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BSB: Brookes Doubles Up in Oulton Race Two

The fastest lap of race one and therefore race two pole position went to Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) at the second round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship.

As in race one, the race took place in the sun, and as in race one, there were problems at the start. Peter Hickman’s Smiths Racing BMW S1000RR fell foul of the tyre pressure rule, so was wheeled into pit lane before the warm up lap and had to start from the back of the grid.

Tommy Bridewell 2nd in race 2 at Oulton Park 2019 BSB. Image courtesy of Ducati

At the front of the grid, Bridewell did not make the start he needed, and it was Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) who took the holeshot for the second race of the day, this time followed into turn one by fellow Aussie and the man who replaced him in the McAMS Yamaha squad for 2019, Jason O’Halloran. This did not last long, however, as Bridewell made his move on O’Halloran into turn three on the opening lap.

The similarities to race one did not end before the start of the second race, as the two Panigale V4Rs of Brookes and Bridewell stretched away from the rest of the field, as the only man who could get near their pace – Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) – was fighting through the pack after an average start.

As Buchan was moving forwards, Jason O’Halloran was moving backwards, losing out to Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) early on, and then to Buchan as well on lap four. On the same lap, O’Halloran lost six tenths to Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati), who in turn had Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) – who had made a much better start than in race one where he fell to seventeenth – or company.

Further back, Hickman was charging through, and by the start of lap six he was up inside the points. At the same point, the start of lap six, Scott Redding made a pretty late lunge on O’Halloran – who was by now clearly struggling compared to the first race – in Old Hall, and took fifth place from the Australian.

At Druids on lap seven, Buchan was able to pass Iddon for third. There was a gap of around two seconds between the Ducati of Bridewell in second back to Buchan’s Kawasaki.

By lap eleven, Brookes was creeping away from Bridewell, hundredth by hundredth. This would set the tone for the second half of the race, a race which Brookes would win by 2.686 seconds to take the double. It was noted by Brookes before the weekend that, realistically, his championship started in Oulton Park due to his misfortune in Silverstone and, in that case, it was the perfect start to his championship.

Bridewell sealed his second podium of the weekend and of the season to go 2-2 in Oulton Park, and to be joint points leader as he leaves Cheshire.

Buchan took third to make the race two podium identical to the one of the first race.

Scott Redding took fourth, ahead of Tarran Mackenzie who had a much better second race and leaves Oulton Park as the championship leader on race wins after a fifth in race two.

Christian Iddon got a finish under his belt in the second race and a top six at that, ahead of a no-doubt-disappointed Jason O’Halloran who missed a lot of pace compared to race one in the second outing and finished seventh.

Eighth went to Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) who was quite close to O’Halloran towards the end but was unable to put a move on the Yamaha rider, although his return to BSB thus far has been a positive one.

The weekend was less positive for Honda Racing, although their #18 rider Andrew Irwin was able to take a top ten in race two, ahead of Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) who once again impressed by rounding out the top ten.

Bradley Ray at Oulton Park.BSB 2019. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing

After starting last, Peter Hickman was able to recover to eleventh, ahead of Brad Ray (Buildbase Suzuki), Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Racing), Luke Mossey (OMG Racing) and Josh Elliott (OMG Racing) who completed the points.

There were only three retirements in race two, as Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Racing) crashed out, whilst Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and James Ellison (Smiths Racing) retired down pit lane.

11th May 2019
BSB: Brookes Overcomes Bridewell Challenge for Oulton Race One Win

It had rained in the morning, and in fact grip was very low in warm up on Monday morning for the second round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship at Oulton Park.

There were several crashers in that warm up session, including Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducait) who high sided on the exit of Hizzie’s Chicane, and Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad) who locked the front on the entry of the same chicane. Redding got away fairly unscathed, but both Francis and his #40 S1000RR had come off fairly worse-for-wear from the crash. It was a big rebuild for Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad, and so perhaps the oil leak Francis suffered on the warm up lap for race one was an understandable consequence of the rebuild.

That oil leak postponed the start of the race slightly. Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) informed the safety car when he saw fluid spewing from Francis’ #40 machine, and when the riders got back round to the grid the start was delayed so the track could be checked and the fluid could be cleaned up.

When the race finally got underway, it was under the Cheshire sunshine, shortened to seventeen laps, and Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) made the holeshot from pole position. The Australian had been by far the fastest rider throughout the weekend, so the front was precisely where he wanted to be to be able to use his pace.

Fellow Ducati rider Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) fended off Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) into turn one to be able to slot in behind Brookes from the beginning.

By the end of the first lap, the two Ducatis were already starting to pack out a bit. O’Halloran was visibly pushing on to try and stay with them. But Bridewell was going with Brookes, and that was something of a surprise after the #25’s dominance of the weekend.

