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Moto2: Dominant Marquez Takes Fifth 2019 Win in Brno

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.

Featured Image courtesy of MarcVDS

7th August 2019
Moto3: Canet Defeats Dalla Porta in Brno Battle

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.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

7th August 2019
MotoGP: Marquez Reaches the Half-Century in Delayed Brno Race

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

7th August 2019
British F3 – Jewiss takes overdue first win

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.

IMAGE: Jakob Ebrey

4th August 2019
British GT: Adam/Davidson get their Championship back on track, Dorlin and Smith finally take a GT4 win

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.

Images: Inked Hand Images

4th August 2019
Hungarian Grand Prix: Hamilton hunts down Verstappen to take victory

Lewis Hamilton has taken victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, making best use of a free pit stop to chase down Max Verstappen and take the lead in the closing laps of a race that saw every driver outside the top four lapped.

Verstappen had retained his lead after the first pit stops and fended off an attacking Hamilton as the pair picked their way through traffic. Running wide when attempting an overtake at turn four, Hamilton dropped back and the gap to Verstappen stabilised around the one-and-a-half second mark.

With a sizeable gap to the Ferrari duo in P3 and P4, Mercedes made the decision to bring Hamilton in on lap 49 for what was a free stop, switching him onto the medium tyres. He emerged some 20 seconds behind Verstappen and set about chasing him down, being told by his team that Verstappen would be down to “zero rubber” by the end of the race.

Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

Sure enough, Verstappen reported on lap 64 that his tyres were dead, and Hamilton closed at a rate of almost two seconds a lap to make a move round the outside of turn one and take the lead with just three laps to go.

With Verstappen reporting that he couldn’t make it to the end of the race, he made a free pit stop on lap 68 to switch to the soft tyres and chase the bonus point for fastest lap.

Sebastian Vettel finished a distant third, overtaking team-mate Leclerc on lap 68. Vettel ran a very long first stint and only came into the pits on lap 40 to change onto the soft tyres. By the time he had caught up to his team-mate, Leclerc’s hard tyres were some 40 laps old, and this allowed Vettel to dive down the inside going into turn one and take the final podium position. With the gap to Hamilton at over a minute, Ferrari will certainly be hoping that the long straights of Spa and Monza will allow them to claw back

Carlos Sainz finished in an impressive fifth place for the second race in a row, with Gasly and Raikkonen behind in sixth and seventh respectively.

The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas took himself out of win and podium contention on the first lap. Lock-ups going into the first two corners allowed Hamilton to slip past and take second, and then contact with Leclerc damaged his front wing and forced him to pit. Dropped to plum last on the road, it was a long day for the Finn and he eventually reached the chequered flag in eighth place.

LAT Images

The top ten was completed by Lando Norris – who was hampered by a slow pit stop – and Alex Albon.

Hamilton’s victory means he heads into the summer break with a 62-point lead in the championship. Two bad races in a row means that Bottas is now just seven points ahead of Verstappen in P2, and you have to think that second is now firmly in Verstappen’s sights going into the next half of the season.

Hungary was the fourth good race in a row this season following Austria, Silverstone and Hockenheim, but can the trend continue when the F1 circus reconvenes at Spa at the end of the month?

[Featured image – LAT Images]

4th August 2019
British F3 – Azman leads home Simmons in Chris Dittman One-Two at Brands Hatch

Malaysia’s Nazim Azman claimed his first ever victory in British F3’s reverse grid Race Two at Brands Hatch.

He led home Ayrton Simmons, who was never more than half a second behind his teammate during an intriguing race interrupted by an early Safety Car.

That was brought about on lap one after a slow-starting Kris Wright made contact with Pavan Ravishankar at Paddock Hill bend on the opening lap – Singaporean driver had passed the American from the start-line.

Lanan’s Josh Mason was third to make it three straight Race Two podium positions, with Double R’s Neil Verhagen fourth having started from ninth on the grid.

