Igor Fraga has been at the sharp end of the USF2000 class all season, sitting in third in the championship with the two races at Portland remaining. Fraga races under the Brazilian flag and, despite growing up in Japan, made the switch to the Mazda Road to Indy programme for this season, having dominated Formula 3 Brazil Light last year.
Emily Inganni – How has this season of USF2000 been for you so far?
Igor Fraga – I believe that overall, it’s being really good season for me. I am a no budget driver, and to cut some costs, my dad it’s my mechanic, sometimes we slept on the rental car, I don’t have any coach and even with all the difficulties, I’m still running in the 3rd place on championship.
EI – How hard has it been to be a rookie in the series? Do you feel you’ve adapted well?
IF – I’m definitely learning each day in this series. It’s being a tough year, but I think I adapted well in the series. I’m enjoying each moment that the series is providing, on track and off track.
Image courtesy of Igor Fraga
EI – Do you have any plans for next year yet? Do you want to stay in USF2000, move up to Pro Mazda or something else?
IF – Until now, I don’t have any plans yet. How I said on top, I’m a no budget driver, so I depend on many circumstances. But if I have the opportunity, I really want to move up to the next category.
EI – How have you found the Mazda Road to Indy programme in your first year, do you think that it’s a good way for young drivers to progress?
IF – I believe that the Mazda Road to Indy is one of the best ways to become a professional racing driver. Not only on track but I’m having some off-track activities where I’m learning to deal better with the medias and etc.
EI – How does racing in America compare to racing back in Brazil? Is it what you expected it to be?
IF – I was expecting that the team and driver level was going to be really high. The engineers have a lot of knowledge and I’m enjoying competing here in the Mazda Road to Indy. I was just surprise about the off-track activities that prepare the driver professionally.
Image courtesy of Igor Fraga
EI – Where did you start racing, was it in Japan or Brazil? Also, what inspired you to race in the first place?
IF – I started in the go karting when I was living in Japan (3 years old). I was really small when I started, so I don’t remember to be honest. I just know that since I was young, I already liked to play with toy cars, racing games and I wanted to do the same in real life.
EI – Does racing in Europe appeal to you or would you rather stay in America?
IF – The racing in general interests me. I really like to drive something fast! I think that have some really good categories on both continents, and I’m really glad to have this opportunity to be here on US chasing my dream.
Image courtesy of Igor Fraga
EI – To finish, what advice would you give to young drivers starting racing? Are there any things you wish you knew when you started?
IF – Karting it’s always a good category to start. Also, with all the technology going on, the simulators it’s being really precise. My main advice is practice and prepare yourself the best way you can and don’t give up. It can be really difficult, but don’t give up and keep trying.
A big thanks to Igor for answering my questions. The next interview of the series is coming up tomorrow so stay tuned…
Lights-to-flag victories are uncommon to say the least in Moto3, but that is precisely what Marco Bezzecchi achieved in Austria on Sunday. He made the holeshot, and apart from one moment with four laps to go where Jorge Martin overtook him, Bezzecchi was never passed. It was a supreme ride by the Italian, one well-deserving of his second ever Grand Prix victory. It also meant he extended his championship lead, of course, which now stands at twelve points. Other than that, it is difficult to say much about Bezzecchi’s ride, because it was pretty much faultless.
Marco Bezzecchi Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 2018. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM
A poor qualifying and a worse start gave Enea Bastianini a lot of work to do – again. It is becoming a regular thing now with Bastianini, that he cannot start. Like Vinales in MotoGP, his starts have cost him a handful or two of points, and you have to say a few GP wins as well, because his late-race pace – also like Vinales – has been superlative pretty much all season. He recovered to second this time, though, keeping his championship hopes alive, although he is very distant at this stage, with eight rounds left, the deficit stands at 41 points.
By far the standout performance, though, of the 2018 Moto3 Austrian Grand Prix was that of Jorge Martin. Just eight says after he broke his radius in Brno, he qualified second on the grid behind Bezzecchi, and a day later he fought until the end to finish third in the race. It really was a superhuman effort by Martin, and even though the conditions of the race played a little into his hands, you can’t take anything away from his ride. All of his time was made in the two left handers in the middle of the lap, as he consistently took ten bike lengths out of his KTM rivals in those two corners alone. That is impressive enough, but is made even more so considering it was his left radius that is the injured one. Coming into the weekend, Martin was expecting a damage limitation job at best, but instead he rode beautifully to take yet another podium, and drop only nine points in the championship, leaving him just twelve back in the standings to Bezzecchi, who was sure to offer his hand in congratulation and admiration to Martin after the race.
Austria represented Albert Arenas’ best performance since his win in Le Mans back in May, as he took fourth place, ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta who bridged the gap to the leaders with Bastianini in the closing stages. The Leopard pair had been working together quite well all weekend, and it seemed almost destined that they would end up helping each other into podium contention.
Jorge Martin. Moto3 2018: Round Eleven – Red Bull Ring, Austria. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Jaume Masia was in second place until the penultimate corner, where he ran slightly deep and allowed Enea Bastianini through. Jorge Martin was also able to sneak underneath and as the #5 rider tried to hang on round the outside of the #88, he also lost fourth and fifth places to Arenas and Dalla Porta respectively.
A disappointing qualifying for Ayumu Sasaki left him with a lot of work to do to be able to achieve a decent result. He achieved the work as well, coming from 23rd on the grid to finish seventh in what might be his best World Championship ride to date.
After running with the front guys for a large portion of the race, Gabriel Rodrigo could only manage to come home in eighth place, ahead of Tony Arbolino and Aron Canet who disappointingly completed the top ten, when he really should have been fighting for the victory.
Eleventh over the line was Fabio Di Giannantonio, who had been fighting with Bastianini and Dalla Porta, but then slowed, and ended up shoving a huge late dive on John McPhee in the final corner to try and salvage seventh, but he ran them both wide. McPhee came home twelfth, but it was still an impressive ride from the Scot after qualifying stone last.
He may have been on the podium at his home race last week, but in Austria Jakub Kornfeil could only manage thirteenth, but was ahead of Philipp Oettl and Marcos Ramirez, who rounded out the points.
Kaito Toba crossed the line in sixteenth, ahead of Adam Norrodin, Tatsuki Suzuki and Darryn Binder, whilst Ai Ogura rounded out the top twenty in his fourth wildcard of the year.