Scott Redding at Oulton Park. BSB 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

Despite the somewhat alarming shapes the #22 R1 of O’Halloran was making, the Australian was still being pulled along by the Ducatis out front, and away from the Tyco BMW Motorrad S1000RR of Christian Iddon behind. In turn, Iddon was extending his advantage to Scott Redding behind, who had Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing) very much for company until the end of lap five, when Buchan moved through, and Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) took Buchan’s place on the back of Redding.

Almost immediately after passing Redding, Buchan was on the back of Iddon. Buchan, Redding and Hickman were all past Iddon within three corners, and soon after it became clear the #24 BMW had an issue.

After Iddon was out of the way, Buchan set his sights firmly on O’Halloran and the final podium spot, and by lap ten the Kawasaki rider was right on the back wheel of O’Halloran, and in Knickerbrook on that same lap the #83 was through.

By now there were three distinctive pairs in the front six. With seven laps to go Tommy Bridewell was still pressuring race leader Brookes, whilst Buchan was now fending off O’Halloran and Scott Redding was defending from Peter Hickman.

It stayed this way until the end of the race, which Brookes won by two tenths, proving his potential after a round one plagued by reliability problems.

Bridewell’s second place was an impressive one. Although he was unable to launch an attack on Brookes, nobody expected anyone to be able to go with the #25 and, like Brookes, this result was one which showed his potential.

There was frustration for Buchan. He had to fight his way through the pack at the start, and that limited his chances. Once he had passed O’Halloran, Buchan was able to show pace on the same level as the front two. Nonetheless, a third place was a good way for Buchan to open his weekend.

O’Halloran was ultimately missing the pace of the front three, but he maximised his result with what he had, and scored some solid points which was important after a pointless Silverstone. Redding managed to hold on to fifth place in his first race at Oulton Park, from Peter Hickman.

Seventh over the line was Keith Farmer, ahead of Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) who took the championship lead outright with eighth place thanks to beating Josh Elliott (OMG Racing) who was tenth. Between Mackenzie and Elliott over the line was the impressive rookie Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki) in ninth.

Josh Elliott Image courtesy of Ian Hopgood photography/OMG Racing via Suzuki racing

Andrew Irwin was the first CBR1000RR over the line for Honda Racing in eleventh, in front of Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Racing), Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Racing), Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) and David Allingham (EHA Yamaha) who took his first BSB point and the last of the race with fifteenth spot.

Whilst Joe Francis failed to make the start, Luke Mossey (OMG Racing), Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad), Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha), Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing) and Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) all failed to make the finish.

Feature Image courtesy of Ducati

11th May 2019
Bottas takes blistering pole position in Spain

The clouds cleared and the sun came out as qualifying got underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain this afternoon.

Q1 got off to a rather quiet start until Nico Hulkenberg locked up his front-right tyre and ran into the barrier at turn four and over the barrier, losing his front wing. The German managed to rejoin the circuit, but had to limp his Renault back to the pits for repairs before he could set a competitive lap time.

Shortly after, British driver George Russell had a spin on the final chicane at turn 13 before rejoining the track.

At the end of Q1, the pack was led by Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in P2 and Lewis Hamilton in P3. Rookie Lando Norris managed to finish the session in an impressive P6, and home-boy Carlos Sainz managed to finish Q1 in P8.

The five drivers who dropped out of Q1 were Hulkenberg and Stroll – who has dropped out of Q1 for nine consecutive races – followed by Giovanazzi, and both Williams’ of Russell and Kubica. Russell has a five place grid penalty for a new gearbox so will start P20 in tomorrow’s race.

LAT Images

In Q2, both Mercedes drivers set impressive pace at the start, with Hamilton setting a new track record of a 1:16.038. Vettel’s time, by comparison, was six tenths slower.

Ricciardo majorly impressed in Q2, slotting into P10. The Renault hasn’t shown great pace so far this weekend, and despite not having completed any qualifying runs in FP3, Ricciardo managed to set a very competitive time of 1:17.299, a positive outcome for Renault after Hulkenberg’s incident in Q1.

The session ended with Bottas in first with a 1:15.924, followed by teammate Lewis Hamilton and the the two Ferraris in P3 and P4.

Out at the end of Q2 was Lando Norris, Alex Albon, Carlos Sainz at what is his home race, Kimi Raikkonen, and Sergio Perez.

Bottas put in an extraordinary flying lap at the beginning of Q3, setting a blistering time of 1:15.406, six tenths quicker than Hamilton.

Leclerc didn’t set an initial lap-time, seemingly in a bid to set one single flying lap. Despite his best efforts, the Monegasque driver finished the session in P5.

