda di Andora rally ended in a severe crash, with the barrier entering the cockpit of his Skoda Fabia. After many years spent regaining his fitness in the rallying scene, 2017 saw Robert finally grace the world of F1 again with a mid-season test under his old team, Renault. Then after a 2018 season spent testing with Williams, he capped off a remarkable comeback with a 2019 race seat.
Mark McArdle / Wikimedia Commons
2. Vittorio Brambilla – 1975 Swedish GP pole, 1975 Austrian GP win
The Monza Gorilla. That was the nickname Vittorio Brambilla went by, but rather saddeningly neither his pole nor his win was taken at the temple of speed, and his home city. South Africa would be the first event Vittorio would lay claim to being the fastest in – for the Saturday, at least. He’d hold onto the lead of the race until Lap 16, before first Carlos Reutemann sailed by and Vittorio was forced into a Lap 36 retirement when his transmission gave way.
Austria would be his chance, though after qualifying 8th it looked unlikely. Luckily for him, the race was storming – like literally, the weather was torrid. Vittorio blasted his way into 3rd through the spray, and by the time the GPDA called an end to the drenched event on Lap 29, he’d landed himself top spot. The oldest driver on the grid at age 37, his and March’s first win was a reality, and in typical Brambilla fashion he damaged the car after crossing the line. After his retirement from both Alfa Romeo and racing in 1980, he occasionally drove the Safety Car at Italian GP events, before dying of a heart attack at age 63 in 2001.
3. Heikki Kovalainen – 2008 British GP pole, 2008 Hungarian GP win
The poster boy for rapid rises and drastic falls, Heikki Kovalainen was on for a breakthrough season for the top in 2008 after a fine debut season with Renault the year before. That… didn’t happen, although McLaren deemed his input towards a second place in the Constructors’ Championship enough to stay, and he finds himself on this list of mine. Oh what joy that’ll bring to him.
Heikki’s solitary pole was taken on his teammate Lewis Hamilton’s home turf, and who could blame him for anticipating his first time on the top step? Again… didn’t happen. Lewis was in inspired form on Sunday, and took his first home win over a minute ahead of the next car. Heikki? He had a spin and finished 5th. It’d only be two races later until he was on that top step though, with the Hungaroring gifting him fortune at the expense of his teammate’s title rival Felipe Massa, who cruelly retired three laps from the end with an engine failure.
Heikki’s F1 career was in freefall from there on. One more podium at Monza – a race he was widely expected to win – preceded a tough sophomore season at Woking before he was cast to the scrapheap, where Team Lotus (later named Caterham) rescued him. In his three seasons there, not even a point was scored, although his efforts suggested he was still a handy driver on his day. After a two-race cameo in place of Kimi Raikkonen back at Enstone for the other Lotus in 2013, again scoreless, Heikki found success in Japan’s GT500 series – still competing, he won the 2016 title there for Lexus Team SARD.
David Hunt / Wikimedia Commons
4. Jose Carlos Pace – 1975 South African GP pole, 1975 Brazilian GP win
The only driver on this list to have a Grand Prix circuit named after him, and oddly the second to achieve this two GP, one win, one pole feat solely during 1975 – much like Robert and Heikki in 2008 – Jose Carlos Pace instilled pride into the nation of Brazil with his racing exploits, alongside their biggest hope Emerson Fittipaldi. His peak was that fateful day in Interlagos, and he’s the first on this list to achieve his win before his pole.
The Interlagos circuit had only been on the calendar for two years heading into 1975, but both wins were taken by a Brazilian – Fittipaldi taking the chequered flag each time. Not this year, though. That honour was all Carlos’, with his compatriot instead finishing behind him to make it a Brazilian 1-2 on a wonderful day for the nation’s pride. The pole would instead come in the next race in South Africa, where braking problems consigned him to 4th in the race. Nonetheless, a star was born over those two events, and were it not for a fatal airplane accident in 1977 there’s every chance we could’ve been remembering him now as a World Champion.
5. Lorenzo Bandini – 1966 French GP pole, 1964 Austrian GP win
The list ends here, with the only driver to take his one pole and win over two different seasons. Lorenzo Bandini spent the first three years of his F1 career drifting between race seats and events on the sidelines, beginning with Ferrari in 1961 right until his Cooper and BRM adventures led to a full time drive with the Scuderia in 1964. That year was the first in which he’d achieve any great success, with 4th place in the Drivers’ standings secured and his first win taken in Austria, sandwiched between two 3rd place finishes in Germany and his home country.
He’d have to wait another two years before he ever led a grid away, but that time eventually came around. Leading the standings coming into the third race of 1966, Lorenzo planted his Ferrari on grid slot numero uno at the French GP, and this would be the peak of his F1 career. Forced to retire from the race, only two points would follow in his career before a horrific crash on the 82nd lap of the following year’s Monaco GP led to his death three days after due to the burns he’d suffered. Much like Carlos, Lorenzo had great potential and was robbed of the time to fulfil it with.
This weekend the Moto3 World Championship arrives in Austria for the eleventh round of the 2019 season in Spielberg.
Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) arrives in Spielberg after winning in Brno one week ago and reclaiming the championship lead which he now holds over Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) by three points after the Italian finished second in the Czech Republic. Canet has never finished on the podium in Austria, with a best finish of fifth coming in 2017. Canet will have to deal once again with the KTM’s speed deficit to the Honda this weekend, as well, which should be more pronounced at the Red Bull Ring thanks to the amount of time spent at full throttle on a Moto3 bike. On the other side, though, one of the KTM’s strongest points is its braking stability, which will be especially important in Austria with several big stops, at turns one, three and four.
One of Lorenzo Dalla Porta’s strengths is that he is fast in the straight lines, and this will be especially advantageous for the Italian this weekend at a track where he finished fifth last season. The areas where Dalla Porta will be strong this weekend, Canet should be weaker, and vice versa. This should make for an interesting race and, with this being Moto3, the two championship combatants will not be alone on the track on Sunday.
Joining the two on the podium last weekend was Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) who was joined by Canet on the list of multiple Moto3 winners in 2019, which consists of only the #14 and the #44. Mostly, since Arbolino’s win in Mugello, his form has been strong and, with the exception of Sachsenring, the Italian has been fighting for the podium in each of the last five or six rounds and will hope to continue that into this weekend.
Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) was also in the podium battle in Brno, although he missed out to to Arbolino and Dalla Porta on the final lap. Masia’s debut in the World Championship was in Austria back in 2017, when he impressed with a ninth place. Masia has not won since Argentina and not stood on the podium since Mugello, has been waiting a while for a trip to the rostrum – winning on a KTM in Austria would perhaps make that wait seem more worthwhile.
Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) is not racing this weekend after his broken pelvis and collarbone in Brno. The Argentine will be replaced by CEV rider Jeremy Alcoba, running the #52.
This weekend, just one week on from the Czech Grand Prix, the MotoGP World Championship heads to Austria for round eleven of the 2019 season.