Twenty-first went to Kazuki Masaki, whilst Niccolo Antonelli and Nicolo Bulega had difficult races in 22nd and 23rd respectively. Alonso Lopez also struggled, and finished down in 24th place, but ahead of Dennis Foggia who was 26th. Fellow CEV graduate, Vicente Perez was sandwiched between Lopez and Foggia in 25th spot over the line. Stefano Nepa was 27th, ahead of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and Max Kofler who was the 28th and final finisher.
In a somewhat surprising turn of events, there was only one retirement in the Moto3 race in Austria, and it was Andrea Migno at the final corner 12 laps from the flag.
As one of only two women in the Mazda Road to Indy programme, Bruna Tomaselli may be in the minority, but she doesn’t let that faze her. Bruna’s been in and around the top 10 all season in USF2000, the lowest category on the ladder, and has high hopes beyond that with her sights set on IndyCar in the years to come.
Emily Inganni – How is this season of USF2000 going for you so far? Is it what you expected or not?
Bruna Tomaselli – The season is very competitive, since the first race there have always been little differences between the first and last, I have been constant during the season, we had good results, we added good points, and now there are 2 stages to the end and I hope to continue fighting between the top 10.
Image courtesy of Bruna Tomaselli
EI – What are your hopes for the remainder of the season?
BT – I hope to keep constant and competitive and I will fight for podium.
EI – What do you think of the Mazda Road to Indy programme? Is it a good platform for young drivers to progress?
BT – Yes, the Mazda Road to Indy is very good, I believe it to be one of the most competitive and well organized there is. Here the drivers have a chance to win cash prizes and a good amount also to make the next category, which is very important.
Image courtesy of Bruna Tomaselli
EI – What is your aim for your career? Do you want to get to IndyCar, go over the Europe or something else?
BT – My dream since childhood has always been to reach Formula 1, as we are now trying in the United States, I hope to get IndyCar one day, and be racing and compete because that’s what I like to do.
EI – Do you feel like you are treated differently as a woman in motorsport? Does it provide any different opportunities or challenges?
BT – In go-karting it is more visible, because the cars move closer, but in the open wheels I don’t waste so much, of course the boys don’t like to lose to a girl, the same way I don’t like to lose to anyone, but inside the track we are all drivers, and everyone wants to win and I’m there to win too.
Image courtesy of Bruna Tomaselli
EI – Thinking back to when you started racing, who were your idols and where did you dream of racing? Has any of that changed over time?
BT – My idol has always been Ayrton Senna, because he is Brazilian and because he is a legend, but as I could not watch his races, I always cheered for Felipe Massa and Bia Figueiredo who was an IndyCar driver.
I always liked cars and races, since I was kid, I used to play with little cars, and asked my father to drive his car. He noticed that I liked it and one day he took me to see a go-kart race. A few days later he said he was going to give me a kart as a gift, in the beginning it was more for fun, small races, in the region of my city, Caibi, Santa Catarina, Brazil, later I started to compete in bigger races and with 15 years started competing in open wheels. Now I’m 20 and this year is my second year in USF2000 and in every race I feel the adrenaline and how much I love to compete.
EI – Finally, what advice would you have for anyone starting racing or looking at racing in the Mazda Road to Indy programme?
BT – What I can say is that it is a very competitive programme, the races are all full of adrenaline and that is a good programme for anyone who wants to get to IndyCar one day, because you run in the same Indy weekend, know the track, the activities.
A massive thank you to Bruna for answering my questions! Another interview is coming up tomorrow so keep an eye out for that!
“Ducati Land”. That was the tag Marc Marquez labelled the Red Bull Ring on Saturday, despite setting pole position in Q2 by 0.002 seconds over Andrea Dovizioso. There was no debate about his statement, the slow corners, followed by long straights that the Red Bull Ring is comprised of suits the Desmosedici perfectly.
In the same moment, the same characteristics of the Red Bull Ring lend themselves extremely well to Jorge Lorenzo, whose style is all geared to strong corner exit speed.
Whilst there was a miscommunication on Saturday in the #99 side of the Ducati garage, it would be solely down to his only two rivals – Marquez and Ducati teammate Andresa Dovizioso – to defeat the Majorcan over the 28-lap race distance.
But that is not to say that Lorenzo was the clear favourite; both Marquez and Dovizioso had looked at least as strong as the five times World Champion on the previous two days, and Marquez was the only rider in the field to have managed to get a long run in on all tyres.
Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo and Andresa Dovizioso. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
However, it made it no less surprising to see Marquez escape at the front in the beginning of the race. The reigning World Champion admitted after the race that his strategy was to bolt away at the start, to try to fight only one Ducati, as he had learned from Brno that fighting two factory Desmosedicis at the same time is nearly impossible, such is their strength in both acceleration and braking.
His strategy nearly worked. When Marquez passed Dovi in turn three on the first lap, he ran the Italian out wide, costing him two places. It let Lorenzo through, but Marquez at this stage was more worried about Dovi. Once Marquez had passed Lorenzo for the lead, he started to pull away, and Lorenzo looked to be both struggling and holding up his factory Ducati teammate.
But Dovizioso was unable to pass the number 99, which for a while looked okay, because the gap between Marquez and Lorenzo was decreasing. But in the same moment as Lorenzo passed Marquez for the lead, in turn one on lap nineteen, Dovizioso ran wide, lost one second, and was unable in the remaining ten laps to close the margin.
Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez and Andresa Dovizioso. Image courtesy of Ducati
It was, then, between Lorenzo and Marquez. They swapped positions often, Marquez being very strong into turn three, and Lorenzo more so in turns one, eight and nine.
Eventually, the final lap arrived, with Marquez leading into it, but Lorenzo passing him into turn one. Marquez responded in turn three, but simultaneously lost both the front and the rear, which meant Lorenzo was able to carry the momentum around the outside, and out-drag the number 93 to turn four. The gap now was quite big, and over Lorenzo Marquez did not have the same advantage in the two left handers of turns six and seven that he had over Dovizioso last year. This, combined with Marquez’s mistake in turn three, was the deciding factor, because Marquez could not get close enough into either turn nine or ten to make a pass, and he could not deny Lorenzo victory.