LAT Images

Valtteri Bottas took pole position with his first lap time in Q3, with Hamilton in P2 followed by Vettel, Verstappen and Leclerc. Pierre Gasly, Grosjean, Magnussen, Kvyat and Ricciardo rounded out the top ten. Ricciardo, however, has a three-place grid penalty from the previous race so will start P13 on the grid.

It certainly looks like tomorrow’s race will be an interesting one under the sun in Barcelona. Will it be another Mercedes one-two, or will the Ferraris fight them for victory? Time will tell.

[Featured image – LAT Images]

11th May 2019

IndyCar Indianapolis GP Preview

After nearly a month off track, it’s finally time for another IndyCar race, this time at the most famous track on the calendar. The Indianapolis GP acts as a prelude to the rather more famous Indy 500, with the circuit race being the first major event of the Month of May.

It seems like a long time ago, but the winner last time out was Alexander Rossi who dominated Long Beach for the second year running to take Andretti Autosport’s 200^th IndyCar win. His win never looked in danger with no one else even close to challenging him however, it is not Rossi who comes into this round leading the championship.

That honour goes to Long Beach runner-up Josef Newgarden, who has been the most consistent driver in the first four races of the season with one win and two podiums. Each of the first four races have been won by different drivers with Newgarden taking the glory at St Petersburg followed by Colton Herta at the Circuit of the Americas, Takuma Sato at Barber Motorsports Park and, most recently, Rossi at Long Beach.

2019 Long Beach podium (L-R) Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon. Credit: Chris Owens/IndyCar

Coming into the Indy GP, Newgarden and Rossi are the ones who should be in with a good chance of becoming the first repeat winner of the season, but there are plenty of other drivers in the field who will be doing everything they can to stop that from happening.

Included in that is defending Indy GP winner Will Power, who would be delighted if he could have the same fortunes this May as he did last year. Penske were the ones getting their 200^th win at the Indy GP in 2018 after Power broke a pretty awful run of form to take the win first at the GP and then at the 500.

Whoever finds themselves in Victory Lane this year will be hoping to emulate Power’s double-win, because there’s no race they want to win more than the Indy 500!

The form book does look to be swaying in Power’s favour; the Penske driver has won the Indy GP three times in the past four years while Penske themselves have won the race four years in a row. Power has also had a similarly dreadful start to the season as he did in 2018, however, there’s no saying that history will repeat itself and there are plenty of other contenders in the mix.

Defending champion Scott Dixon is in the hunt for his first win of the season while Penske’s third driver, Simon Pagenaud, is after his first podium since Toronto 2018, while his future at the team is being continually called into question.

Unlike in previous years, there is only one addition to the grid for this race. Helio Castroneves returns to IndyCar in the build-up to what could be his final attempt at the Indy 500 after it all ended in the barriers last season. He will be piloting the #3 Penske, bringing their total back up to four cars for the next two races.

The Indy GP if often an unpredictable one but the stakes are obviously higher than in most races as all the drivers know how important it is to get their Month of May off to the best possible start.

All three series of the Road to Indy are also back in action this weekend after around two months off track. One thing to note about this weekend is that it is a two-day event with the race held on Saturday afternoon, rather than Sunday. The timings for this weekend are as follows:

May 10

Practice 1 – 9:10am (EDT) / 2:10pm (BST)
Practice 2 – 12:30pm / 5:30pm
Qualifying – 4:35pm / 9:35pm

May 11

Final Warmup – 11:15am / 4:15pm
Race – 3:40pm / 8:40pm

Entry List:

#	Driver	Team
2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske
3	Helio Castroneves	Team Penske
4	Matheus Leist	AJ Foyt Racing
5	James Hinchcliffe	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
7	Marcus Ericsson (R)	Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing
10	Felix Rosenqvist (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing
12	Will Power	Team Penske
14	Tony Kanaan	AJ Foyt Racing
15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan
18	Sebastien Bourdais	Dale Coyne Racing
19	Santino Ferrucci (R)	Dale Coyne Racing
20	Ed Jones	Ed Carpenter Racing
21	Spencer Pigot	Ed Carpenter Racing
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske
26	Zach Veach	Andretti Autosport
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport
30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan
31	Patricio O’Ward (R)	Carlin
59	Max Chilton	Carlin
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing/Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
88	Colton Herta (R)	Harding Steinbrenner
98	Marco Andretti	Andretti Autosport

Featured Image Credit: Joe Skibinski/IndyCar

9th May 2019

WorldSBK: A Done Deal for Ducati in Imola?

Three weeks on from a snow-swept Assen, the 2019 Superbike World Championship heads to Imola for round five of the series which has so far been completely dominated by ARUBA.IT – Ducati and Alvaro Bautista.