The Red Bull Ring (or A1 Ring, Osterreichring if you are otherwise affiliated) has traditionally been known as a ‘Ducati track’ since the Austrian Grand Prix returned to the motorcycle grand prix racing calendar in 2016. The Bologna bikes have won each of the three races held in Spielberg since its return, and with three different riders: Andrea Iannone in 2016, Andrea Dovizioso in 2017 and Joge Lorenzo in 2018. To continue their unbeaten run in the Alps this year, though, will be more difficult than ever before courtesy of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
The first year of the Red Bull Ring saw Marquez and Honda struggle with a lack of acceleration in the RC213V thanks to its aggressive motor and the simplicity of the unified electronics software that were new for that year. Since Honda moved to a ‘big bang’ configuration in their MotoGP prototype, though, Marquez has challenged Ducati until the last corner, despite missing power compared to the Ducati in both 2017 and 2018. This year, Marquez has that power he was previously missing, and that could be the final piece to see him on his way to a first win in the Austrian Grand Prix – the only race Marquez is yet to win on the MotoGP calendar.
Andrea Dovizioso at Brno 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati
The forecast, then, looks bleak for Ducati. Having just been defeated convincingly at Brno, a track at which they were expected to be able to challenge Marquez, they are potentially staring at a first defeat in Austria, a circuit almost designed with the Desmosedici in mind, with its emphasis on straight-line performance and the track’s quantity of substantial straights and acceleration zones. For Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) to become the first multiple winner at the Red Bull Ring in its current guise, or for Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) or Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) to become the fourth winner in as many years, this Sunday is going to take a particularly strong weekend.
Marquez is the only rider to have gotten within three seconds of the winning Ducati over the line, with Jorge Lorenzo’s gap to Andrea Iannone in 2016 being 3.389 seconds when the Spaniard was third for Yamaha. The Iwata manufacturer have not had a podium in Austria since, with a best result of fifth place coming in 2017 courtesy of Johann Zarco. Last year, Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was the top YZR-M1 in sixth place after qualifying in fourteenth before the public apology of Yamaha to its riders on Saturday. In fact, Rossi’s average speed in the race last year was 0.4kph slower than in 2016, whereas Lorenzo was 0.4kph faster in 2018 than Iannone in 2016, and Marc Marquez was 1.3kph faster than himself in 2016. Part of Rossi’s loss of speed can be explained by his poor qualifying in 2018, but nonetheless this shows Yamaha’s relative lack of progress in the last three or four years.
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) took his first finish since Barcelona in Brno, but still the Spaniard is without a podium since Jerez in May. To achieve a top three this weekend with the GSX-RR would be tough, since it has a similar problem with horsepower as the Yamaha, demonstrated especially well in Mugello. Realistically, Suzuki will be hard-pressed to make the rostrum this weekend – a top five and in front of the Yamahas would be a strong result for the GSX-RR.
This is an important race for KTM, since it is their home GP and the race track is owned by their title sponsors. The RC16 should work well in Austria, and has made significant results in the past at the Red Bull Ring in the hands of Mika Kallio in 2017 when the Finn was tenth and less than twenty seconds from the leader at the line.
Joan Mi (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) are both out of action this weekend. For Lorenzo, the issue is still the injuries from the crash in practice in Assen, while for Mir the problems are more recent, after he had a large crash in Brno at the Monday test where he reportedly found the barrier on the outside. Lorenzo will be replaced once more by Stefan Bradl this weekend, whilst there will not be a second Suzuki on track in Austria.
Featured Image courtesy of Jaime Olivares/Box Repsol
The Moto2 World Championship arrives in Austria weekend for round eleven of the 2019 World Championship from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) comes into this round with a thirty-three-point championship lead, and colossal momentum after taking his fifth win in six races last week in Brno. Beating him this weekend will not be easy, even though the Spaniard is without a podium in Austria, such has been his dominance since Le Mans. It seems that Marquez’ understanding of the Dunlop tyres with the Triumph-powered Moto2 bikes is superior to his rivals.
That said, impressive performances from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Speed Up) and Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) last weekend, where they were able to match Marquez’ pace throughout the race, in the case of Di Giannantonio, and especially in the closing stages, proved that Marquez is reachable. Beatable, however, is unclear, but every weekend presents a different challenge and new opportunity for Marquez’ rivals.
While Brno was a good race for Alex Marquez, for his strongest championship rival, Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) it was a disaster. The Swiss crashed out early on, giving Marquez an advantage he doesn’t need. Thirty-three points might not seem like a huge amount, but when Marquez has the pace advantage he has week after week, and keeps churning out wins, it might not be long before this world title slips out of reach of Luthi.
KTM almost won their home race last year in the hands of Miguel Oliveira, before the Portuguese was passed in the final corner by Francesco Bagnaia. Things have been more complicated for KTM this year, but an all-knew chassis – a complete redesign from KTM – for Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was an apparent step in the right direction for the Austrian marque in Brno, despite the South African ending his race in the gravel. There were two podiums for Binder – who has been the standout rider on the KTM this season – before the summer break in Assen and Sachsenring, so there will be some hope in the orange camp that they can return to the rostrum in their home race despite the difficulties this season.
Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) had one of his best results of 2018 in Austria, finishing fifth on the Gresini Kalex twelve months ago. Navarro has been one of the standout riders in the intermediate class in 2019 aboard the Speed Up, and his usually strong race pace and tyre management can be a particularly strong point in Austria where traction is so important.
After missing the last three races courtesy of Stefano Manzi’s (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) error in practice at Assen, Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) is out once again this weekend. The Indonesian will be replaced by Teppei Nagoe, who replaced Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) earlier in the year.
Featured Image courtesy of Gareth Harford/ MarcVDS
Ott Tanak and his co-driver Martin Jarveoja have taken their second victory on the incredible roads in Finland. Here’s the story of how it all came together for the young Estonian pairing.
Friday
With ten stages on day one and Ott Tänak opening the road, it would be interesting if his championship rivals could take advantage and get ahead of him on the leaderboard. The start list looked like this – Tänak, Ogier, Neuville, Suninen, Meeke, Mikkelsen, Lappi, Latvala, Greensmith, Breen.
The first stage of the day, SS 2 – Oittila (19,34 km), and it was a stage victory for Jari-Matti, with Lappi and Meeke second and third fastest. Ott though was only nine tenths off his teammates pace and held the overall lead from his teammates. Ogier and Neuville held fifth and ninth at this point.
Into SS 3 – Moksi 1 (20,04 km) then and Kris set a great pace and, but you could argue Ott was even better with second fastest time, with Jari-Matti in third. In the Hyundai camp, Craig Breen, with Paul Nagle alongside him was going well and setting some great times and held sixth overall at the end of this stage, ahead of both Andreas and Thierry.
Jari-Matti won SS 4 – Urria 1 (12,28 km) from Craig, with Esapekka and Ott setting the same time to both go third fastest. Craig’s pace allowed him to pass Seb, taking fifth overall at this point. The M-Sport duo of Teemu and Gus were down in eighth and tenth, with Thierry between them. Incredibly, Ott still held the lead.
SS 5 – Ässämäki 1 (12,33 km) saw Ott take stage victory, 1.1 seconds ahead of Craig, who increased the gap to Seb. Esapekka and Andreas were equal third fastest. Kris was now 4.2 seconds from his teammate in second place. Further back, Thierry passed Teemu, moving into eighth position.