Hampus Ericsson was fifth to recover from a difficult Saturday and having taken evasive action from the incident at the start, with Benjamin Pedersen sixth.

Ulysse De Pauw and Manuel Maldonado were next after better races on Saturday, with Lucas Petersson another to have lost out early on to finish in ninth place.

Clement Novalak was the first of the usual front runners but could only finish tenth on what has proven to be a difficult track overtake on, but he did manage to usurp Sassakorn Chaimongkol – the Thai driver taking 11th.

Kiern Jewiss and Johnathan Hoggard, yesterday’s top two, were 12th and 13th as both men were happy to take pain in Race Two rather than risk their cars.

Kaylen Frederick ended his race four laps early, in the gravel at Paddock Hill bend.

IMAGE – Jakob Ebrey

4th August 2019
MotoGP: Marquez Destroys Rivals for Brno Pole

Rain before the Moto3 qualifying session in Brno meant the track was wet for the MotoGP riders as they went out for qualifying, but a halt in the rainfall meant the track was drying throughout both sessions.

In Q1, the track started out with already a dry line forming, and throughout the session the times scrolled downwards. Johann Zarco and Pol Espargaro moved through the Q2 for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. It was the first time Zarco had participated in Q2 for the Austrian marque, and the first time this season two RC16s has featured in the pole positions shootout.

In Q2 the track dried sufficiently for several riders to try slick tyres with time for four laps. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) who made the most of the slicks. Despite rain in the final sector on his final lap, he was able to take pole by 2.524 seconds in a display of outstanding riding talent and technique. It would have been quite easy for Marquez to decide that, with a fifty-eight-point lead in the championship, it was not worth the risk to push for pole position, a risk that could have taken him out of this weekend’s Czech Grand Prix and the Austrian GP next weekend, if not more. But take the risk he did and he was rewarded justly for it.

Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) was a few seconds behind Marquez on the track, which was just far enough to mean that when he arrived in the final corner on his final lap, there was too much water for his slick tyre, and down he went. Nonetheless, his first lap on slicks was fast enough for second on the grid.

Johann Zarco made the most of his first Q2 appearance of 2019 to put his factory KTM on the back of the front row, the best qualifying position in KTM’s short MotoGP history. After the difficult season Zarco has had, and the war of words between Zarco and KTM away from the track this season, this result is precisely what was needed for both sides to repair their relationship.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) was one of only four riders to stay on wets after most had switched to slicks, one of the others being Zarco. It paid off for the Italian, who was able to improve in the final few minutes to, initially, go third. Miller’s second-place lap dropped Dovizioso to row two, but with Ducati’s holeshot device there should be a good chance for Dovizioso to try and control the race as he likes to tomorrow.

Another of the riders to stick with wets was Pol Espargaro who qualified fifth, whilst Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was unable to improve on dry tyres and wound up sixth.

Valentino Rossi in 2019 Brno MotoGP Qualifying. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

Valentino Rossi’s final lap on the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP YZR-M1 put him seventh, which was a significant improvement for the Italian after his first run left him only eleventh. This was Rossi’s best qualifying since Le Mans when he was fifth. The Italian will be joined by compatriot Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP teammate, Maverick Vinales, on row three tomorrow.

Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) qualified tenth after he wasn’t able to make his slicks work. The Frenchman will be joined on row four by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) and Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT).

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) was the fastest rider to not make Q2, and will be joined by Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) and Suzuki wildcard Sylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Ecstar) on row five.

Row six sees Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) line up alongside Jorge Lorenzo’s replacement at the Repsol Honda Team, Stefan Bradl, and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), whilst Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) heads up row seven from home favourite Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) and Hafizh Syahrin (Red Bull KTM Tech 3).

Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) will start from twenty-second, whilst Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) will complete the grid in twenty-third.