Bautista was supposed to struggle in Assen. And he did – on Friday. However, by Sunday he was twice making his way to the top step of the podium for the fourth weekend out of four in a display which has made it hard to believe the Spaniard will be stopped this year. Assen was supposed to play against Ducati, and work for their rivals, as the twisty Dutch track largely negated the power advantage of the Panigale V4R. The double of Bautista there really shows what a well-rounded package the Bolognese have designed. Now, in their backyard of Imola, their rivals will once more try to do what seems impossible and beat Bautista.

Alvaro Bautista and the Aruba.it team at Assen. Image courtesy of Ducati

Unlike the tracks that have gone before in WorldSBK this year, Bautista has never raced in Imola. That is not, however, to say that he has not ridden there. A test a couple of weeks ago will have allowed both Bautista to get to know the circuit, and for both the championship leader and his ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati teammate Chaz Davies a chance to a chance to bed the V4R into the glorious Italian track.

In the final years of the 1199 Panigale, Ducati were strong in Imola. Davies doubled up in 2016, and took a further win in 2017. However, it was Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who took both wins last season, which added to his double-double of 2014-2015. A similar feat is hard to imagine for this year, but Rea’s hard braking style is suited well to Imola, with the chicanes at Tamburello, Villeneuve and at the top and bottom of the hill. Additionally, Ducati will not have very long to stretch the legs of the V4R in Imola, which has several straights, but all of them are quite short. If Rea can make the time on the brakes, then he could have a chance.

Michael van der Mark and Alex Lows Pata at Assen 2019 WSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing communications

Beyond Rea it is difficult to see anyone challenging Ducati in Imola. For example, whilst Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) was able to become the first rider other than Bautista to beat Rea this season last time out in the second Assen race, Imola has not thus far yielded a rostrum for the current model YZF-R1.

BMW’s new S1000RR also has no podiums in Imola, primarily because it has not raced there in WorldSBK. The new bike has been the opposite of the previous model: one which turns, but is nowhere in a straight line. Assen proved a positive weekend for BMW because the bike favoured the Dutch track’s twisty nature, and Imola could prove a similar story, with a sweet handling bike generally being the preference over outright power, as evidenced by Rea’s 2014 double on the old, slow CBR1000RR. That bike was slow, but it turned well. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) have a similar situation this weekend, although as evidenced by Reiterberger in Assen, they still need to work on tyre management to be able to fight for a full race distance.

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

9th May 2019
2019 Spanish Grand Prix Preview

Back we come then, to the place where Ferrari looked on top of the world. Vicariously, we felt an air of excitement that Ferrari, after two years of threatening, may finally have been able to throw the gauntlet down to Mercedes and give us the exquisite title race that 2017 and 2018 had promised, but failed to deliver.

As it has turned out, Mercedes have completely turned the initial outlook on its head, and have made the best team start in the history of Formula One – four one-two finishes to start the year. Where Ferrari had such optimism of the back of winter testing, it doesn’t look as though the Circuit de Cataluña will be any kinder to them than any of the first four tracks have been.

The 16-turn 4.6 kilometre track is full of tight, twisty technical sections that, conversely to the last couple of years, are likely to suit Mercedes over Ferrari, while the Prancing Horses are looking to take advantage of the home straight and the those between turns nine and ten.

Spain promises to be Red Bull’s first real chance to potentially grab a victory; their car provides the best aerodynamic efficiency of any team on the grid, and following Max Verstappen’s podium in Azerbaijan, this will be a race that one or two associated with the Austrian team will be quietly confident about, especially considering the opportunity for momentum heading to Monaco – another track that will suit the Red Bull car down to the ground.

Away from the front three, this will be the home race for McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, who is hoping on an improvement on his start to the season, which has included unreliability with the car, and being outperformed by new kid on the block Lando Norris, who has made an absolutely brilliant start to life in Formula One.

At the back, Norris’ fellow British rookie George Russell’s Williams team are starting to feel the effects of a distinct lack of spare parts, particularly after the wall at the castle section in Baku fancied Robert Kubica’s front wing for lunch, before then claiming Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari for dessert. However, the higher dependability on the driver in Spain than we have seen in the opening rounds might provide an opportunity for one of the two drivers to lift themselves off the bottom of the order – wishful thinking of course, but Williams have never been a team to give up, as history definitively and adamantly tells us.

This is a big weekend then for Ferrari. This weekend will see the first of the season for significant upgrades to cars as we enter the European leg of the season, and failure to win here will be another significant and compounding blow for Ferrari in their ever-incrementing challenge to beat Mercedes.

The champions, on the other, hand, will see this as a golden opportunity to put more breathing space between them and their Italian rivals and win an astonishing sixth consecutive Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship.