The final stage before the service break, SS 6 – Äänekoski 1 (7,80 km) and Jari-Matti took it by just a tenth of a second from Craig, who was clearly getting very comfortable in his Hyundai. Latvala’s pace lifted him above Kris, the Finn retaking second overall. It had been a good morning for Tommi’s team, winning every stage so far.
After lunchtime service, there was a change in the lead, after Jari-Matti won SS 7 – Moksi 2 (20,04 km) with Esapekka and Kris just one tenth of a second slower. Ott emerged in second overall, now just four tenths off the lead. The gap between Craig and Seb reduced a little in their battle over fifth position.
Andreas won SS 8 – Urria 2 (12,28 km), breaking the stranglehold that Toyota had held on stage victories, with Esapekka and Jari-Matti second and third fastest. The outcome of all of this was Jari-Matti held the lead by just six tenths of a second from Esapekka, Ott and Kris who were all on the same overall time. Andreas’ pace was enough to move him ahead of Seb and into sixth place. Incredibly, Craig was now just ten seconds from the lead, and feeling very comfortable.
Jari-Matti took SS 9 – Ässämäki 2 (12,33 km) from Esapekka, with Kris in third, and these were the top three as well. Craig lost a little time to Andreas, but still held fifth overall. Sadly, the two Fiesta’s were in ninth and tenth place, and it was a surprise to see Teemu so far off the pace.
It was an incredible SS 10 – Äänekoski 2 (7,80 km), with Jari-Matti and Kris sharing the fastest time, plus Seb and Andreas equal second fastest, and this had the result of Kris moving ahead of Esapekka, pushing the Finn down to third overall.
The final stage of the day then, SS 11 – Harju 2 (2,31 km) and it was a second stage victory for the Hyundai Motorsport team, with Thierry winning the stage from Seb and Kris, who set the same time. The top four were separated by just 2.6 seconds. Just incredibly close!
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 1:04:01.1
Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1.2
Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +2.4
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2.6
Breen / Nagle (Hyundai i20 WRC) +14.2
Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +14.6
Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) +15.3
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +30.9
Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +52.6
Greensmith / Edmondson (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:38.3
Here’s the thoughts of the drivers after day one.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (1st)
“It’s been a really good day. There were a couple of stages where the time was a little bit down, but generally I was able to have a strong performance. It has been so tight and the pressure has really been on, so it’s pleasing to be able to keep up the speed and not make mistakes when you’re trying to find the difference anywhere you can. Tomorrow I think the morning loop is going to be crucial because there are some new sections, and the profile of the road is generally a bit different: Wider with more crests and jumps.”
Kris Meeke (2nd)
“It’s been a good day I’ve really enjoyed it. In Finland it’s so important to make a good start and get away with the lead group, and we were able to do that this morning. The stages and the pace-notes were new to me on the first pass, so I could be a lot calmer this afternoon with that knowledge. I think there was a bit more road cleaning on the second pass but I think we made the most of our position. It’s so close between the top four, so it’s going to be exciting to see how it develops tomorrow.”
Ott Tänak (4th)
“Generally, I’m feeling pretty good at the end of the day. The conditions were challenging running first on the road, but in the morning, I had a good flow from the beginning, the car was working well and so I could focus on the driving. This afternoon the conditions were much tougher, and it was a bit frustrating as I was pushing hard and we lost a few places. But we are still very close, and tomorrow we should have a much better road position than we had today, so everything is to play for.”
Citroën Total WRT
Esapekka Lappi (3rd)
“It’s good to be back among the frontrunners and on the pace, especially at this rally, which means so much to us as Finns! My C3 WRC was perfect today and I really enjoyed driving on these stages. It’s crazy that the gaps are so small after such a long day. It looks like it will be a huge battle at the front tomorrow, but you can count on us to keep fighting!”
Esapekka Lappi on a charge. Photo credit, Citroen Racing
Sébastien Ogier (7th)
“I think we had a very good day. I was comfortable in the C3 WRC, but our position in the running order certainly didn’t make our lives any easier. I would’ve loved to end this first day in a better position so we could start further down the running order tomorrow, but I will at least have more cars ahead of me than today. It’s still very tight, so we have to keep pushing as hard as we can. We’re still in the fight to score some big points.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Craig Breen (5th)
“It has been an unbelievable day and it’s gone better than I could have ever imagined. I have missed the feeling of being back in the WRC so I’ve felt on top of the world. I won’t be completely happy until we’re banging in the quickest times but I have picked up confidence in the car as the day has gone on, and that is half the battle. I have not been getting carried away; my goal is to support the team as best I can, taking no risks. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC is probably the finest car I’ve ever driven and to get the opportunity to drive on these Finnish roads is something very special. The times have been incredibly close; it’s really testament to the quality of the WRC that one second in a stage can make such a big difference on timesheets. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (6th)
“We’ve had a pretty good day and I’m happy with what we’ve achieved. The morning loop was clean and the times were incredibly close. I planned to ramp things up a bit in the afternoon, and we were able to take a stage win. The feeling inside the car has been really nice and it’s been highly enjoyable to drive. We’ve struggled on these high-speed gravel stages before so it’s nice to see our work taking steps in the right direction. I’d like to say thanks to everyone at Hyundai Motorsport who have worked so hard on the car for this event; there’s been no summer vacation there to get a perfect job done.”
Thierry Neuville (8th)
“We started the rally in a very positive frame of mind and with a stage win on Thursday evening. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to replicate that during Friday’s stages. The feeling with the car itself was not so bad and we kept pushing hard during the day but we should have been able to set faster stage times. We have tried a number of different things but something hasn’t quite clicked yet. The rally is still long so we’ll continue to give it everything we’ve got.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (9th)
“It’s really hard for a Finn when they’re not fast in Finland, and it’s been a really disappointing day for us. The driving feels good, but we are struggling to find the pace. In the past I have been beating Ogier and Tänak in the same car, so I know I can be fast here. But we are missing something this weekend, and need to do our homework and try to be faster.”
Gus Greensmith (10th)
“I can’t say today wasn’t enjoyable – it was amazing – but the learning curve was as big as the jumps – massive! Obviously, we started off quite cautiously in the morning and the times weren’t really where we wanted them to be. I managed to be there or thereabouts with my team-mate in the afternoon which was really good, but there seems to be a big gap to those further ahead. We’ll try a few different things tomorrow, and I’m sure the time will come to us.”
Saturday
Being the longest day, with eight stages totalling 133km. The startlist looked like this – Greensmith, Suninen, Neuville, Ogier, Mikkelsen, Breen, Tänak, Lappi, Meeke, Latvala. We found out that Seb had a bad night’s sleep as well, after he’d been sick throughout the night. It would make his day interesting indeed.
Ott took the first stage, SS 12 – Pihlajakoski 1 (14,42 km) and jumped straight into the lead. Esapekka was second fastest and Jari-Matti third. Andreas was also on the move, passing Craig for fifth position. Further down the field, Kalle Rovanpera was driving his Skoda Fabia R5 out of his skin, posting an almost four seconds faster time than Gus Greensmith.
