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  • Title In Sight For Marquez As Ducati Falter

    In the heart of the Spanish desert, the destiny of the 2018 MotoGP World Championship has become a little closer to being decided this afternoon, after a thrilling grand prix at Aragon Motorland.

    It was an explosive start from the lights as Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) crashed out at the first corner. The pole-sitter ran in hot under braking and brutally high-sided out of the grand prix, completely wrecking his championship hopes. The Spaniard has looked strong all weekend, particularly over the long runs during Friday practice, and was considered the pre-race favourite. It is the first time that Lorenzo has crashed out in two consecutive races was in 2011, at Malaysia and Valencia.

    Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) therefore inherited the early race leader with Marquez (Repsol Honda) behind. Marquez had gambled pre-race by electing to run a soft slick rear tyre. Once settled into their rhythm, the two pushed on hard enough to comfortably clear their nearest pursuers, but still being slow enough to not burn out their tyres either. Once the rear tyre loses grip around Aragon and starts spinning, it’s generally game over for the rider.

    Dovizioso and Marquez diced with each other throughout the race. The pair, reigniting memories of last season’s thrilling championship duel, put on a masterclass in racecraft this afternoon. The overtakes were hard won, and every last inch of tarmac would be used in the process. But each move was clean. Make no mistake, these are two riders at the very pinnacle of their trade.

    Defying the recent convention of the long left-handed final corner being the prime overtaking spot, this contest was at its hottest through the highly technical corners of the opening sector. The Ducati would storm ahead through the sweeping right-hander at turn 2, whilst the Honda would have the edge through the fast left-hander at turn 5. All of which resulting in the two, more often than not, being locked next to each other as they dropped through the corkscrew section.

    Marquez was finally able to break free after setting a scorching time on the penultimate lap. Having forced his way back into the lead at turn 12, the Spaniard used every ounce of rubber left on his tyres to prize himself away from his closest championship challenger. Such was the equality of performance between the Honda and the Ducati, the slender advantage of just 0.3 seconds was ultimately enough of a buffer.

    Hunting in pairs – Alex Rins (#42) and Andrea Iannone (#29) gave Team Ecstar Suzuki their best finish of the year.

    Team Ecstar Suzuki firmly enjoyed their day in the sun as Alex Rins and Andrea Iannone engaged in an equally thrilling battle for the final podium spot. The pair nearly came to blows early on, as Iannone forced his teammate to the edge of the track down at turn 12. Once the early race nerves had abated, the duo showed a remarkable turn of pace to always keep the race leaders within touching distance. The duo regularly traded places across the 23 laps sometimes cleanly – sometimes considerably less so. The gestures made to Dorna’s world feed cameras by team boss Davide Brivio aptly summed up the drama.

    Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) and Aleix Espargaro (Gresini Aprilia) both enjoyed a timely return to form this afternoon. The duo, although never in contention for the podium, spent the race locked together scrapping over fifth and sixth places. On this occasion, it was Pedrosa who took the bragging rights. Nevertheless, sixth place is the best result for Aprilia so far this season. To say 2018 has been a slog for the Noale factory team would be an understatement, but today is proof that progress with the RS-GP is being made.

    Yamaha’s woes continued today. Valentino Rossi (P8) and Maverick Vinales (P10) was all that the factory team could manage. For Rossi, the result however should be classed as a recovery job well done, having started the race from the sixth row of the grid, in P18. Coming into this round it was clear to everyone that it would be difficult weekend for the factory team. However after testing here a few weeks ago which was reportedly very positive for the team, overall the Aragon GP will go down as yet another dark chapter in their Annus Horribilis.   

    The European leg of the season has now been concluded. In two weeks’ time the MotoGP circus will make its debut at the Buriram circuit, Thailand.

    You never say never in this sport, especially in grand prix racing, but with a lead of 72 points over his rivals, it is now very hard to see anyone other than Marc Marquez from being crowned 2018 world champion.