Jorge learned his lesson from last year. In 2017, he went too hard at the start, trying to escape, but he used too much fuel, which meant that he had to run softer engine modes in the later laps, giving him nothing to fight with in the second half of the race. This year, he managed the fuel at the start, as well as the tyre (he went soft-soft), and this allowed him to attack more at the end, at no disadvantage to Marquez. Furthermore, Lorenzo proved once again that the soft, when managed correctly, can last better than a medium or a hard rear tyre, simply because it spins less, and so there is less excessive temperature build up in the tyre.
Perhaps, though, the most impressive thing about Lorenzo’s ride, was his aggression in the battle against Marquez. There were some tough moves going down in this battle, it was a proper scrap, one that you might expect Lorenzo to lose out in, in the past, but on this occasion, just like in Brno a week previous, Jorge had enough and more to be able to put up a fight against the best scrapper in the world, and he turned the Red Bull Ring from “Ducati Land” to “Lorenzo’s Land”. Again, we ask “what if?” What if Jorge Lorenzo had started the season in the form he has had since Mugello. What if Ducati had listened to him, and given him the fuel tank modifications sooner? What if Ducati re-signed him? Jorge Lorenzo has the potential to fight for this world title, but unfortunately all the work he has put in this year to work out the Ducati will be for nothing when he jumps on the Honda RC213V at Valencia in November, and starts all over again. But for now, he and the Desmosedici might just be the strongest package out there.
Marc Marquez, on the podium after coming 2nd at The RedBull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
For Marquez, it was yet another disappointing defeat at the hand of a Ducati rider in the final lap. That said, he couldn’t do much about it. The Ducati gets out of the corner better than the Honda, it has more power in the straight than the Honda and it has better braking stability than the Honda. You can’t fight that. Marquez was over the limit trying to fight the Ducati of Lorenzo in this battle, and when that happens he normally wins. In fact, against any other bike, he wins 9/10 times. Even still, Marquez can be content with his effort in Austria, he beat one Ducati in their best track, and he extended his championship lead to 59 points. The title is still his to lose, and ultimately he knows that in the long run – pas this year – Dovizioso is probably his main threat over the course of the season, and Marc demolished Dovi this weekend.
Dovizioso’s problems started before the race, in the tyre selection. He chose medium tyres front and rear, compared to his teammate’s all-soft choice. From the beginning of the race, Dovizioso was struggling to get the bike to stop , and the time he spent behind Lorenzo killed his race, because that was when he was the most comfortable. The mistake he made ten laps from the flag cost him one second, and after that for a couple of laps he couldn’t find a rhythm. By the time he found his pace again, his tyre was finished and the leaders were gone. A disappointing race for Dovi, but another podium strengthens his bid for second in the championship, and you would probably still expect the Italian to be more consistent for the rest of the season than Lorenzo, although Lorenzo now leads him in the championship by two points.
Fourth over the line was Cal Crutchlow, nine seconds back from the win, and 3.5 seconds clear of Danilo Petrucci in fifth. The critical thing for this pair, for the race, was the personnel. Both of them have factory bikes, but none have factory teams, and this is what makes the difference in a rear-tyre-limited/fuel-limited race like this one, because the factory riders have a lot more people working to find the perfect electronics setting, and the perfect fuel strategy. Still, it was Crutchlow’s best Austrian performance by far, after a ride-through in 2016, and a fifteenth last year. Ahead of Silverstone in two weeks, this is a great way for the Brit to go into it, as he looks to win his home race for the first time in his career.
Valentino Rossi and his team made a change in warm up on Sunday morning which allowed him to be more consistent with a used tyre. With this gain, he was able to half-rescue Yamaha’s weekend by finishing sixth, which was beyond his expectation. Of course, it was still a disastrous weekend for Yamaha, and Rossi is still without a podium in Austria in the top class, but the gains made in warm up they will hope can transfer to Silverstone, where they were strong last year.
Dani Pedrosa ahead of Tito Rabat. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Dani Pedrosa took seventh place. He got beaten up quite badly in the beginning of the race, in those first two hard braking zones at turns one and three. From there he pretty much followed Rossi through the pack to seventh, helped by some strong late race pace. The critical thing for Dani is a similar one to that of Maverick Vinales, being able to go fast in the beginning. There are circuits coming up which have the potential to be front tyre races, and if Dani can find what he needs, he may yet be able to make his whole MotoGP career winning one race in each season.
Eighth place went to Alex Rins. He was running sixth for much of the race, but was caught by Rossi and Pedrosa quite quickly at the end, indicating he ran out of medium rear tyre. It seems Rins ran into the same tyre wear issues that Suzuki teammate Iannone encountered throughout the year.
Johann Zarco showed what happens when you choose the soft tyre, but can’t manage it, as he came home down in ninth, despite a decent start from the Frenchman from sixth on the grid.
Alvaro Bautista managed to recover a top ten spot despite a difficult start where, like Pedrosa, he was beaten up in those initial stages. Alvaro continues to advertise himself fairly well, as he looks to seal himself a factory Ducati deal for the 2019 Superbike World Championship.
Avintia Ducati’s Tito Rabat looked to be having a strong race, running well inside the top ten for much of the 28 laps, but suffered a one-second-per-lap drop off with his soft rear tyre in the final five laps, in which he dropped from ninth to eleventh behind both Zarco and Bautista. Still, it was a strong weekend for Rabat, who seemingly didn’t need much on the electronic side to save his top ten spot.
The Austrian GP weekend was one to forget for Maverick Vinales. After his poor qualifying on Saturday – not helped by sensor issues – he could only manage twelfth place in the race. He made his typical poor start, dropping to 16th in the first lap, but didn’t have his usual late race pace. This weekend, Vinales complained that it felt like his bike had no power in the opening stages of the race. It’s hard to justify, from the outside, why that would be the case, but anyway, Vinales will be looking to the private test for Yamaha in Misano before Silverstone as an opportunity to make some progress on the bike, but you have to wonder how much he believes he can actually find anything positive at all.
An off-track excursion in the middle of the race cost Andrea Iannone badly. After that, he set four laps which were some of the fastest of the race, but he couldn’t follow it up. The questions are being asked of Iannone again – since he signed for Aprilia for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, his form has completely disappeared. This performance didn’t do much to help this situation.
Bradley Smith behind Valentino Rossi. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer/KTM
A stunning start put Bradley Smith up into the top ten at the start, but by the end of the race the British rider had dropped back to 14th. Nonetheless, a good weekend at home for KTM, picking up some more valuable World Championship points.