Into SS 13 – Päijälä 1 (22,87 km) and it was a 1-2-3 for Toyota with Kris leading Jari-Matti and Ott. Ott fell to second overall, although just two tenths of a second from new leader and teammate Jari-Matti. Also, on the move was Craig, who repassed Andreas in their battle over fifth place.
Into SS 14 – Kakaristo 1 (18,70 km) and Ott retook the lead. It wasn’t a happy time though at Toyota, as Kris and Jari-Matti both damaged their cars. Kris was out for the day, after breaking his suspension, whilst Jari-Matti had a bit more luck only damaging a tyre. There were a few more changes on the leaderboard, with Esapekka, Andreas and Seb moving up ahead of Craig who was now in sixth place after the demise of Kris.
SS 15 – Leustu 1 (10,50 km) was won by Jari-Matti, beating Ott who continued to hold a strong 13 second lead over his remaining teammate. Esapekka had made third place his, and Seb closed a little on Andreas for fourth place.
Esapekka won SS 16 – Pihlajakoski 2 (14,42 km) and jumped ahead of Jari-Matti into second place. Seb backed up his younger teammate, going second fastest and passing Andreas as well and moving into fourth place. The gap between Andreas and Craig remained very small as well.
The status quo continued in SS 17 – Päijälä 2 (22,87 km), with Ott winning from Esapekka who increased the gap he had over Jari-Matti, whilst Craig edged closer to Andreas. Gus Greensmith was doing his best to learn the stages, but he was struggling out there, now over three and a half minutes off the lead.
SS 18 – Kakaristo 2 (18,70 km) saw Esapekka win, pipping Ott by just half a second, whilst Andreas moved ahead of Seb into fourth place, but only by four tenths of a second. Could Seb take back the position in the following stage? The two M-Sport Fiesta’s were two minutes and four minutes off the lead sadly, just down to the fact that they were opening the road.
The final stage of the day then, SS 19 – Leustu 2 (10,50 km) and it was a stage win for Andreas, thus increasing the gap between him and Seb, who had driven well given his lack of sleep, whilst Ott was only one tenth slower, thus maintaining a sixteen second lead over Esapekka.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 2
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:08:49.4
Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +16.4
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +28.8
Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +50.5
Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) +53.1
Breen / Nagle (Hyundai i20 WRC) +59.1
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:19.3
Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:05.3
Greensmith / Edmondson (Ford Fiesta WRC) +4:09.7
Here’s the thoughts of the drivers then after day two.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (1st)
“It’s been a really good day. This morning it was really intense as everyone was pushing hard. It was good that we were able to build a bit of a gap to Esapekka [Lappi], as this afternoon he did a very good job, and we had to follow his pace. At the same time, I felt really comfortable in the car and it was working very well. In the very rough places, I was a bit more careful, but in the smooth and fast sections I really enjoyed it and we had a good rhythm. I think our advantage is good but there is still some way to go so there is still a lot of focus needed.”
Ott Tänak moved into the lead on Saturday. Photo credit, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (3rd)
“We had a fantastic morning speed-wise, fighting for the lead with our team-mates, and I had a really good feeling with the car. But in Kakaristo I was too fast in a right-hander, ran wide into a ditch and hit a big rock. In the afternoon, I knew that I couldn’t afford to make any more mistakes so I tried to find a comfortable speed where I would be avoiding risks. At the same time Esapekka was able to raise his pace, so I couldn’t match that. I’m a bit disappointed that I couldn’t find the right rhythm, but to get the points is the most important thing: To be on the podium tomorrow would be a really important result for myself, but also for the team.”
Kris Meeke (Retired/Rally2)
“It had been an incredible fight from the beginning of the rally, and I was enjoying it again this morning: I was in a good rhythm and the car felt phenomenal. In Kakaristo, we came to a fast, fifth-gear right-hand corner, and I just dropped a wheel off the camber on the outside. Normally that wouldn’t be a big problem but there was a massive rock just sitting in the ditch, and I didn’t know it was there, so it was a big surprise. I’m gutted: When the battle is so close like that, and everyone’s trying to do their best for the team, it’s very disappointing to have to stop.”
Citroën Total WRT
Esapekka Lappi (2nd)
“Obviously, it’s been a very positive day for us! After what happened in the morning loop, I was expecting to suffer on the second runs on these wide and fast stages, but I really went for it and it has worked out pretty well for me so far. We found the right balance to push without overdriving the stages or drifting outside of the lines. I’m going to continue at the same pace tomorrow and am absolutely determined to secure the result.”
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“I’m pleased that it’s over because I was running really low on energy this afternoon. I can’t wait to get to bed, to be honest. I had to really push myself all day so I’m glad to have made it through the leg without making any mistakes because it was sometimes very difficult to keep up the concentration. Tomorrow will be another day and I hope that I will be able to recover sufficiently tonight so that I can do myself justice and fight all the way to the finish.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (4th)
“It has been an epic fight, with positions changing hands back and forth throughout the day. I’ve enjoyed it, competing with everything we have on some truly beautiful stages. It’s been really cool. The car has given me all the confidence I need on both loops. We made a few adjustments to our pace notes for the afternoon, specifically for the wider sections, and although it was rough at times we gave it our maximum. The second run through Kakaristo was just what we needed to keep hold of fourth place. Following that up with our second stage win of the weekend was perfect. A lot of fun!”
Craig Breen (6th)
“There were a few more struggles compared to yesterday, mainly on the narrower sections where I lacked confidence. I’ve never had such a stable car so it takes time to get used to committing fully. SS17 was a particular highlight today; there was not a millimetre left out on the stage and I think it was one of the best stages of my entire career. We didn’t end the day so positively, unfortunately. We lowered the ride height of the car for the last stage but the conditions were rougher than we expected so we lost a bit of time. We are still in a close battle and there are plenty of positives from today.”
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Round 09, Rally Finland 01-04 August 2019 Craig Breen, Paul Nagle, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville (7th)
“A much better feeling and a more positive day overall. Of course, the road cleaning has made life far from perfect but we’re trying to enjoy ourselves and work within the confines of what is possible. We lost too much time yesterday but everyone is pushing really hard and we have to keep an eye on the championship, rather than a single stage result. I don’t think we could have done much more today. The only slight disappointment was picking up a bit of rear damage late in the afternoon loop. Even if we’re not in the position we would like to be, we have to accept where we can make a difference, and salvage what we can from the weekend.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (8th)
“We went a bit softer with the car this morning to try and find some more traction, but it makes the car quite unpredictable. We went back to the base set-up for the afternoon, and that felt better. Now we need to get the confidence to drive on the limits and get the most out of the car.”
Gus Greensmith (9th)
“It’s been pretty tricky for us out there today. We tried some big set-up changes this morning, but it didn’t work out. The car felt much better in the afternoon and I was really enjoying the driving, but we had to clear a line through the ruts left by the national crews. I know tomorrow’s stages pretty well, so I think I’ll give it bit of a push to see how good I am at cleaning the road – but not too much, because I promised Rich that I would bring the car back in one piece!”