  • British F3 – Sun Yue Yang the shining light in a crazy race two

    British F3 – Sun Yue Yang the shining light in a crazy race two

    Sun Yue Yang was the eventual winner of a race two that saw a red flag and championship leader Linus Lundqvist involved in a race-ending accident at the subsequent restart.

    Yang was the beneficiary from a full reverse grid to start from pole position but in the initial staging of the race he lost his lead as the electric Tom Gamble leapt from sixth into the lead.

    The Chinese driver was handed a reprieve when Manuel Maldonado brought the red flag out for an incident at McLean’s on lap one, resulting in a full race restart.

    A ten-minute delay ensued, and Yang made no mistake with his second start to lead away despite another Gamble rocket.

    The same cannot be said for Arvin Esmaeili. The Swede’s Douglas car was spun across the circuit and fired onto the racing line for the first corner, and the ensuing chaos claimed four victims.

    Alongside Esmaeili Jusuf Owega was hit, while Kush Maini’s rear suspension was damaged and Linus Lundqvist continued his bad weekend when he was collected in the same accident.

    If Lundqvist outscored Nicolai Kjaergaard by five points he would have won the British F3 title with a weekend to spare, instead after a disappointing Saturday he has lost 32 points this weekend to his nearest rival, meaning he now cannot confirm the title until Silverstone in three weeks’ time.

    That brought the Safety Car out for five laps and by the time it peeled into the pits there were only five minutes of racing left.

    Gamble had enough time to depose Double R’s Pavan Ravishankar from second on the penultimate lap but couldn’t make an impact on Yang.

    Yesterday’s polesitter Billy Monger will start from pole position after taking the fastest  lap over the first two races. Nicolai Kjaergaard was 12th after being held up by the second-first lap antics, although he will start third due to his quickest lap.

     

    CREDIT: JAKOB EBREY via BritishF3.com

  • Lorenzo Leads Dovi in Ducati 1-2 in Aragon MotoGP Qualifying

    Lorenzo Leads Dovi in Ducati 1-2 in Aragon MotoGP Qualifying

    Qualifying for the 2018 MotoGP Grand Prix of Aragon got underway under glorious Spanish sun, giving almost ideal conditions for racing motorcycles, with forty-five degrees of track temperature, next-to-no cloud cover and essentially negligible wind.

    And once Q2 rolled around, it was Jorge Lorenzo who took pole position. Whilst the other riders got caught up in the waiting game of “who blinks first”. Lorenzo found himself some good space on the track, and he set about going quickly. After his first run, he had one tenth to find compared to Marc Marquez’s provisional pole time from the first run, so he knew his third consecutive pole position was well within reach, and despite his teammate Andrea Dovizioso setting provisional pole moments before the Spaniard crossed the line, Lorenzo was indeed the rider to reign supreme on Saturday. Added to that is his race pace, from which you can deduce that Jorge Lorenzo has a reasonable opportunity to take his fourth win of 2018 tomorrow.

    Jorge Lorenzo takes Pole at Aragon GP. Image courtesy of Ducati

    But perhaps the rider with the best chance to win tomorrow is the one starting from the middle of the front row, Lorenzo’s Ducati teammate, Andrea Dovizioso. His final lap was far from perfect, as he had some traffic throughout, and faced the disturbance of having to bail out of his first lap of run two, also for traffic, before it even began. In addition to this, Dovizioso went into his final attempt at pole position knowing that Marc Marquez was somewhere behind him, as they had been trying to get behind each other for the two laps previous. But Dovizioso was able to put that out of his mind, and take second on the grid, knowing that he could have had pole, had he had some decent track position, and that he has an incredibly strong race pace for tomorrow.