The final point went to Takaaki Nakagami, who was the top rookie in fifteenth, 0.9 seconds clear of Hafizh Syahrin.
Aleix Espargaro could only manage seventeenth place on the Aprilia, just ahead of a struggling Jack Miller; then Franco Morbidelli was nineteenth whilst a somewhat disgruntled Scott Redding rounded out the top twenty, a performance and result which left him very open about his opinion on the workings of the team, and also the bike.
Karel Abraham came home in twenty-first place, whilst Tom Luthi was the final finisher in 22nd.
Xavier Simeon had enjoyed his best weekend in MotoGP until lap nine of the race, when he became the only crasher of the race.
While most of you will have heard of IndyCar, its support ladder, the Mazda Road to Indy, is lesser known, especially in Europe. The programme is made up of three racing series that incrementally get closer to IndyCar; the lowest is USF2000 with Pro Mazda next and then Indy Lights as the closest to IndyCar.
This whole set up aims to produce the next generation of IndyCar drivers and give aspiring talent a stage where all the IndyCar teams can see their performances and successes in the same paddock as IndyCar. The Mazda Road to Indy as we know it started in 2010 but the individual series have been going much longer, just not as a united body. One of the key perks of the Mazda Road to Indy is the scholarships provided to champions in it; each champion of the individual series is provided with a scholarship to the next series up, meaning that results are rewarded.
However, a recent announcement has given the Road to Indy programme a huge hit; after seven years, Mazda are withdrawing their sponsorship of the programme to pursue other ventures. This means the programme’s future is in some doubt because it cannot function without a title sponsor, but the IndyCar management seem optimistic that the ladder will not be without a title sponsor for long and are confident of its continuation. Something that does need to be addressed in the near future is the rising costs of both Pro Mazda and Indy Lights which is making it harder for teams and drivers to compete in those series – if the programme is to remain viable, the costs need to be cut somehow.
A huge thank you to @MazdaRacing for the nine years of helping young drivers fulfill their dreams of open-wheel racing! If it weren't for you, many drivers would have never been able to have the opportunity to race on such a big stage. https://t.co/7ciPY2YTCcpic.twitter.com/qLsvhNAJq8
Regardless of these problems, all three series are going strong this year with one champion already crowned and two title fights that look like they could go right down to the last rounds at Portland.
USF2000 is the bottom rung of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder and has been running, in different variations, since 1990. 11 full-time teams field 23 drivers between them over 14 races, most of which shadow IndyCar, with the season ending at the penultimate IndyCar round of Portland. With the two Portland races still to go, series rookie Kyle Kirkwood has already clinched the championship in what is the most crowded series on the ladder, leaving Rasmus Lindh, Igor Fraga and others to fight for second.
Can’t believe I can say this… but… We are the 2018 #USF2000 Champions with still 4 more races to go!!! We’ve been so blessed with an amazing year and I am truly speechless… Now, @capemotorsports, let’s keep those wins coming!#MRTI#teamcoopertire#firstexindustriespic.twitter.com/ZgBRrDAdLn
In the middle of the programme is Pro Mazda which replaced the Star Mazda Championship in 2012, after that had run since 1991. The series champion is, as previously mentioned, awarded a scholarship to advance Indy Lights for the following season so it is a very important series to win for drivers coming up the ladder. Pro Mazda has 18 drivers and 9 teams, including Juncos Racing who are present in IndyCar. Rinus VeeKay has a 25-point lead over Parker Thompson with three races yet to run in a championship that looks set to go right down to the wire.
The top, but smallest, tier of Mazda Road to Indy is Indy Lights which has been running as an IndyCar sanctioned series since 2002. This series, however, does have a problem or two – the field has been diminishing in numbers for the last few years, this year there are just seven full-time drivers and only full-time three teams, albeit including both Andretti and Juncos. Patricio O’Ward currently has a 32-point lead over Colton Herta in what has been a very close title battle, but changes are on the horizon for Indy Lights with a new five-year plan being set out. The aim is to reduce budgets while increasing prize money, testing and revising the IndyCar licence guidelines – all to make the path to IndyCar more accessible for the talent coming through.
The list of Mazda Road to Indy graduates who now grace the IndyCar grid is a very, very long one. Josef Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe, Ed Jones, Charlie Kimball, Kyle Kaiser, Matheus Leist, Carlos Munoz, Spencer Pigot, Zach Veach and Zachary Claman De Melo, along with many others, have all been a part of one or more rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder since it all joined up in 2010 so, clearly, it works.
The programme is the place to look for the up and coming IndyCar drivers with countless more names ready to be added to the above list when they too make the step up to IndyCar in years to come.
To showcase this, we will be publishing a series of interviews with drivers in various stages of the programme over the next week and, you never know, you may well be able to see some, or all, of them in IndyCar in a few years’ time!
Rinus VeeKay is one of the brightest stars in Mazda Road to Indy’s middle class, Pro Mazda. He’s currently fighting for the title with fellow rookie, Parker Thompson, and, with only a few points between the pair, he has a very good shot at it. Although Dutch-born, Rinus’ aim is to continue racing in America, heading for IndyCar, rather than returning to Europe. Here is what he had to say when I talked to him in early July.
Image courtesy of Rinus VeeKay
Emily Inganni – How is this season of Pro Mazda going for you so far? Have you performed as you expected?
Rinus VeeKay – It’s been a reasonably good season so far, except of some mechanical gremlins. I swept the opening weekend in St-Pete and finished every race in the top 5, except for one DNF in the Indy GP because of a start accident. Toronto is coming up and I’m feeling really confident going into that weekend. I had two podiums there last year and the team and I are good at street courses.
(Rinus went onto sweep the Toronto weekend, taking both wins in a show a dominance)
EI – What do you want to get from the rest of the season? Is the championship still in your sights?
RV – I want to score the maximum points available! I think I’m still in a championship battle and I won’t give up, but I know it will not be easy. We’re going to some great tracks where I had a lot of podiums last year and the team is working harder than ever to get the maximum results.
EI – Is it any different to work with a team like Juncos that is in IndyCar as opposed to one that is only in the Mazda Road to Indy?
RV – There’s quite a difference. With the Pro Mazda team, we can also learn from Juncos and their own IndyCar team. I also get to visit the pit lane during the IndyCar races and listen to everything that goes on, which is really educational for me.
EI – Do you think the Mazda Road to Indy is successful at progressing young drivers careers?