Sunday
The final day beckoned, with four stages totalling 45km. The startlist looked like this – Meeke, Greensmith, Suninen, Neuville, Breen, Ogier, Mikkelsen, Latvala, Lappi, Tänak.
Ott picked up from where he left and won SS 20 – Laukaa 1 (11,75 km), with Seb, who was feeling much better, and Jari-Matti his closest challengers. Esapekka made it past through – last year this was the stage that saw him crash out. Kris restarted as well, setting the ninth fastest time. Ott now had a lead of twenty seconds over Esapekka.
Seb had problems in SS 21 – Ruuhimäki 1 (11,12 km), with something moving around in his footwell. Jari-Matti won the stage, going through seven tenths faster than Andreas who had really made fourth overall his own. Seb still managed to be third fastest in the stage, making us wonder how much faster he’d have been without his issues. Sadly, Gus retired from the rally on this stage.
Into SS 22 – Laukaa 2 (11,75 km), the penultimate stage, and Andreas was quickest, with Esapekka and Seb just a few tenths slower in second and third. The big news from this stage was that Craig had taken a twenty second penalty, thus allowing Thierry through into sixth place. Also, Kris broke his suspension, bringing his return to the action to a premature end.
The final stage then, SS 23 – Ruuhimäki 2 Power Stage (11,12 km) and you’d have forgiven the leader if he’d taken it easy. However, he flew through the stage and was almost seven tenths faster than Thierry, with Andreas, Seb and Jari-Matti finishing off the fastest five, and thus taking the powerstage points.
FINAL STANDINGS
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:30.40.3
Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +25.6
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +33.2
Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) +53.4
Ogier / Ingrassia (Citroën C3 WRC) +56.1
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:32.4
Breen / Nagle (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1:38.2
Suninen / Salminen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:33.8
Let’s hear then from the drivers!
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (1st)
“It feels really good to get this victory. It was very important to get a good result here to help us in both championships. I would say that this is a perfect result to begin the second part of the season. I think it’s a great boost for the whole team and now we need to keep pushing. I focused on having a clean run through the first three stages today, and then on the Power Stage I pushed. I tried to have a fast and clean run with no mistakes, and we were able to get the maximum points. Now we need to continue in the same way, starting with Germany.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (3rd)
“I’m really really Happy to be back on the podium here on Rally Finland. It has been almost nine months since I last had a podium, a really really long time. I think the opportunity was there to go for second place, but this time I think it was better not to take the risk. We really needed the points for the future, not just for myself but also for the team. Today I was more relaxed than yesterday afternoon and the performance was good. This result gives us more confidence to keep fighting for more podiums in the upcoming rallies.”
Kris Meeke (DNF)
“Restarting today, we didn’t have much to fight for with our road position, but I’m disappointed with myself for making a stupid error in the penultimate stage. On a long left-hander, I put car sideways and hesitated a little bit, and when I lifted off the throttle the car went more to the inside of the corner than I wanted it to. There was a big stone in the grass and we hit it. It’s really not been the weekend that I wanted, so we need to pick ourselves up before Germany.”
Citroën Total WRT
Esapekka Lappi (2nd)
“I’m very pleased for the team – they deserve this result for having been patient and supportive during the first part of the season, when things were difficult. We worked really hard – and well – together so that the C3 WRC suited my driving style more effectively, especially on the front diffs and I really felt full of confidence driving the car this weekend. I literally felt like I could do what I liked in it! From the first run in the shakedown, I knew that things were looking good. I now hope to keep up this level of performance for the rest of the season.”
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“It was a tough weekend for us. To be honest, I had higher expectations at the start. As always, I gave it absolutely everything. For sure, Saturday’s leg – when I was really low on energy – didn’t help matters, but even today, when I felt better, unfortunately I wasn’t able to do more.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (4th)
“Fourth place, even if it wasn’t quite a podium, means a huge amount to me. We have been involved in an incredibly close battle with Sébastien for much of the rally, and it has really come down every tenth of a second, fighting right to the very end. Thankfully, we had the speed and performance in the car, and the confidence in ourselves, to get the job done. It’s been a tough rally in the past, so it’s fantastic to have cracked the code this weekend. I have had a good feeling with the car all weekend and we’ve been able to set some competitive times. This is thanks to the efforts of the whole Hyundai Motorsport team over many months. We had some upgrades on the car for this rally, including some specifically to help my driving, which have worked wonders. I feel like my old self again!”
Thierry Neuville (6th)
“We gave it everything we had this weekend and it is important to focus on the positives. We were able to take away from really important points for both championships, including four from the Power Stage. We could not have done more. The car has shown an improvement in these fast gravel conditions, which is encouraging. We didn’t have the best of tests ahead of this rally, and I struggled to find the right feeling on Friday, which really dictated our weekend. We keep our heads high and look forward to the next one.
Craig Breen (7th)
“This has been an amazing rally I have to say. To have the opportunity to return to this level of rallying has been very special and I am incredibly grateful to everyone who has made it possible. I have enjoyed myself immensely as part of the Hyundai Motorsport team, and I was immediately comfortable in the car. We knew the job we had to do this weekend, and I think we’ve achieved that; it’s been a privilege to play our part in the team’s championship efforts.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (8th)
“It’s always fun driving in Finland, but it’s been frustrating to look at the times this weekend. We know that we have the pace, but this wasn’t our weekend. We weren’t able to challenge for the top positions, and have some homework to do before the next one”.
Teemu Suninen at speed. Photo credit, M-Sport WRT
Gus Greensmith (DNF)
“I thought I heard a pacenote that I knew I didn’t have in that stage [Ruuhimäki, SS21]. At that point I got distracted, tried to read the road, and then missed the braking for a sharp left. I tried to pull it round, but hit the tree and took the wheel off. It’s disappointing, but Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and myself are both okay which is obviously the most important thing.”
DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Ott Tänak – 180 points
Sébastien Ogier – 158 points
Thierry Neuville – 155 points
Elfyn Evans – 78 points
Andreas Mikkelsen – 71 points
Teemu Suninen – 66 points
Kris Meeke – 60 points
Esapekka Lappi – 58 points
Jari-Matti Latvala – 56 points
Dani Sordo – 50 points
MANUFACTURERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Hyundai WRT – 262 points
Toyota Gazoo Racing – 236 points
Citroën Total WRT – 198 points
M-Sport Ford WRT – 158 points
Summary
An incredible drive then from Ott Tänak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja, who had kept his timeloss throughout Friday’s stages to a minimum, allowing him to get a great road position for the rest of the weekend. He didn’t panic as well, when his teammates started to challenge him at the top. Once they fell from the front, he made the event his own. Jari-Matti Latvala got away lucky I feel, after hitting the same rock as Kris Meeke, but only suffering a puncture and damage to the bodywork at the rear, rather than suspension damage. The Toyota team were looking at a 1-2-3 until that point.
FIA World Rally Championship 2019 / Round 09 / Rally Finland / 1-4 August, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Whether they’d have got that is a moot point, as Esapekka had his best event of the year, looking like he and the Citroen team had got the car to a point where he could show his considerable skills. The young Finns teammate and current world champion Seb suffered throughout Saturday, but came through to bag some important points for the defence of his world title.