And of course let’s not forget Valtteri Bottas, with his go-faster beard, looks to extend his championship lead over team mate Lewis Hamilton in what is starting to look like a fascinating battle between the two – he certainly hasn’t been a side-kick so far this year.

The Spanish Grand Prix hasn’t always been the most exciting, and subsequently not the most anticipated race, but this weekend means a lot for our championship protagonists.

image courtesy of Pirelli media.

8th May 2019
Phil’s 2019 Tour de Corse Diary

‘6 notes per line, 3 lines per page, 2 pages per kilometre… 347km. That is about twelve and a half thousand pieces of information delivered, to split second accuracy, over the Tour de Course – at a conservative guess.

It’s a hell of a challenge for a co-driver.

It is also one of the most rewarding challenges. Tour de Corse is my favourite event on the WRC calendar not just because of the epic roads and incredible views, but also because there is a huge amount of satisfaction to be gained in completing it.

Phil Hall. Photo credit, M-Sport

Recce itself is requires huge attention to detail, not just from the driver – noting every bend and hazard – but also the sheer logistics of it; we stayed in three different hotels on each of the three recce days as the stages are so spread out across the island. Food stops, petrol opportunities, and long days all had to be taken into account weeks before the rally started.

Likewise, the ceremonial start was held at the opposite end of the island, and so hotels had to be booked for that, as well as coordination of our team to meet there.

This all adds to the adventure and flavour of undertaking the Tour de Corse, it’s not like any other rally.

And when we reach the competition itself, you have to be totally focused on delivering the notes exactly on time – there are so many corners, all coming so quickly, that you cannot think about anything other than the task at hand. I find it quite a nice place to be, in the car on those stages. Obviously, you have to be focused on every stage of every rally… but Corsica is another level.

We had a great rally, we finished 5th in JWRC which puts us 6th overall in the Championship. All the time we are learning and building, and the JWRC is such a great place to be. I’m really enjoying everything about this championship and can’t wait for Sardinia in June.’

Tom Williams and Phil Hall. Photo credit, M-Sport.

7th May 2019

Rally Chile Preview 2019- The WRC ventures to new territories!

This is going to be interesting! The first ever WRC round in Chile. Totally new notes need to be written during the even more important reece days. This makes everything a much more level playing field, and we may see an upset as a result.

Almost certainly at the top will be Seb Ogier, Ott Tanak, Kris Meeke, Elfyn Evans and Thierry Neuville. Looking to impress on the stages will be Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi. Making another appearance this season are nine-time champions Seb Loeb and Daniel Elena.

Looking to get a good run of results will be Andreas Mikkelsen who scored his first podium for over a year last time out in Argentina. Can he repeat this in Chile? Kris Meeke also scored his best result of the season so far and will hope that he can go one better and get his first podium, whilst Elfyn Evans will want to put the accident behind him and bring home another podium for M-Sport and himself.

A total of sixteen stages lie ahead of the crews and a total of 304,81km of competitive stages over the three days will offer a interesting challenge. I suspect the second run of the stages that are run twice will see much faster run times, as the crews learn more about each stage on their first runs.

Friday is the longest day as it features the longest stage of the whole event at just over 30km. The stages are run four hours behind GMT, therefore five hours behind current BST. There are six stages run each day on Friday and Saturday, with four on Sunday. Having seen some photos of the area, there seems to be a lot of similarity to stages in Wales. One thing is for sure, discovering what it’s really like is going to be part of the fun!

Full stage schedule

THURSDAY 9 MAY

10.00am: Shakedown (6,45 km)

FRIDAY 10 MAY

6.30am: Start day 1

8.00am: SS 1 – El Pinar 1 (17,11 km)

9.33am: SS 2 – El Puma 1 (30,72 km)

10/36am: SS 3 – Espigado 1 (22,26 km)

12.51pm: Service A (Talcahuano – 40 mins)

3.24pm: SS 4 – El Puma 2 (30,72 km)

4.27pm: SS 5 – Espigado 2 (22,26 km)

6.40pm: SS 6 – Concepcion – Bicentenario (2,20 km)

7.15pm: Flexi service B (Talcahuano – 45 mins)

SATURDAY 11 MAY

6.30am: Start & service C (Talcahuano – 15 mins)

8.08am: SS 7 – Rio Lia 1 (20,90 km)

9.08am: SS 8 – Maria Las Cruces 1 (23,09 km)

10.20am: SS 9 – Pelun 1 (16,59 km)

12.05pm: Service D (Talcahuano – 40 mins)

2.08pm: SS 10 – Rio Lia 2 (20,90 km)

3.08pm: SS 11 – Maria Las Cruces 2 (23,09 km)

4.20pm: SS 12 – Pelun 2 (16,59 km)

5.45pm: Flexi service E (Talcahuano – 45 mins)