RV – I think that the Mazda Road to Indy is the best series/ladder system to progress your racing career! With their unique ladder system and scholarships, they really give a driver the chance to get to the top.
EI – You’re Dutch-born so what made you decide to race in America rather than in Europe?
RV – I got scouted by the Mazda Road to Indy (MRTI) organization at the last round of the 2015 US Open Go-Karting championship in Las Vegas. They invited me to do a USF2000 test in in COTA. I got a look into the MRTI and I really loved it! I still think that it’s the best decision in my life.
Image courtesy of Rinus VeeKay
EI – Where can you see your career going? Do you want to carry on racing in America or return to Europe?
RV – I’m focusing to make a career in America and be a very successful IndyCar driver in the near future. I’m already training as hard as I possibly can to achieve my goal.
EI – Lastly, what advice would you give to young drivers looking to make a career out of racing?
RV – My advice to other young drivers is to keep moving forward and don’t think in the past!
A big thank you to Rinus for answering my questions, we’ve got another interview coming up tomorrow so stay tuned!
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Deutschland (DEU) – WRC 16/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 – PHOTO : @World
The battle for this year’s championship arrives on the sealed roads in Germany. Thierry Neuville holds a twenty-one-point lead over Sébastien Ogier, and he will be aiming to build on that, as his road position will give him an advantage.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship, Round 10, Rallye Deutschland 17 – 20 August 2017, Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, Photographer: RaceEMotion, Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Four years ago, he won on these roads, and will be looking to do the same this year. Thierry is joined by Andreas and Dani, back to the i20 for the first time since Portugal. Andreas scored a second place in this event last year and will be looking to get a strong result again, whilst Dani has taken two second places in 2014 and 2016.
Ott Tanak is trying to get back into the championship fight, and his win last time out in Finland has done him some favours. He won last year for M-Sport, and will want to do the same again. Jari-Matti took a podium here in 2015 when driving for Volkswagen.
M-Sport come here with three cars, Seb and Elfyn, with Teemu taking part in his first full tarmac event in a full-blooded WRC car. He’ll be looking to gain knowledge and experience on this very tricky event. Seb has won this event three times, whilst Elfyn came close to a podium in 2014, taking fourth in the end.
The rhythm of the event changes day by day, with roads around the famous vineyards, the Baumholder military roads and classic country lanes, making the recce and car set up crucial. Even Sunday is by no means easy, with almost 75kms of stages to run.
Here’s the full schedule for the rally.
ADAC RALLY DEUTSCHLAND SCHEDULE (GMT+2)
THURSDAY 16 AUGUST
8.00am: Shakedown St. Wendel (5,52 km)
2.45pm: Start (Bostalsee)
7.08pm: SS 1 – Super Special Stage St. Wendel (2,04 km)
7.48pm: Parc fermé
FRIDAY 17 AUGUST
9.00am: Service A (Bostalsee – 15 min)
10.11am: SS 2 – Stein und Wein 1 (19,44 km)
11.05am: SS 3 – Mittelmosel 1 (22,00 km)
12.53pm: SS 4 – Wadern-Weiskirchen 1 (9,27 km)
2.13pm: Service B (Bostalsee – 30 min)
3.39pm: SS 5 – Stein und Wein 2 (19,44 km)
4.33pm: SS 6 – Mittelmosel 2 (22,00 km)
6.21pm: SS 7 – Wadern-Weiskirchen 2 (9,27 km)
7.21pm: Flexi service C (Bostalsee – 48 min)
SATURDAY 18 AUGUST
7.35am: Service D (Bostalsee – 15 min)
8.48am: SS 8 – Arena Panzerplatte 1 (9,43 km)
9.15am: SS 9 – Panzerplatte 1 (38,57 km)
11.03am: SS 10 – Freisen 1 (14,78 km)
12.06pm: SS 11 – Römerstrasse 1 (12,28 km)
1.40pm: Service E (Bostalsee – 30 min)
3.08pm: SS 12 – Arena Panzerplatte 2 (9,43 km)
3.35pm: SS 13 – Panzerplatte 2 (38,57 km)
5.23pm: SS 14 – Freisen 2 (14,78 km)
6.26pm: SS 15 – Römerstrasse 2 (12,28 km)
7.40pm: Flexi service F (Bostalsee – 48 min)
SUNDAY 19 AUGUST
6.20am: Service G (Bostalsee – 15 min)
7.49am: SS 16 – Grafschaft 1 (29,07 km)
9.42am: ES 17 – Grafschaft 2 (29,07 km)
12.18pm: SS 18 – Bosenberg Power Stage (14,04 km)
1.00pm: Podium
Let’s hear from the drivers then.
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“After four consecutive gravel events, it is going to be nice to get back onto tarmac. Rallye Deutschland is a great event. It is a home rally for the team, and it is also situated close to the Belgian border, so we see lots of travelling fans coming to support us. We have had some fantastic results here in the past – including our debut win in 2014 – as well as some more difficult ones. Still leading the championship after a frustrating weekend Finland, I am ready to get back to the front in Germany.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“Rallye Deutschland is one of my favourite tarmac events. It is a rally with plenty of variety and challenges, but one that I find highly enjoyable. I finished second in last year’s event, so it brings back good memories. I hope for a good result this time around with Hyundai Motorsport. We’ve not had the sort of results recently that we know we are capable of, so I am determined to rectify that in Germany.”