Hyundai had an interesting event, with the regular drivers being overshadowed by Craig Breen throughout Friday, and the Irishman having to take a time penalty on Sunday to allow Thierry through into sixth place. Andreas drove really well to get up to fourth though, but if Seb and Kris had not had their problems, it’s fair to say would he have been behind them I suspect.
Finally, M-Sport didn’t have a great event. Teemu just couldn’t get on the pace, and after Hayden Paddon crashed during his test, they didn’t really have anyone to lead the team. Of course, they were missing Elfyn and Scott (who are the team leaders at the moment) as he recovers from the back injury sustained at last months Rally Estonia. Gus Greensmith did his best, given the circumstances – He’s still learning the way with the top spec WRC machine, plus had not competed in Finland before either – That’s a steep learning curve!
The next event is Rally Germany. It runs from the 22nd to the 25th of August. Look out for my preview in the days before.
After a morning of cloudless skies, the track temperature was up to 34C by the time the Moto2 riders were set to start their Czech Grand Prix in Brno, the tenth race of the season, which Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) dominated for his fifth win of the season.
Starting from pole, Marquez made a good launch, but it was not good enough to beat Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) to the holeshot. It did not take long for Marquez to reclaim the advantage, though, as he moved through for the lead at turn three.
Over the course of the next few laps, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) established himself as Marquez’ closest challenger and, for most of the race, the Italian was the only rider who could get near the #73’s lap times. There were two seconds between Di Giannantonio and Marquez, but together they escaped from the pack, and ensured their cold war was not interfered with for the entire race.
Fabio Di Giannantonio chasing Alex Marquez, Czech Moto2, 2019. Image courtesy of David Goldman/MarcVDS
The battle for the final podium spot was more visual, as Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) fought with the two SKY Racing Team VR46 bikes of Luca Marini and Nicolo Bulega, before Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) showed up on the scene as well.
Marini was eventually able to pass Schrotter with eleven laps to go, and then was able to extend a small gap. Unfortunately for the Italian, Jorge Navarro was not too delayed in passing Schrotter himself, and after doing so immediately applied the pressure to Marini.
It took a couple of laps, but Navarro was finally able to move through on Marini to take third place on lap thirteen. The Spaniard was able to stretch Marini and establish an advantage for himself, although the pressure would finally be coming from somewhere else.
Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) had been moving through the field throughout the race and was able to pass Marini with three laps to go. The gap to Navarro was up to almost one second by this point, so the task ahead of the #33 was tough, and he entered the final lap with a half-second deficit to Navarro. It was a gap which Bastianini was able to overturn by turn six, and the Italian made his move on Navarro at turn ten – just about able to pull the bike down to a late apex. From there, Bastianini was able to make an advantage for himself through turns eleven and twelve, so Navarro was unable to respond before the finish line.
Out front, though, despite the best efforts of Di Giannantonio, Marquez was untouchable once again, taking his fifth win of the season. Since Le Mans, when he has finished, no one has beaten Marquez, as his understanding of the Jerez-spec Dunlop tyre has been superior to his competitors. A crash early on for Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) means that Marquez leaves Brno with a thirty-three-point advantage at the top of the standings.
Di Giannantonio, Alex Marquez, Bastianini, Moto2 race, Czech MotGP 2019. Image courtesy of David Goldman/MarcVDS
The debut Moto2 podiums for rookies Di Giannantonio and Bastianini were richly deserved. They had opposite races, with Di Giannantonio chasing lap times in his cold war with Marquez, whilst Bastianini was chasing a new target almost every lap in his fight back through the pack from the sixth row. Di Giannantonio in this race has been the only rider who has been able to match Marquez’ race pace for the whole distance since the Spaniard’s first win in France, whilst Bastianini in Brno has been the only Kalex rider to manage the tyre as well as Marquez since the same point – an impressive outing for the young Italians.
Bastianini’s last lap move relegated Navarro to fourth place, which will be a disappointment with his teammate on the rostrum. Behind Navarro, Marini completed the top five, no doubt helped this weekend by three weeks off for his shoulder to repair after a tough Sachsenring. Marcel Schrotter dropped back in the final part of the race and finished sixth ahead of liberated rookie Nicolo Bulega; whilst Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) finished eighth in front of Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who went from seventeenth to ninth. Iker Lecuona (American Racing) was the top KTM in tenth.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) was unable to capitalise on his front row start, finishing down in eleventh ahead of the two KTM rookies, Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) and Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) was fourteenth, whilst Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) took the final point on his first visit to Brno.
Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was down in sixteenth, ahead of Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP), Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), Jonas Folger (Petronas Sprinta Racing) in late on for Khairul Idham Pawi who was unfit after Friday, and Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) who completed the top twenty.
Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) was twenty-first ahead of Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who remounted after a crash on the first lap, and Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) who was the final classified rider in twenty-fifth.
Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) and Tom Luthi were the first to retire on lap three, before Mattia Pasini crashed out of his first ride for Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 on the same lap as Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) dropped out. The final retirement was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), five laps from the flag – not the way KTM would have hoped the first race for their new chassis would end.
The sun was out for the Moto3 race in Brno, round ten of the 2019 World Championship, as Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) took his second win of the season and reclaimed the championship lead.
Before the start, Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) stalled his bike on the grid and missed the warm up lap. He had to start from pole position instead of third.
The front row would lose its second contender at the start, as John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) engaged the pit limiter instead of the launch button. He got away well but didn’t accelerate past the pit speed of 60kph, and was lucky to only be collected by one rider, although wildcard Yuki Kunii (Asia Talent Team) will doubtless see that differently.
It was Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) who made the holeshot from pole. He was joined at the front for much of the first half of the race by teammate Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) who spent much of that period riding the outside line to maintain the lead from the group behind which was for most of the race seventeen-strong.
That group was broken up when the two Estrella Galicia 0,0 bikes collided, taking both Sergio Garcia and Alonso Lopez out of the race, and slimming the front group to ten riders.
Before this crash, three riders had been making significant progress: Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing), Niccolo Antonelli and Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power). The all benefitted from the strong effect of the slipstream throughout a lap of Brno, and were able to fight their respective ways up the order to all, at some point, at least have a look at leading the race.
Particularly Antonelli’s ride was impressive, coming from pit lane to fight for the podium and the win, setting several fastest laps along the way and not looking at risk to do any of it. Similarly, and perhaps uncharacteristically, Darryn Binder did not look to be risking much in his overtakes, although some of them were slightly late.
As the race approached its final part, the efforts of these three riders perhaps began to show, as other riders seemed to grow stronger in the closing laps, possibly as a consequence of Antonelli, Dalla Porta and Binder using more tyre to arrive in the fight at all. In comparison, their competitors were in the fight from the beginning, so did not have to apply any unnecessary stress to put themselves in a particular position.
Tony Arblino and Aron Canet. Moto3 2019: Round Ten – Brno, Czech Republic. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Lorenzo Dalla Porta, nonetheless, led onto the final lap, but both Tony Arblino and Aron Canet – both of whom had sat quietly in the top five for the whole race – went through at turn three. Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) – similar to Arbolino and Canet in his anonymity throughout the race – passed Dalla Porta in turn five.