SUNDAY 12 MAY

7.00am: Start & service F (Talcahuano – 15 mins)

8.08am: SS 13 – Bio Bio 1 (12,52 km)

9.30am: SS 14 – Lircay (18,06 km)

10.20am: SS 15 – San Nicolàs (15,28 km)

12.18pm: SS 16 – Bio Bio 2 Power Stage (12,52 km)

1.15pm: Finish (Talcahuano)

Let’s hear from the crews.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“For everyone, Rally Chile will be a step into the unknown. It’s hard to set too many expectations when it promises to be a rally of surprise. We are only going to discover the stages for the first time during the recce but it will be a nice challenge, and it’s good to have a new event on the calendar. We are still in a positive frame of mind following our two recent victories, and an important period of progress for the team. Leading the championship means we will be first on the road; a lot of work awaits us but I am looking forward to it.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I was so pleased with our performance and our result in Argentina, I am ready for more of the same in Chile! It will be a fresh challenge for everyone but from what I have seen in videos it looks like we are in for some beautiful stages. We know what we can achieve with the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, as we showed at the last rally, so our target is to repeat that level of performance and build some momentum.”

Seb Loeb

“The fact that it’s a gravel event is one of the only things I really know about Rally Chile. Like the rest of the WRC community, I am looking forward to finding out more. Chile is not a country I have been too often, in fact only once to watch the Dakar. From what I have seen, the roads appear to be quite flowing, in the forest and on smooth gravel. There’s no question that it will be an interesting experience and a nice event to have on the calendar, but we’ll have to wait until we are out there to learn all about it.”

Citroën Total WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“From what I can tell by watching the videos available, the roads do seem really quite different to those we had in Argentina. The stages seem to be fairly flowing and fast, somewhat reminiscent of the ones you get at Wales Rally GB with all these sections through the undergrowth. I hope we’ll have slightly better performance here. There is still a significant layer of fine gravel on the road surface, which may make life complicated for the early runners. We’ll have to see whether the rain that has fallen recently limits the extent to which the roads clean or not.”

Esapekka Lappi

“After a tough start to the season, I’m determined to get back on track in Chile and come away with a decent result, and regain confidence behind the wheel step by step. I hope that the weather will be kind to us on Friday. If it stays dry, the roads are likely to clean. That would enable us to make the most of being down the running order and get off to the ideal start. The stages look really nice and interesting. The road surfaces look good, or at least they did when they were filmed for the videos provided by the rally organisers.”

M-Sport WRT

Elfyn Evans

“This is going to be a brand-new experience for everyone. It’s rare to have to write completely new pacenotes like what we’ll have to do next week, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“Logistically, it’s also a massive challenge for the team – especially when someone damages the car on the previous event! A big thanks to the mechanics who have been working to repair the car – and hopefully we can repay them with a strong result next week.

“Looking at the video, the stages don’t look too dissimilar to Wales – medium width, flowing and technical. They look really nice to be fair, but we’ll be better placed to judge after the recce.

“Before then, we’re spending some time in Santiago with Pedro [Heller]. We’ve been up to the Andes and we’ve also been out on the bike. It’s a really beautiful landscape and I look forward to learning more about the country – hopefully Pedro can give us a few tips about the rally as well!”

Elfyn and Scott. Photo courtesy of M-Sport

Teemu Suninen

“Looking at the recce videos from the organisers, Rally Chile appears to be a very smooth event. We’ll have to wait for our own recce before we have a chance to see the stages in more detail, but to me it looks really interesting. I think I will like this event, but we will have to wait and see how things go.

“I think we can assume that the top three drivers will be fighting at the front, but after that the results can be very mixed. As we saw on Corsica, anything can change the game and make it more equal. So, I am really looking forward to next week where I want to continue to show my performance.”

Gus Greensmith (WRC2 Pro)

“I’ve heard a lot of different things about this new rally and only the Heller brothers have been able to give me a clear insight on what to expect. But it will still be a huge unknown for everyone.

“The organisers provided some onboard videos that I have spent a lot of time studying, but it’s hard to get an exact feel for how the stages will be – especially in terms of how wide or narrow they will be.

“They look quite fast and flowing which I believe will suit the Fiesta, but we won’t get a clear indication until we recce them for the very first time – and for sure it won’t be exactly how we thought.

“I just have to do my part as well as I can to try and bring home the first victory in Chile!”

Gus and Elliot continue their WRC2 Pro title bid. Photo courtesy of M-Sport

Summary

We are set for a great event. Who from our group of elite rally drivers will be standing on the top step? You can follow the event on the WRC app, with live timing. On Monday the 13^th there are highlights on 5 Spike at seven in the evening.