Dani Sordo
“I am pleased to be back in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC for Rallye Deutschland, which is a very nice event and a home rally for the team. It is not a straightforward event with lots of different stage profiles. We often see some rain over the weekend, which can leave the roads muddy and slippery, but who knows what we will face this year. We have been competitive in Germany in past seasons, with some happy memories of the podium. That’s got to be our target against tough competition from our rivals.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala
“After Rally Finland I am feeling relaxed and I have a good feeling about Rallye Deutschland. I hope we can continue where we left off and maintain a good rhythm until the end of the year. I think our car should be good in Germany: last year we were already quite competitive there. I really enjoy the small country roads through the fields, which are narrow but fast, and the military area which also has some nice sections. We just have to be prepared for everything when it comes to the weather, because it can be very changeable.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Deutschland (DEU) – WRC 16/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Ott Tänak
“We will go to Germany with a high target after our win in Finland. I want to take it event-by-event, try to get the maximum out of each rally and see whether we can get back into the championship fight. I enjoy Germany every year. I like the challenge of having many different kinds of roads. We will need to keep an eye on the weather because when I won the rally last year, the tyre choice made a big difference. The Yaris WRC has been performing pretty well on asphalt so I hope we will have everything we need to fight for the top. We are feeling confident.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Rallye Deutschland is always such a challenging rally. Usually there is some rain and you often get different conditions during each day. This can make things tricky because there is a lot of corner-cutting and a lot of dirt on the road. It has been difficult for me in the past, but I actually really like the challenge. I’m looking forward to being back on asphalt, too. In Corsica we achieved a nice setup with the car and the speed was good. Germany is quite a different rally but hopefully we can repeat that.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Craig Breen
“I’m longing to get back on the tarmac. It’s been a year since I last competed in a 100% tarmac rally. The Saturday stage will definitely be decisive again, with the two runs through the Baumholder military base, but before that, I really hope more than anything that it doesn’t rain on Friday, so that we can start the race in ideal conditions, despite being a long way down the running order. Since our Germany tests at the start of the summer, I have had an extra day of testing in Alsace to get back into the habits you need to drive on tarmac, and I’ll be giving it my all to rediscover the joys of the podium.”
Craig Breen, Scott Martin – Photo credit Citroen Racing
Mads Østberg
“Except last year, I have competed in this rally every year since 2010, so I know the course pretty well and I have always enjoyed the variety of the stages, even though it makes things difficult! I will have to get to grips with driving on this surface again, but I know I can count on the team’s immense experience on tarmac and at this rally in particular. I have had two days of testing with the C3 WRC to work through all the road profiles I will be facing, so a top-five finish would be a good result for me.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“We didn’t have the pace that we wanted in Finland, but next week’s Rallye Deutschland is a completely different event and we’ll be aiming to challenge for the leading positions once again.
“It’s always nice returning to asphalt, and we had the performance last time out in Corsica. But this is another difficult rally and everyone knows how big the challenge is to get everything right with all the varying stages.
“As always, the goal is to deliver our best and challenge for the victory. That’s what we’ll be aiming for – together with the target of reducing the gap to the championship leader.”
“Rallye Deutschland is a pretty challenging event, but I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much. The stage characteristics and conditions are constantly changing, and you’ve really got to be on the ball.
“It’s all about finding the right rhythm and set-up for each of the different challenges; as well as staying fully focused as this is one of those events where second chances are few and far between!
“The weather can also play a crucial part and a wet rally would make things pretty interesting. But let’s see what gets thrown at us next week. The Fiesta felt really good last time out on Tarmac, and we’ll be aiming for a strong result.”
Teemu Suninen
“This will be my first time in a world rally car on asphalt and a big leap into the unknown. So far, I know nothing about driving these cars on this surface and I will have a lot to learn. I’m most curious about the tyre wear and how to use the brakes.
“This rally will be full of questions, and it’s always been one of the most challenging on the calendar. There is always a lot of dirt that gets dragged onto the stages, but I hope to find good confidence in the car and improve my driving in these tricky conditions.”
We really are heading to the end of the season, with just five rounds remaining, including this event. Who will win, and what will it mean for the championship?
With Jorge Martin in a subpar physical condition, today’s qualifying session opened up opportunities for the rest of the Moto3 World Championship field to take pole position – especially the KTM riders, whose bikes were suited well to the Red Bull Ring.
Marco Bezzecchi at The Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of Gruppe C Photography/KTM
Indeed it was a KTM rider who took pole position in the damp-but-drying session, and who else but KTM’s one and only title contender, Marco Bezzecchi who took his first career World Championship pole position, and Pruestel GP’s second pole in a week after Jakub Kornfeil’s triumphant Saturday last week at home in Brno. Bezzecchi has looked strong all weekend – especially in the wet, and perhaps because of his future security as he has been confirmed in the Tech3 KTM Moto2 team for next season. And with that future ride in place, he made the most of the conditions to set his fastest time at the very end, when the track was at its best. Maximum points is a must for Bezzecchi tomorrow, as he has to capitalise on Martin’s injury and take profit in the championship.
Jorge Martin at The Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Jorge Martin appeared to be in a mess on Friday, and even Saturday morning. Before qualifying, he had only ridden in FP1 to try to save his strength for the important sessions. It was a questionable tactic, and one that brought back memories of Brno 2017, where Jorge missed practice sessions due to the broken leg picked up in Sachsenring and ultimately pulled out of the weekend. However, it was a tactic that clearly worked, and so did his qualifying strategy. He was reasonably quick in the wet, but nothing spectacular, but when the track dried out he was in a prime position to take advantage of the drying track. Unfortunately, Bezzecchi had marginally better timing and was able to sneak pole position, but Martin still managed second place – something that Bezzecchi was quick to congratulate him on. And rightly so, the feat of Martin was incredible; to come back one week after a broken radius and qualify second – especially on a track with so much heavy breaking – is up there with Jorge Lorenzo’s 2013 Assen comeback. A really impressive achievement for Martin, and now all eyes will be on him tomorrow to see whether he might even be able to go one better in the race.
The front row of the grid is rounded out by Albert Arenas, the first front row of his Grand Prix career, and his second visit to parc ferme, after his victory in Le Mans.
Albert Arenas at The Rdbull Ring. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose
Like Bezzecchi, Aron Canet will be hoping to take advantage of Jorge Martin’s injury tomorrow and maximise his points gain over his compatriot in the championship. Canet is still without a win this season, but will be looking to change that tomorrow from fourth on the grid. Tony Arbolino and Gabriel Rodrigo join Canet on the front row, in fifth and sixth respectively.
Marcos Ramirez starts tomorrow’s race from seventh on the grid, ahead of Tech 3’s second Moto2 signing for next season, Philipp Oettl. They are joined by another championship hopeful on row three, as Enea Bastianini starts ninth tomorrow.
It was one of Adam Norrodin’s best performances of the season in qualifying today, as he set the 10th fastest time, to head up row four on which he will be joined by Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Jaume Masia. The Spaniard was brilliant in the Austrian Grand Prix last year as a wildcard, so keep an eye on him tomorrow.
From pole position last week to thirteenth – that is the difference seven days makes to Jakub Kornfeil’s qualifying position, but expect the Czech to come on strong should the rain tyres make an appearance. He lines up alongside two Italians on the fifth row; Niccolo Antonelli and Dennis Foggia start 14th and 15th respectively.