A mistake from Arbolino on the exit of turn nine allowed Canet to cut underneath and take the lead, whilst Dalla Porta used the slipstream to put him in the position to out-brake Masia into turn ten. Another dive from Dalla Porta in turn twelve allowed Canet to escape a little before the run up the hill. The #44 was clear into the final corner, and Dalla Porta was not close enough to slipstream him to the line.
Canet’s victory was a superb one, in which he showed just how much moving away from the Monlau setup for this year has helped him. So many times we have seen Canet sit in the group and do very little but maintain his distance to the front until the final stages this year, and in this race he perfected that strategy to take his second win of the season and reclaim the championship lead.
Dalla Porta’s second place was therefore important for the Italian, who now sits three points behind Canet as the World Championship heads to KTM’s home track in Austria. Despite a poor qualifying where he was only seventeenth, the #48 proved he has the race craft, the mentality and the intelligence to recover from that situation, and in this case that means that he remains in touch in the World Championship chase between himself and Canet.
Tony Arbolino looked strong throughout the race, but there was little he could do about Dalla Porta’s late lunge in turn twelve which cost him the chance to challenge Canet in the final two corners. Nonetheless, it was a good response from Arbolino to his difficult race in Sachsenring where he finished only fifteenth.
Jaume Masia, Moto3 race, Czech Moto2 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM
Jaume Masia was unable to put KTM on the podium in Brno, but his race was a good one, similar in some respects to the one he made in Mugello. He was invisible for most of the race, but was able to challenge strongly for the podium at the end, unfortunately missing out by two tenths.
After starting from pit lane, Niccolo Antonelli should be quite happy with fifth place, but when he had the opportunity entering the final lap to fight for the win it is perhaps difficult to see what he actually achieved. An attempted pass from Antonelli into the first corner dropped him to fifth place on the final lap, and unfortunately for the Italian he was unable to recover from that.
Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) had a strong ride to sixth place. Brno is a track that Ogura knows, having ridden a wildcard ride there in 2018, so a good result was to be expected – to walk away with ‘top rookie’ is nonetheless impressive and shows his potential.
Seventh place went to Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) who was also in the front group for almost the entirety of the race, but was unable to launch himself into the fight for the podium. He was ahead of Romano Fenati over the line, finishing eighth after dropping out of the lead fight at about half-distance.
Ninth place went to home rider Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP), whilst Darryn Binder eventually rounded out the top ten.
Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) took eleventh place ahead of Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) who made a strong start but was unable to keep the front pace for the full distance. Thirteenth place went to Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) who fought inside the top ten in the early stages, but fell back in the second half. Can Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took fourteenth, whilst Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) took the final point in fifteenth.
Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) started one place behind teammate Dalla Porta, but was unable to get near the Italian’s pace and was unable to follow him through the pack, finishing sixteenth in the end. Stefano Nepa (Reale Avintia Arizona 77) was seventeenth, ahead of wildcard Deniz Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team) who crashed early on – his third crash in as many races.
Filip Salac, Moto3, Czech MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy Gold and Goose/KTM
After Yuki Kunii hit John McPhee, both riders were out. Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) joined them when he had contact with another rider in the first corner and crashed out of his home GP. Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) both finished their respective races with seventeen laps to go, before Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) dropped out as well. Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) crashed twice before he called it a day; then Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) high sided on the exit of turn seven, moments before Garcia and Lopez came together at turn nine. Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) was the final retirement with two laps to go.
In the moments after the Moto2 race in Brno, rain started to fall. This meant that as the riders lines up on the grid for the MotoGP race, the surface beneath them was wet, which wouldn’t have been a problem if the rest of the track was the same.
Between turn two and turn fourteen, the track was completely dry, but between turn fourteen and turn one the track was wet. This meant that riders would have to choose slick tyres, but starting on a wet track and heading into a wet turn one presented obvious safety risks that even Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), perhaps the most relaxed rider on the MotoGP grid when it comes to non-ideal conditions, acknowledged. Those problems included twenty-three bikes arriving at turn one with no grip and no temperature, and all of them leaving the grid with no traction control with slick tyres on a wet surface, such are the limitations of the control Magneti Marelli ECU.
As such, the decision was taken to delay the start of the race. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) was one of the riders most clearly expressing his desire for this decision, for which he received some criticism. Ultimately, if Jack Miller thinks it is unsafe, it is probably unsafe.
The Start of the 2019 Brno MotoGP race. Image courtesy of @JaimeOLIVARES/ Box Repsol
The race finally got underway thirty-five minutes late. One of the hopes among fans was that dry conditions would prevent Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) from repeating his Saturday performance when he took pole position by 2.524 seconds with slick tyres on a wet track, where the dry line was maybe two-tyre-widths-wide at its widest and non-existent at its frequent narrowest. Nonetheless, Marquez made the holeshot.
One of the issues with the conditions at the race start was the inconsistency in grip across the track, with the left side of the grid – where the front of each row was – was dry, compared to the middle which was partly wet and the right side which was mostly wet. This meant that while the likes of Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Valentino Rossi were able to make clean starts from dry grid slots, the likes of Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) from KTM’s first MotoGP front row or Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) from the back of the third row struggled more for grip off the line.
With Miller alongside Marquez on the grid, and the Spaniard making the holeshot, the ‘holeshot device’ on the Ducati was made to look relatively useless. But it was the performance off the line of Andrea Dovizioso which showed its potential, as the Italian was steaming up to Marquez as they approached turn one, but did not have the over-speed to pass the championship leader.
Behind Dovizioso were Jack Miller and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with these three and Marquez pulling clear of Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in the opening stages.
Andrea Dovizioso during the 2019 Brno MotoGP race. Image courtesy of Tino Martino/Ducati
It is normal to see Dovizioso lead. He likes to control the pace at the front of the race, to look after his tyres so he can fight at the end. Perhaps the fact that the Italian was consistently 0.3-0.5 seconds behind Marquez put the writing on the wall. There was no challenge to Marquez’ leadership in the first half of the race and, as the tyres started to drop further in the second half, Marquez’ pace maintained, whereas for the three behind him it started to drop.
Lights-to-flag race wins were a rarity for Marquez before 2019, but they seem to be his preferred method now, perhaps as a result of the slightly weaker front end on the 2019 RC213V, or perhaps a simple realisation on the part of the pilot: that he doesn’t need to fight, he can just run away. Running away is a much more simple way of winning races, although difficult to do in the current age of MotoGP, where the bikes are so close and the operating windows for the tyres are so narrow. But Marquez and Honda have found a way this year to effect this, and it has been devastating. Winning in Brno (Marquez’ fiftieth premier class triumph), considered a Ducati track previously, might be the final nail in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship coffin – or, if you’re Marquez, the beginning of the engraving process on you’re sixth premier class plate.
Marc Marquez, winner of the 2019 Brno MotoGP. Image courtesy of Box Repsol
Behind Marquez, Dovizioso was able to pull away from Alex Rins who, for a couple of laps, was beginning to look half-threatening to Dovizioso. But Rins’ tyres went away and Dovizioso escaped to a relatively depressing second place, which leaves him sixty-three points behind Marquez ahead of Austria next weekend.