    Marc Marquez missed out on pole, like Dovizioso, for traffic. The Spaniard ran wide in turn eight on his final lap in Q2, but somehow gained time doing so (that is a mystery which sums up Marquez quite perfectly), only to lose half a second in turn twelve where he was distracted by traffic ahead do him, who were scattered across the width of the circuit. That was the verdict of Cal Crutchlow, anyway, who crashed due to this scattered traffic moments after Marquez and Dovizioso passed through it. Ultimately it was third for Marquez, and staying with the Ducatis tomorrow seems as though it will prove a difficult, if not impossible task. That said, Marc has not won since the Sachsenring, and in his home circuit will be desperate to end Ducati’s winning streak. Expect something quite spectacular from the #93 tomorrow.

    Marc Marquez at Aragon GP. Image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

    Despite his crash, Crutchlow did enough earlier in the session to take fourth on the grid, as the ‘best of the rest’ behind those riders who are almost 2018’s ‘aliens’. Like Marquez, Crutchlow will have a tough time hanging with the Ducatis tomorrow, his weekend made no easier by the fact that the hardest of the three front tyre compounds is too soft for his style with the Honda.

    It was a decent qualifying for Andrea Iannone, who was clearly excited to be back in Q2 after missing out for the first time in 2018 back in Misano. He took fifth place, lapping only 0.288 seconds slower than Lorenzo’s pole time, but with that being said, it would be a surprise to see the Italian fighting for the podium tomorrow – the Suzuki, at least in his hands, simply does not have the tyre life.

    Dani Pedrosa is getting somewhere close to being ‘back’. Despite his ongoing corner speed issues, Pedrosa took sixth on the grid today, after advancing to Q2 directly from FP3 for the first time since he announced his retirement. If things go his way, he could see his first podium of 2018 tomorrow, the soft front tyre compounds mean that he has some good confidence with the front, and that is helped by the high track temperatures the riders are experiencing this weekend.

    The race tomorrow looks like it could be a difficult one for Danilo Petrucci, who qualified seventh, and is likely to struggle with tyre wear. He is one of the riders who stresses the tyre the most, because he rides the Ducati, with a lot of power, and he also has a lot of weight. Everyone is struggling a bit for tyre life this weekend, Davide Tardozzi in fact thinks tomorrow’s Grand Prix could be similar to that of Brno, with a large period of tyre saving in the first part of the race, before pins are pulled in the final laps.

    The middle of the third row belongs to Alvaro Bautista, who impressed again for the Angel Nieto Team, and qualified ahead of Alex Rins who was ninth and completed the third row.

    The top ten was rounded out by Jack Miller, which was something of a surprise because he had looked stronger than that through free practice. Maverick Vinales and Takaaki Nakagami – both of whom came through Q1 – completed the fourth row.

    Eleventh might seem like a disaster for the factory Yamaha of Vinales, but with Johann Zarco in fourteenth and Valentino Rossi in eighteenth, it looks like he was getting the most and more out of the M1, whose manufacturer seems to be in absolute crisis this weekend. If Austria was ‘rock bottom’, then Aragon is proving positively subterranean.

    Valentino Rossi coming 18th for the Aragon GP grid. Image courtesy of Yamaha.

    That said, for all the flack Yamaha have taken in the past two years, Valentino Rossi has to take some blame for his performance today. His perpetual positivity seems to have run its course. The day started badly with a crash in FP3, and in Q1 he posted only one competitive lap time, otherwise being distracted by his want to get a tow, specifically from his teammate.

    Rossi was out-qualified by Franco Morbidelli on last year’s Honda, Johann Zarco on last year’s Yamaha, Aleix Espargaro on an Aprilia which is worse than last year’s, Bradley Smith on an under-developed KTM and Karel Abraham on a 2016 Ducati in Q1. Perhaps the worst part is that tomorrow could yet be worse still.

    In nineteenth place was Hafizh Syahrin, 0.3 off Rossi, ahead of Tom Luthi and Scott Redding who completed row seven.

    Only two riders will be on row eight tomorrow, because Pol Espargaro further damaged his already-broken collarbone. This means that Xavier Simeon and Jordi Torres (replacing Tito Rabat) are the only riders on the back row of the grid.