A disappointing qualifying for Fabio Di Giannantonio left him down in sixteenth. Two Japanese join the Italian on row six, as Tatsuki Suzuki line up 17th and Ayumu Sasaki took the 18th fastest time.
Andrea Migno starts 19th, whilst Alonso Lopez rounds out the top 20 and Stefano Nepa completes row seven in 21st place.
The 22nd fastest time went to Nicolo Bulega. The positive for the Italian is that, with his typically apocalyptic starts, he will probably be last by turn one and thus be able to avoid the inevitable carnage at the tight turn one. Max Kofler, the #73 wildcard, took 23rd, and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat 24th.
25th went to Kazuki Masaki, whilst Ai Ogura was surprisingly far down the order in 26th. Ogura was impressive in the wet but when the conditions got mixed he clearly lost a lot of confidence. Darryn Binder could only manage the back of row nine in 27th.
Kaito Toba was 28th and Vicente Perez 29th. John McPhee will be 30th and last on the grid tomorrow, after his second crash of the session meant he couldn’t set a time when the track was at its best. In fact, McPhee didn’t make the qualifying time, but the stewards will let him in on account of previous evidence of his competitiveness.
After losing his championship lead last weekend in Brno, Francesco Bagnaia has hit back strongly today in the Austrian Grand Prix qualifying by dominating to take pole position by 0.310 seconds from main championship rival, and standings topper, Miguel Oliveira. It wasn’t all perfect for Bagnaia, he ran out of fuel at the very end of the session but he got his time in early, and from that point no one got near it. Typically, Bagnaia’s qualifying result is somewhat indicative of where he is on the race pace, like most Moto2 riders, and that has to be a worry for the rest of the pack ahead of tomorrow’s race.
Francesco Bagnaia at The Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
However, a second place in qualifying for Oliveira, his second decent qualifying in a row after fourth place last week, shows that KTM have definitely sorted the qualifying issues out, at least on the #44 side of the Red Bull KTM Ajo garage, that have been holding the Portuguese back in the first half of the season. From the front row of the grid, Oliveira can mount a serious victory challenge, and a win here would make him the clear favourite for the title.
The front row of the grid is rounded out by Fabio Quartararo, who is back on form this weekend at a track he has excelled at historically. If the tyre duration that the Speed Up of Quartararo has become known for over the past few races is there again tomorrow, he could be an outside shot of the podium, if not the win.
Fourth place represents Jorge Navarro’s best performance in Moto2 qualifying, a position from where he will be hoping to make the podium – which would also be a first for the Spaniard. Navarro is currently under pressure for his job for next year, with Fabio Di Giannantonio from Gresini Moto3 looking likely to slot into that squad, so a decent advert from Jorge wouldn’t go amiss in this moment.
Alex Marquez qualified fifth despite a crash towards the end of the session. With the championship basically over for Alex, his goal from here is just to win as many races as possible and, failing that, make the podium. However, he hasn’t looked particularly likely this weekend, but if it rains tomorrow, everything is out the window.
The final position on row two is taken by Mattia Pasini, which is quite impressive from the Italian on one of the more difficult circuits for his left-handed braking, no-clutch downshifting technique. The last races have been difficult for Pasini, so he will just hope for a race where he competes to the end with the front runners again.
Marcel Schrotter at The Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Marcel Schrotter took seventh place for tomorrow’s grid, ahead of Brad Binder who might have hoped for more on his 23rd birthday. Lorenzo Baldassarri suffered a crash at the end of the session, and so could only manage the ninth fastest time. That said, Baldassarri has looked quite decent this weekend, and he always races better than he qualifies, so watch out for the #7 tomorrow.
There was a crash, also, for Luca Marini. It was a shame for the lanky Italian, as he had been having a solid weekend to that point. The fall left him unable to set a time at the end, so has to make do with tenth on the grid tomorrow, with race pace holding decent potential. Remy Gardner and Iker Lecuona complete the fourth row of the grid.
Augusto Fernandez continues to perform for the HP40 Pons team, this time taking thirteenth place in qualifying, ahead of Andrea Locatelli and Romano Fenati.
Sam Lowes could only manage 16th place on the grid, ahead of Danny Kent who is another in need of a good advert – however, unlike Navarro, it isn’t arriving for Kent. Simone Corsi completes row six.
19th place went to Domi Aegerter, whilst Joan Mir could only take 20th place. Even though Mir crashed, 20th is very disappointing, especially at a track where he went so well in Moto3. But, he is another who tends to race better than he qualifies, so watch for the #36 coming through the pack.
Tetsuta Nagashima was the subject of the ‘shot of the weekend’ (so far, at least) yesterday, when he was caught in slow motion surfing his Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Kalex between turns nine and ten in the pouring rain. But, in qualifying it was only 21st for the Japanese rider.
Row eight is headed up tomorrow by Khairul Idham Pawi, who is ahead of Stefano Manzi and Joe Roberts.
Steven Odendaal at The Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Roberts and NTS teammate Steven Odendaal produced a nice moment in free practice, when they were 1-2, Odendaal leading Roberts. It showed the potential of the NTS chassis, which hopefully has got some riders interested for next year, as they are after a top rider to pilot one of their bikes next season, believing that they can be at the front with an experienced, fast rider.
As it was, though, Odendaal could only manage 25th, one place behind Roberts, but ahead of Jules Danilo and Bo Bendsneyder on row nine.
Xavi Vierge set the 28th fastest time in the first minutes of the session. He sat the rest of qualifying out in the medical centre after a second flying lap crash with Odendaal, where Vierge squeezed the South African up onto the kerb on the outside of the entry to turn one. Vierge’s rear tyre got caught with Odendaal’s front mudguard, and the Spaniard went flying over the top of the bike, and broke his wrist. As a result, Vierge is out of the weekend, so 29th-fastest Niki Tuuli will start 28th tomorrow.
Isaac Vinales will join Tuuli on the tenth row. The Spaniard is replacing Eric Granado, who was fired out of Forward Racing after Brno thanks to his other commitments in the Brazilian Superbike Championship. Vinales’ replacement at SAG, Alejandro Medina, will complete row ten.
Xavi Cardelus will start 31st, and Federico Fuligni will be 32nd and last on the grid.