When Rins’ tyres dropped, Jack Miller took advantage, and took third place. Rins had a look over his shoulder and confirmed that his only focus was Miller with no pressure from Cal Crutchlow (LC Honda CASTROL) behind. Although he had the focus, Rins did not have the grip, and so Miller was able to claim his second podium of the season after he was also third in Texas back in April.
Miller is known as a strong wet weather rider, and one who is strong in mixed conditions, or when the tyre doesn’t match the surface. It is perhaps then no surprise that Miller was the only rider to even get remotely close to challenging Marquez in qualifying, just let down by the timing of his switch to slicks. However, it should be noted that Miller’s two podiums this year have come in the dry, and also that they came on weekends where grip was limited.
It is slightly paradoxical that the most aggressive riders, like Marquez and Miller, should be so strong in low-grip, compared to a gentle, smooth rider like Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) or Dovizioso. But, their comfort with the bike sliding is their advantage when all the bike wants to do is slide.
Alex Rins was resigned to fourth place at the end, showing Suzuki still need to find something to protect the tyre in low-grip conditions. Importantly, though, it was Rins’ first finish since Barcelona, an important weight off his shoulders after four weeks dwelling on two consecutive crashes from podium positions.
Cal Crutchlow came through well at the start, making multiple positions. After he passed Valentino Rossi for fifth, it was a straightforward race for the Briton – faster than those behind but not fast enough to catch those in front. His 6.007-second gap to Marquez highlights further how well the Spaniard is riding.
Although recently Brno has been considered a Ducati track, it is also a track which suits well the characteristics of Yamaha, with the long, sweeping corners allowing them to use their bikes advantage: mid-corner speed.
However, on Sunday the top Yamaha was Valentino Rossi in sixth place, three seconds behind Crutchlow in fifth, 5.5 seconds off the podium and 9.083 seconds behind Marquez. The positive for Rossi is that he was the top Yamaha rider, so it is arguable that there was little more he could have gotten from the M1. The Italian will need to repeat this, though, to truly respond to those calling for him to make way in the factory Yamaha team.
Fabio Quartararo, Czech MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing
Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) passed Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) just before Rossi was passed by Crutchlow. The Frenchman, though, was unable to catch Rossi in the time he had left, and ended up three seconds behind the Italian in seventh, almost two seconds ahead of Petrucci in eighth.
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) finished ninth, which is probably not going to enhance his case for a factory bike in 2020, whilst Maverick Vinales’ race was ruined by his wet grid slot and the Yamaha’s lack of power making it difficult to overtake on a track like Brno – the Spaniard finished tenth.
Pol Espargaro went backwards after a good start and finished eleventh ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) who will have been content to finish. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) returned to his form of the opening races of the season to be the second KTM across the line, almost eight seconds clear of Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) finished fifteenth in what is hopefully his penultimate replacement ride for Jorge Lorenzo.
Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) took sixteenth place ahead of Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who beat teammate Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) to seventeenth by three tenths. Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) could only manage nineteenth in his home race, whilst Sylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was twentieth and last on his wildcard appearance.
Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) crashed out on lap one with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) when the Italian had contact with Zarco. Morbidelli went down and Mir had no chance to avoid the #21 Yamaha. Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) was the only other retirement.
Featured Image courtesy of Jesus Robledo Blanco/Box Repsol
Douglas Motorsport’s Kiern Jewiss took his first British F3 win of the season and became the 11th man to win a race this season.
Johnathan Hoggard was second after losing out to Jewiss at the start of the race, which proved decisive as a clearly quicker Hoggard couldn’t land a blow.
Ulysse De Pauw made it a 1-3 with his second podium of the year in third place ahead of championship leader Clement Novalak and Carlin teammate Kaylen Frederick, who held off Chris Dittmann Racing’s Ayrton Simmons in fifth.
Neil Verhagen was seventh ahead of Sassakorn Chaimongkol and Lucas Petersson in the final Carlin in ninth.
Hampus Ericsson rose to tenth from 15th, paying for a difficult Saturday ahead of a solid eleventh place from Josh Mason and Race Two winner Nazim Azman. Kris Wright and Ben Pedersen rounded out the finishers, while PAvan Ravishankar was lapped and Manuel Maldonado retired.
The race was settled at the start as Brands Hatch once again proved to be difficult to overtake at as Jewiss jumped Hoggard and made it stick at Paddock Hill Bend, while De Pauw repeated the trick on Novalak behind.
Jewiss was rarely more than three tenths clear of Hoggard, who at times feigned a move to attempt to set up the leader for a move that never came.
The result means that Hoggard is now just 40 points behind Novalak in the title race, with six races remaining at Silverstone and at Donington Park.
Jonny Adam and Graham Davidson took their second British GT victory of the season at Brands Hatch to give themselves a chance of winning the championship at the final round of the season.
Adam and Davidson move into second in the British GT Championship at the expense of former leaders Jonny Cocker and Sam De Haan of Barwell Motorsport, who dropped from fourth to eighth on the final lap.
Rob Bell and Shaun Balfe were second having started from pole position, with Jack Mitchell and Angus Fender picking up Century Motorsport’s best GT3 result of the season with third.
Phil Keen and Adam Balon in the other Barwell were fourth, Keen passing Cocker on the last lap to set off a chain reaction that saw Dennis Lind, Tom Onslow-Cole and Nicki Thiim also better the Lamborghini.
Polesitter Balfe initially struggled at the start as the Aston Martins of Ollie Wilkinson and Davidson mugged the McLaren at the start.
Wilkinson was gapping at over half a second a lap, but was caught out by traffic to lose the advantage before spinning at Paddock Hill to drop to fourth.
The race was interrupted for over fifteen minutes midway through the first hour as Glynn Geddie’s #7 GT3 Bentley attempted lap the #61 Aston Martin of Ben Hurst at Westfield, with contact sending the Bentley into the wall at high-speed to completely ruin the front of the car.
After the restart, Davidson gained four seconds ahead of the stops as a result of kind traffic and his ability to put GT4 cars between, Balfe and Angus Fender, who lost out badly.
Once Adam climbed into the TF Sport Vantage, the Scot made no mistake to stroke it home for a victory.
In GT4, the race was affected by a Safety Car in the middle of the race after polesitter Callum Pointon was earlier passed by Jordan Smith and Ash Hand to slip to third, while Scott Maxwell climbed to 4th in class during the early staging of the race.
Alex Toth Jones and Moore given a stop go penalty for a starting infringement, but emerged seventh and profited from a well-timed Safety Car to take a big lead in GT4 for the second half of the two-hour race.
Bad luck was never far away though and Moore, with a comfortable lead, spun at Druids to cede their best chance of victory this season and cap a miserable season so far for Academy Motorsport in GT4.
It was left t
o James Dorlin, with the help of Jordan Collard in the other Tolman McLaren, to bring the car home ahead Dean MacDonald in the HHC McLaren, with Seb Priaulx for Multimatic Ford in third.
Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher took GT4 Pro/Am honours ahead of Mark Murfitt and Michael Broadhurst, with debutants Richard Meaden and Jack Roush third in class.
Once Adam climbed into the TF Sport Vantage, the Scot made no mistake to stroke it home for a victory.