6th May 2019

Moto3: Antonelli Secures Sic58 Squadra Corse’s First Win

The clouds of Saturday and Sunday morning had disappeared in time for the Moto3 race in Jerez for round four of the 2019 World Championship.

Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse) took the holeshot from Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) who dropped in ahead of his teammate Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) whilst pole sitter Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) made a poor start and dropped a few positions, although it did not take the #48 long to recover those positions.

Celestino Vietti in the 2019 Moto3 Jerez GP. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Both Dalla Porta and Suzuki spent a long time at the front of the race, although in short stints, with the pair exchanging the lead between them many times throughout the race.

Initially, the group was of ten, Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) bringing up the rear. Eventually, Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas SRT) was dragged up to the leading group by Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), and then the chasing pack caught the front twelve, making it a twenty-way fight for the win.

The battle was reaching boiling point, as it often does in Moto3, and eventually it boiled over. With four laps to go, Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing), having fought his way up from an average-at-best start to be in the fight for the lead, clipped the bike ahead of him and went down on the exit of turn four. Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) simultaneously ran wide and into the gravel at turn five.

Raul Fernandez, during the 2019 Jerez Moto3 race. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Then, on the same lap at turn six, Raul Fernandez lost control of his KTM in the braking zone and ended both his and Sergio Garcia’s (Estrella Galicia 0,0) races, which was unfortunate for the pair of them, but especially for Garcia, as he had no hand in the accident and had fought his way up through the pack quite strongly.

That left ten riders at the front, and Niccolo Antonelli (Sic58 Squadra Corse), having dropped as low as 13th in the mid-race, led onto the final lap from Vietti. Suzuki had come up to third by turn two, but the gap between Vietti in second and the Japanese seemed to big to overcome in one lap. However, a decent slipstream for Suzuki towards turn six, as well as a good run through turns seven and eight allowed him to make a pass on Vietti in turn nine.

This allowed Antonelli off the hook and the Italian took the his first win since Qatar 2016. It was also the first win for Paolo Simoncelli’s Sic58 Squadra Corse, who fittingly took their debut World Championship victory at the same circuit in which Tony Arbolino took their first CEV win back in 2016, and also where Marco Simoncelli won his first Grand Prix back in 2004.

In a similar way as for Petronas Yamaha in MotoGP Qualification, the day was made even better for the Italian squad, as Suzuki was able to hold off Vietti in the final corner to make it a 1-2 for the team. In many ways, Suzuki deserved to win, and would have been desperate to after his mistake cost him in Austin three weeks ago. But the Japanese has proven on two very different circuits now that he has the capabilities to fight for the win, and he will look to continue this in Le Mans.

The second podium of Celestino Vietti’s career was a hard fought one. He spent some time at the front, but mostly Vietti was fighting from third, fourth, fifth positions. He seemed to lose a bit in the mid-race, but in the closing stages was strong and managed to fight his way back to the front. Even without the move from Suzuki on the final lap, it would have been difficult for Vietti to win, because he had been quite weak in turn twelve, the penultimate corner. Nonetheless, it was a very positive result for the young Italian.

Aron Canet finishing fourth at the 2019 Jerez Moto3. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) finished fourth. He had looked strong all race, but didn’t have the track position in the final stages. He was close to taking third from Vietti in the final corner, but the Italian was too far ahead, ultimately. Canet did, though, manage to come away from Jerez with a championship lead, after sharing it with Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) since Austin, and now has something to protect in Le Mans. It will be interesting to see how he manages that in two weeks time.

Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) had quite a quiet race, but made a strong result in his return from injury with fifth place, which is positive as the championship now heads to Le Mans, where last year he took his first GP win.

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) had a pretty miserable weekend, but turned it around on Sunday through some strong pace, and others’ misfortune, to take sixth place, ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Lorenzo Dalla Porta who was forced wide in turn six on the penultimate lap. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) and Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) were ninth and tenth.

Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a strong pace throughout the race but a long lap penalty for track limits close to the end of the race limited him to eleventh. Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) took twelfth, ahead of John McPhee (Petronas SRT) whose gamble on a soft rear tyre didn’t pay off; Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) took fourteenth, ahead of Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) who took the final point.

Whilst Aron Canet finished fourth, the man he shared the points lead with at the start of this weekend, Jaume Masia, suffered a poor weekend and ended it in the gravel, scoring no points. Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power), Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) also retired, whilst Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) retired with bike problems.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

6th May 2019
Moto2: Third Win of the Season for Baldassarri

Having been baked by the Andalusian sun since the start of the Moto3 race, the track temperature was a toasty 37 Celsius ahead of the race for the fourth round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship.

The start was messy. Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) made the holeshot, then Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) high-sided coming out of turn one, in an incident which then involved Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). Of particular concern was Dimas Ekky, who had fallen from his bike and then slid down the track into the side of Bezzecchi, which is what took the KTM rider out. Both Ekky and Gardner were taken to the medical centre for checks.