101 qualifying sessions, 49 poles. That is Marc Marquez’s qualifying record in MotoGP, an unrivalled record. Perhaps, though, today’s was one of his most impressive. At Ducati’s best circuit; the one most suited to the Desmosedici, and one where Honda should theoretically struggle, he snatched the top spot away from the GP18s by all of 0.002 seconds. Marquez also looks like he can be there in the race, although track temperature could play its part in that. Cal Crutchlow made the point in Brno that if the Ducati of Jorge Lorenzo is using a had front tyre, it is probably too soft for the Honda. In FP4 today, Jorge Lorenzo ran a hard front tyre, implying that if the temperature gets high enough tomorrow, Marquez could be walking away from the Red Bull Ring – the only circuit on the calendar that he has been raced at, but not seen a Marc Marquez victory – without a winners trophy.
The favourite to stop Marquez tomorrow is the rider who finished those two thousandths of a second behind the Spaniard: Andrea Dovizioso. The #04 rider won the Austrian Grand Prix last year, as well as the last race one week ago in Brno, and has looked good all weekend. He may have missed pole position, but that is no rarity for Dovi – he comes alive on race day, and it would be a major upset if he were to be absent from the lead battle in the closing stages tomorrow.
TOp 3 in Qualifying Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo – Austrian GP 2018. Image courtesy of Ducati
The same could be said for Jorge Lorenzo. Since Mugello, with the exceptions of Assen and Sachsenring, Lorenzo has been able to maintain the front running pace until the end. Being such a favourable circuit for the Ducati, and one that Lorenzo’s style suits quite well in theory, Jorge was always going to be one to watch coming into this weekend, and so it has proven. Like Dovizioso and Marquez, he looks like he can maintain a similar pace to the end of the race, and if he comes out firing with the aggression he showed in Brno last week, he is going to be tough to stop. That said, it’s not like he is going to be fighting a pair of mugs. Either way, a situation where Ducati do not have a 1-2 tomorrow would be something of a disaster for the Bologna factory, even if they fill the top step.
For the first time in their history, Ducati have three bikes in the top four positions on the grid, as Danilo Petrucci took fourth place on the grid to head up the second row. Petrucci might not be able to make the tyres last for a full race distance tomorrow in the dry, but should the rain arrive – like it has done regularly over the course of this weekend – the number 9 might just be in the mix for a first career race win.
Cal Crutchlow took the fifth fastest time, despite it being perhaps his least favourite circuit on the calendar. Crutchlow doesn’t have the pace of the front riders this weekend, a podium looks a big ask, but a ‘best of the rest’ would be a respectable result for the British rider on a track where he expected to suffer a lot.
Cal Crutchlow at the Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing
Speaking of suffering, Yamaha did a lot of that on Saturday. Not only were the factory M1s desperately disappointing, but the satellite bike of the man they let walk away to KTM for 2019 was sixth fastest, and four tenths up on the top Movistar bike. It seems that the real Johann Zarco has stood back up, and that will sound alarm bells in the ears of all the front runners, because when Zarco is feeling good, he can cause a lot of problems for his rivals.
Tito Rabat was again very impressive, with the seventh fastest time in Q2, and he starts ahead of and alongside the factory bikes of Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone (2016 Austrian GP winner) and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa.
Tenth place went to Alex Rins, who had to come through Q1, but the big story starts when we reach the eleventh spot, and Maverick Vinales.
The #25 factory Yamaha was ahead only of 12th-placed Alvaro Bautista in the final qualifying session of the day, one second off the pole time. For reference, Vinales was 4th on the grid last year, 0.519 seconds off the pole time with a 1’23.754. Today, Vinales was 11th, 1.043 seconds off pole position with a time of 1’24.284. So, in one year Yamaha have gotten half a second slower. Okay, so, some of that can be put down to track development, since there had only been 75 minutes of slick running before qualifying, but in comparison Marquez’s time was only six thousandths of a second off his pole time of last year. To add to that, Valentino Rossi’s qualifying time last year was a 1’23.982, compared to his time this year of a 1’24.309. So, also, Rossi went four tenths slower this year. Of course, we have known for a while that Yamaha have had problems with acceleration, and they probably haven’t been helped this weekend by the changeable conditions, but to arrive at a circuit and go slower than they managed a year ago when the competitors are not really any slower at all is embarrassing, especially for a factory with the winning history of Yamaha. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about Yamaha is that they have known about their issues probably for longer than the public have, and the public have been aware since Barcelona last year. It was so bad today, that the Yamaha MotoGP Project Leader, Kouji Tsuya, delayed the media debriefs of the two factory riders to publicly apologise to them in front of the media for the poor performance of the bike this weekend. Apologies aside, tomorrow is going to be just as embarrassing and disappointing, if not more so, as today, and the Iwata manufacturer will have to hope that this is the bottom of the pit they fell into last year, and that the bottom is elasticated, because they really need to bounce back.
Back to qualifying, and it was a brilliant session for Bradley Smith, who nearly made Q2, missing out for all of 0.015 seconds.
Smith also beat Valentino Rossi by 0.064 seconds, a big scalp for the KTM-shod Brit. 14th represents Rossi’s worst qualifying since Australia 2016 when he was 15th. He finished Australia 2016 2nd, behind Cal Crutchlow, but a repeat of that in the race, in any condition, would be beyond miraculous, such is the hole both he and Yamaha have found themselves in, particularly this weekend. Rossi’s result, combined with Vinales’, meant that it was the first time since 2007 that both factory Yamahas had finished outside the top ten in a dry qualifying.
Aleix Espargaro has had a difficult weekend, presumably still suffering with the injury from Germany, but nonetheless managed to qualifying fifteenth.
Franco Morbidelli at Redbull Ring. Image courtesy of HondaProracing.
Sixteenth on the grid tomorrow should reserved for Franco Morbidelli, who would line up alongside Jack Miller and Hafizh Syahrin on the sixth row of the grid. However, the Italian picked up a grid penalty of three positions for cruising in free practice. So it’s nineteenth for the reigning Moto2 World Champion, and Miller heads up row six from Syahrin and Simeon.
Scott Redding will start twentieth tomorrow and Taka Nakagami completes the revised row seven that has Morbidelli at its head.
The eighth and final row only has two riders this weekend, because Pol Espargaro is recovering from his nasty high side in Brno last week. It’s Tom Luthi and Karel Abraham who complete the 23-rider grid, in 22nd and 23rd respectively.