Featured Image courtesy of Jesus Robledo Blanco/Box Repsol

4th August 2019
Moto2: Marquez Storms to Brno Pole

Rain between MotoGP qualifying and Moto2 qualifying meant the track was once more wet for the intermediate class sessions in Brno for round ten of the 2019 World Championship.

In Q1, it was Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who took the top spot, moving through to Q2 along with Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP), Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3).

Alex Marquez, Moto2, Czech MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of David Goldman/Marc VDS

Having just seen his brother annihilate the MotoGP field with slick tyres on a drying track, Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) replicated that performance as he took pole position at the end of Moto2 Q2 with slicks on a drying track. It was a stunning lap from Marquez, who had over two seconds to his nearest rival, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who will line up second tomorrow having not run wet tyres in the first part of Q2. Joining Marquez and Lowes on the front row is Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) who will be hoping for a return to form in the first race after the summer break.

Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) has looked strong all weekend, and was able to translate his practice promise into a strong qualifying performance as he went fourth-fastest, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) and an impressive Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) who, like Bulega, took his best qualifying in Moto2.

Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) qualified seventh ahead of Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) and Jake Dixon who, too, took his best qualifying position in the Moto2 World Championship.

Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) completes the top ten of the grid and heads up row four, ahead of Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP), who will be up against it tomorrow to take it to championship leader and pole sitter Marquez from twelfth.

Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) was fast on the wet tyre, but switched to slicks too late to be able to set a lap time, he will start from the front of the fifth row ahead of Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team).

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) could only put the brand new KTM chassis in sixteenth, and will start from the sixth row alongside Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team).

Jorge Martin, Czech Moto2, 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

The fastest rider to not make Q2 was Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who will head up row seven from a bitterly disappointed Joe Roberts (American Racing), a crash costing the American a Q2 appearance. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) completes row seven.

Row eight sees Somkiet Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) ahead of Iker Lecuona (American Racing) and Mattia Pasini (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2); whilst Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP) heads up row nine from Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) and Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward).

Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) goes tomorrow from the front of row ten in twenty-eighth, ahead of Jonas Folger (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward); whilst Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) will be alone one the last row.

Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) did not take part in qualifying, having been declared unfit after FP1, still suffering the after-effects of his collision with Stefano Manzi in Assen.

Featured Image courtesy of Gareth Harford/MarcVDS

4th August 2019
British GT qualifying – Balfe Motorsport take GT3 honours with Bell/Balfe, HHC return to form with Pointon MacDonald in GT4

Shaun Balfe and Rob Bell continued the impressive form of Balfe Motorsport in British GT GT3 to take an impressive pole position at Brands Hatch.

The will start tomorrow’s two-hour race at Brands Hatch ahead of the Optimum Motorsport duo of Ollie Wilkinson and Bradley Ellis.

Jonny Cocker and Sam De Haan, who have a very small chance of winning the British GT title this weekend, start third ahead of TF Sport’s Scottish duo of Jonny Adam and Graham Davidson in the Aston Martin.

Jack Mitchell and the impressive Angus Fender will line up fifth tomorrow in Century Motorsport’s best showing in Gt3 this year with the BMW M6 ahead of Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Junior in the Bentley, with Ben Green and Dominic Paul eighth.

Pointon and MacDonald were top of both GT4 sessions by the smallest of margins for HHC Motorsport in their McLaren 570S.

The headed Spa winners Tom Canning and Ash Hand in the TF Sport Aston V8 Vantage and the top Pro/Am duo of Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher in the Beechdean Aston Martin.

Josh Smith and James Dorling will start fourth for Tolman Motorsport in their McLaren, just ahead of the Mercedes AMG Pro/Am duo of Nick Jones and Scott Malvern.

Patrick Matthiesen and Mike Robinson complete the top six in the third Aston MArtin on the GT4 grid, while Sennan Fielding and Richard Williams in the #29 Audi R8 took an impressive seventh ahead of Patrick Kibble and Josh Price.

IMAGES: Inked Hand Images

4th August 2019