The start of the Moto2 Jerez 2019 race. Image courtesy of KF GLAENZEL/Dynavolt Intact GP

The race was then red flagged, shortened to fifteen laps and would restart with the quick restart procedure. This was bad for Alex Marquez, whose team was only able to get his bike fixed in time for him to start from pit lane. His bike was still badly damaged at the restart, and so his pace was slow and he made no real progress, which was a shame for him in his home race as he had looked quite strong through the weekend.

At the front, the holeshot once more went to Augusto Fernandez as Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) made a poor jump. It was poor enough, in fact, for Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) to jump the Spaniard as well from the back of the second row. Even Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) was able to get ahead of Navarro in turn one from fifth on the grid.

It went badly from there, though, for Bulega on the opening lap, as the #11 was shoved wide in turn two and turn six. He dropped to tenth, which proved to be about where his pace was.

Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) during the Jerez 2019 Moto2 race. Image courtesy of KF GLAENZEL/Dynavolt Intact GP

Back to the front and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) had come through to third place. Navarro had dropped behind Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and was now under pressure from Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who had already made his mark on the race by pushing his way through Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) in the beginning of the race – the German was pretty much sent to the long lap lane at turn thirteen, but the move was fair enough from Binder.

The two Pons riders of Fernandez and Baldassarri were escaping at the front. A mistake from Luthi in turn two solidified this. Now free from the attentions of Luthi, Baldassarri was able to focus completely on his teammate, Fernandez, whilst Luthi had to deal with Navarro behind, who had been able to get past Vierge.

Soon, Baldassarri was able to pass Fernandez in the final corner, and immediately he slowed the pace. Before Baldassarri had gotten in front both he and Fernandez had been lapping in the high-1’41s, but as soon as the Italian hit the front the pace dropped to the low-‘42s. Fernandez was all over his teammate, but his strong point was the mid-corner and could not get through.

As Navarro started homing in on the two Flexbox HP 40 riders, Baldassarri started to check out, and Fernandez made a mistake in turn one. This dropped him into the clutches of Navarro, who slipped past in turn six with just over a lap to go.

There wasn’t much time, but Navarro was closing on Baldassarri. The Italian was forced into one last push on the final lap to keep the Speed Up rider at bay, and it worked. Baldassarri claimed his second successive win at Jerez, his third of the season and the fifth of his career. After his no-score in Austin, it was important for Baldassarri to strike back in Spain, and that he did, opening up a seventeen-point lead in the World Championship.

Jorge Navarro was disappointed with second place because he had the pace to win. Had the race been full-length he almost certainly would have – the shorter race distance worked against him on this occasion. Nonetheless, a second successive podium finish for Navarro represents some good progress, which he will hope to continue in Le Mans.

Third place represented Augusto Fernandez’ first ever Grand Prix podium, having made a name for himself last year when replacing Hector Barbera in the Pons team. After the crash of Argentina which caused the injury that kept him out of Austin – and from which he still suffers – a debut podium is a good way to return to action.

Tom Luthi could only manage fourth place. In fairness, it was better than he had looked through the weekend, but nonetheless he dropped a lot of points to Baldassarri, which he will need to recover – at least in part – in Le Mans.

Brad Binder, Moto2 race, Spanish MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

Brad Binder came home in fifth place, ahead of Xavi Vierge. The problems of KTM were highlighted by Jorge Martin’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo) tweet on Saturday night where he said he would need a “miracle” on Sunday, and also by Mattia Pasini’s (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) weekend, which he spent most of outside the top twenty, after finishing fourth on the third-placed bike of Jerez three weeks ago in Texas. If Binder is to fight for the title, KTM need to make some big progress very soon.

Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was going to have to start from pit lane in the first race, so benefited from the red flag which allowed him to start from his original grid position, from where he was able to come home in seventh.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a poor weekend, but made a decent comeback in the race to finish eighth, ahead of teammate Nicolo Bulega who was ninth. Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) completed the top ten.

Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) had his worst result of the season with eleventh, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) who had looked better than twelfth for most of the weekend. Dominique Aegerter took (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) back into the points for the second GP in succession, ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) in fourteenth and Marcel Schrotter who was unable to recover from his incident with Binder in the beginning of the race.

Dimas Ekky and Remy Gardner missed the restart having been taken to the medical centre. Khairul Idham Pawi (Petronas SRT) also missed the start, as he was injured and declared unfit in a practice one crash on Friday.

Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) was the first retirement on lap three, before Mattia Pasini, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Jorge Martin all crashed.

Featured Image courtesy of RACEPIXS.DE/DYNAVOLT INTACT GP

6th May 2019