  • British F3 – Saturday reaction: Kjaergaard wants to “postpone” Lundqvist’s title charge

    British F3 – Saturday reaction: Kjaergaard wants to “postpone” Lundqvist’s title charge

    Nicolai Kjaergaard took the spoils in British F3’s Saturday race at Donington Park for Carlin Motorsport, while teammate and polesitter Billy Monger hit strife early in the race.

    Jamie Caroline was second ahead of Double R’s Krish Mahadik, while Monger battled back to claim fourth from Kush Maini and Ayrton Simmons.

    Manuel Maldonado was seventh ahead of series leader Linus Lundqvist, who climbed from a lowly 14th on the grid.

    Kjaergaard says that all he can do is keep taking points away from Lundqvist, starting with Race two tomorrow and praised the speed of his Carlin team.

    “It is certainly the best I can do, the start went to plan and we led from start to finish. We have shown all weekend we have the pace, it was mega in the race with me and Caroline (Jamie) being really fast compared to the field. That shows how good the Carlin car is and it’s promising for Sunday.

    The race was run in greasy conditions with the elements having been changeable all weekend, tomorrow’s forecast is similarly as uncertain. That does not faze the Dane

    “We’ll see how the track conditions are tomorrow but we have shown that we are fast in the dry and the wet. If it is wet then it will make race two really interesting. We’ll see what happens in Race Two but I am aiming for another win tomorrow.

    “It was a drying track so it was hard to know where to go. You had to keep going and keep pushing as there was more and more grip throughout the session. That was the difficult part because when you’re leading you don’t want to push too hard and go off so you have feel your way forward, whereas Jamie had a bit of a gauge because he could see where I was and whether there was more grip or not.”

    With Lundqvist having held a seemingly unassailable 111-point lead coming into the weekend, Kjaergaard has cut the deficit by 22 points to 89 and hasn’t given up on the title with five rounds to go.

    “We can only keep going like this and hopefully Linus won’t be too close to us, so let’s see how far we can push the championship. I want to at least postpone it until Silverstone.”

  • British GT – GT4: Tuck and Green take pole, championship leader Mitchell seventh

    British GT – GT4: Tuck and Green take pole, championship leader Mitchell seventh

    Century Motorsport’s Ben Tuck and Ben Green have taken British GT4 pole ahead of tomorrow’s championship decider.

    A session-long battle with the Equipe Verschuur McLaren of Finlay Hutchison and Daniel McKay ended with the #42 crew applying maximum championship pressure on teammate and leader Jack Mitchell and co-driver Dean MacDonald, who were only seventh.

    Ben Barnicoat and Adam Balon were third in the #72 Balfe McLaren 570s, Barnicoat setting the second-fastest GT4 time in the final session.

    Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones are fourth and have an outside chance of the title should they convert that into a win and their rivals fall by the wayside. The Academy Motorsport duo are fifth, 31 points behind Mitchell.

    One of those rivals are Michael O’Brien and Charlie Fagg in the #4 Tolman Motorsport McLaren. They line up sixth for the race tomorrow and have a similarly outside chance, 28 points back in fourth place in the standings.

    The team third in the standings are the #55 duo of Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen in the HHC Motorsport Ginetta. They are 13.5 points behind Mitchell, but have work to do to overhaul him.

    Elsewhere, British Touring Car Championship race winner Adam Morgan was fastest in the Ciceley Racing #25 Mercedes during the second part of GT4 qualifying, sharing with amateur David Fairbrother.

  • British GT – GT3: Keen and Minshaw on pole but Adam and Haigh where they need to be

    British GT – GT3: Keen and Minshaw on pole but Adam and Haigh where they need to be

    Barwell Motorsport’s Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen have taken GT3 pole position for tomorrow’s Donington Decider.

    Minshaw gave the #33 Lamborghini team a two-second advantage in AM qualifying with an imperious display in improving conditions, while Keen maintained a healthy advantage in the Pro qualifying shortly after.

    Jonny Cocker and Sam De Haan in the other Barwell Lamborghini are second ahead of Maxime Martin and Graham Davidson in the #47 JetStream Aston Martin.

    Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam in the Optimum Motorsport Aston Martin are in fourth, and need to finish seventh to secure the British GT3 title tomorrow afternoon.

    |Photographer: Jamie Sheldrick|Session: FP1|Event: Round 9|Circuit: Donington Park|Location: Derby|Series: British GT|Season: 2018|Country: UK|Car: Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3|Number: 75|Team: Optimum Motorsport|Driver: Flick Haigh|Driver: Jonny Adam|
    The #75 Optimum Aston Martin needs to finish 7th to secure the British GT GT3 title

    In truth the #33 Barwell entry rarely looked like being beaten as Minshaw put down times in the early 1:43s at the start of the session, with second in AM qualifying Graham Davidson setting a 1:43.402 by the time the session ended.

    The other crew in with a chance of the championship are will start the race from fifth. Mark Farmer and Nicki Thiim in the #11 TF Sport Aston also need to win tomorrow and hope that the Optimum Motorsport crew hit problems.

    Marco Sorensen and Derek Johnston will start from sixth in the latter’s last race in the series following his retirement announcement earlier this month, with the ERC Mercedes of Lee Mowle and Yelmer Buurman seventh.

    The sole GTC entry of John Seale and Marcus Clutton in the Ferrari 488 got in amongst the GT3 runners, qualifying ahead of the #101 Balfe Motorsport McLaren of Graham Johnson and Mike Robinson, the #24 Nissan of Struan Moore and Chris Buncombe and the #1 Bentley of Rick Parfitt and Ryan Ratcliffe.

     

    IMAGES: Jamie Sheldrick

  • British F3 – Billy Monger takes fairytale Donington pole

    British F3 – Billy Monger takes fairytale Donington pole

    Carlin Motorsport’s Billy Monger took pole position for British F3’s race one on Saturday on his return to Donington Park.

    Teammate Nicolai Kjaergaard took second place as he seeks to close the 111-point gap on championship leader Linus Lundqvist, who could only manage 14th.

    Ayrton Simmons was third on his second British F3 weekend ahead of young German Jusuf Owega, Manuel Maldonado and Kush Maini.

    Monger last raced at Donington last year in British F4, when a horrendous accident cost him both legs.

    The 19-year-old from Reigate says that he did not fear returning to the scene of a life-changing accident 18 months ago.

    “Donington has always been one of my favourite circuits to drive at so I was actually looking forward to driving it again. With the race, it might feel different but at the minute I am not fazed by it at all. It’s funny how these things work out.

    “I knew that the car was going to be quick after testing as we were really strong, but it was about doing the job in qualifying. Obviously this is a circuit holds a few weird memories for me but it’s been coming and we have been quick enough.

    “I was a bit nervous because a lot of people have come here to support me but it may have given me that extra energy to do the job.”

    Monger felt better in a car that has shown consistent pace all season, but felt better in the car today having threatened pole position all session.

    “I just haven’t had that edge or felt quite as comfortable as today, the Carlin car was amazing and it’s great to deliver what we could have had the last couple of races.”

    At Brands Hatch he declared that should he win a race, the entire Carlin team would have to drink some champagne from his prosthetic leg. That hasn’t changed.

    “That is still happening (Drinking from the leg).

    “Fingers crossed for this afternoon whether it is dry or wet we just have to make sure I get away well enough and after that, I don’t see many problems as our pace is strong, but anything can happen in a race.”

  • Live Q&A with Elfyn Evans, M-Sport World Rally Driver

    Join us live on Wednesday at 12:30 BST for a live chat with M-Sport WRC driver Elfyn Evans! You can also send your own questions in for him to answer in advance.

    Use the link here to do that.

    https://broadcastcentre.com/linkedin/hsamuel-and-pulsar-event

  • The Heat Of Battle – How FLIR Thermal Imagery Helps Red Bull At F1 Demos (Ft. Max Verstappen) | M1TG

    The Heat Of Battle – How FLIR Thermal Imagery Helps Red Bull At F1 Demos (Ft. Max Verstappen) | M1TG

    Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video on how the team uses FLIR thermal imaging cameras and special heat control techniques at show runs. The piece features comments from Max Verstappen, in reference to his run at Zandvoort earlier this year.

    Make sure that you follow Mobil 1 The Grid:
    Website: mobil1thegrid.com
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    Google+: google.com/+Mobil1TheGrid

  • MotoGP Aragon Preview – A Desert Storm Awaits

    The MotoGP circus rumbles into the heart of the Spanish desert this weekend, as the championship battle resumes at the breathtaking Motorland Aragon circuit.

    Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) arrives at his home round with a 67-point lead at the top of the standings, and perhaps with one hand already on the world championship crown already. The Spaniard has been formally recognised this week by the Motorland circuit, having had the sweeping left-hand turn 10 named after him. Form at this circuit is good for the four-time premier class champion, having claimed three victories here in 2013, 2016 and 2017.

    That said, Marquez has not taken victory since the German Grand Prix back in July. Failure to win this weekend, would see him equal his longest winless streak in MotoGP (4 races Malaysia, Valencia (both 2017), Qatar and Argentina (both 2018). Whilst this is still a record which most mortals will dream they had, at this stage of the season – and with the world championship at stake – this is the sort of thing that could seriously test his mental resolve.

    This weekend’s grand prix presents Ducati with its ultimate ‘litmus test’. The Desmosedici-GP18 is a missile in a straight line, much like its predecessors. However this year, the Italian team has been very vocal about the performance gains they have made with the stability and cornering ability of their machine. Aragon-Motorland will provide a thorough examination for these claims, with the circuit boasting numerous ‘S’ bend switchbacks, and long medium to high speed corners. It is a test which Ducati riders must not only pass, but completely out-perform their rivals if they are to realistically keep up the fight for the championship.

    Expecting to lead the way for the factory team this weekend is Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian reasserted his position as Marquez’ closest title contender, having taken victory last time out at Misano. Motorland Aragon has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Dovi, having not finished on the podium here since 2012 with the satellite Tech3 Yamaha team. Nevertheless, he is confident that he will be able to continue his championship resurgence this weekend having spoken yesterday in the press conference that: “The bike is fine, it is now about setting a good rhythm”.  

    Andrea Dovizioso last featured on the podium at Aragon in 2012, for the Tech3 Yamaha team (above).

    Behind the main battle for the championship, there is the increasingly thrilling on-track scrap for the best of the independent riders. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) currently leads the way on 119 points, after a strong ride in Misano saw him finish on the podium. Johann Zarco (Monster Tech3 Yamaha) and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) are both hot on his heels with 110 points each. Petrucci, buoyed by increasing support from the Ducati factory (in preparation for his arrival at the factory team in November), believes this weekend he will have the pace to push the frontrunners all the way: “We have same support as they (Dovizoso and Lorenzo) do. For sure we will have pace to fight for podium. Maybe more.”

    For the Movistar Yamaha factory team however, this weekend is expected to be another painful experience. Although considerable progress has been made with the electronics since the summer break, the Aragon circuit relentlessly targets Yamaha’s other main deficiency – engine power. With three long straights around the course, a bike which is sluggish under acceleration will be severely exposed against the competition.

    Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales know this, and as such will be focusing the M1 to perform as smoothly and efficiently as possible through the track’s 17 corners in order to recover as much lap time as possible. Such is the way the season has unfolded for the team, just having one bike in the top five here will be considered a good result.  

    Finally, there is a newcomer to the championship this weekend. Jordi Torres will be make his MotoGP debut for the Reale Avintia-Racing Ducati team, standing in for the still injured Tito Rabat. Torres will be most familiar to followers of World Superbikes, with the Spaniard riding in the series for MV Agusta. He is no stranger to the grand prix paddock, having ridden for multiple seasons in the old 125cc category and the Moto2 class. In the latter he had considerable success, being a multiple podium finisher and a race winner back in 2014.