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  • No Martin, But Di Giannantonio’s Brilliant Debut Win Keeps Gresini on the Top Step

    No Martin, But Di Giannantonio’s Brilliant Debut Win Keeps Gresini on the Top Step

    After scoring pole position on Saturday, his first in Moto3, Jakub Kornfeil went into Sunday’s Moto3 Czech Grand Prix with hopes of delivering his home crowd a top result.

    From the off, it looked as though it would be on the cards, as the most experienced rider in the lightweight class field got to turn one first, and duly scarpered, pulling a second on the field in the first lap. Kornfeil managed to hold that gap, too, for a small while, but after a couple of laps, the pack pulled their respective fingers out, and quickly closed erased the advantage the pole sitter had built in the initial stages of the race.

    Jakub Kornfeil falling back into the pack. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

    At this point, it looked like a normal, chaotic, Moto3 race, with all fifteen points scoring positions, plus a few more, locked together in the fight for the win.
    This was good for several people, especially the likes of Marco Bezzecchi and Enea Bastianini who were looking to take advantage of Jorge Martin’s absence, but were having to do so from poor grid positions, fourteenth for Bezzecchi and tenth for Bastianini.

    On the other hand, Aron Canet appeared at one stage as though he would have the pace to break the pack or at least split the group, setting several fastest laps on his early charge through the field to the front, but once he arrived at the head of the pack, he could do nothing about their attention.

    It was a similar story for Fabio Di Giannantonio, who should have been on pole before all of the mistiming occurred on Saturday afternoon. The Italian was at the front for less than half a lap before he started to pull away, along with Gabriel Rodrigo, but a mistake for the number 21 Gresini rider at turn ten made all that work null and void, as he was sucked back into the group.

    Further back through the field, but still in the front group, there were many changes of position, riders climbing up the rankings, only to steadily fall back again, whilst some hung around the same spot, unable to advance their standing. It was the most “Moto3” Moto3 race of the season, the group stayed together for almost the whole race, and when it split in the closing stages, there were still ten riders in victory contention.

    Di Giannantonio 1st and Canet 2nd in Brno 2018. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

    Especially, though, it was Di Giannantonio, Kornfeil and Canet who were looking likely to take the top step, all looking for firsts of some kind: both Di Giannantonio and Kornfeil were looking for their first Moto3 World Championship victories and Canet was in search of his first of 2018.

    This doesn’t always happen – especially in races as frenetic, confusing and chaotic as Moto3 group races – but on this occasion it did, the fastest riders over the course of the race being the ones fighting it out for the victory.

    Finally, it was the should-have-been pole sitter, Fabio Di Giannantonio who righted the wrongs of Le Mans – where the Race Direction committed daylight robbery – and took his first (official) Moto3 World Championship victory.

    Twenty-two years on from Valentino Rossi’s first Grand Prix victory in Brno, back in 1996 in the 125cc class, there are of course many comparisons to make between the nine-times World Champion and Di Giannantonio – ironically one of the Italians not associated with the VR46 empire. However, on a weekend where the shadow cast by the biggest stars of Grand Prix motorcycle racing is under particular scrutiny, it seems like a bad moment and, after all, this is Fabio’s first win, perhaps he might even deserve all of the attention for this one.

    Either way, Di Giannantonio’s ride was sublime, with some stunningly tough moves on both Kornfeil and Oettl in the middle of the stadium section. His confidence was immense, and ultimately undeniable. Furthermore, Di Giannantonio spent a lot of time in the front five positions, a crucial thing if you want to fight for the victory, and a sign of a rider with a good feeling, because it means they are always able to respond, even to their fastest rivals. Now we have to see whether this victory will act like Jorge Martin’s first win, and open the floodgates for Diggia, who moved to second in the championship and just 17 points off the top spot. All of a sudden he is right back in the championship hunt, and could prove to be Martin’s biggest threat for the title.

    Aron Canet was second over the line, little over a tenth behind Di Giannantonio. It was a strong ride from the Spaniard, perhaps his best of the year and his strongest challenge for victory since Qatar. Like Diggia, he stayed pretty much in the top positions for the whole race, losing out only through the strength of Di Giannantonio, and no fault of his own, something from which he can take big motivation and confidence into the next races. Also, Canet is now only 21 points back on the championship lead, and like Di Giannantonio is still right in the title fight.

    Whilst a dream would have been the dream of Kornfeil going into Sunday, he had to make do with third place, whish is still far beyond what probably anyone expected him to achieve. KTM had a new frame for this weekend, a softer one to try to negate a little bit the problem they have been having in trying to get the bike turned, especially mid-corner. It seemed to work a treat for Kornfeil, as he had his best weekend of the year, and fully deserved the podium position he walked away with, and no doubt he brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the Czech fans who were out in their droves to watch Sunday’s action.

    Enea Bastianini at Brno 2018. Image courtesy of HondaProRacing

    Fourth over the line was Enea Bastianini, who passed Gabriel Rodrigo on the final lap to demote the Argentine to fifth, but was too late to mount an assault on the podium. Again, it was an important points haul for Bastianini who now lies 36 points off the championship lead, and is not entirely out of contention. But if he wants to take the lightweight class crown in what will probably be his final year in Moto3 he will need to have a strong run of races in the coming rounds.

    Behind fifth-placed Rodriog was the new championship leader, Marco Bezzecchi, who recovered quite well from a poor weekend to take sixth spot. It was the first race in which Bezzecchi has finished, but not inside the podium places. However, he did perhaps more than was expected after Saturday, when he qualified fourteenth, and gave KTM the championship lead going into the Austrian manufacturer’s home race in a weeks’ time, a round where he will hope to return to the podium, and maybe even win at a track which on paper should suit his bike and style quite well.

    Seventh place went to Marcos Ramirez, who continued his good form from Sachsenring; Philipp Oettl was eighth, ahead of Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta who rounded out the top ten.

    Niccolo Antonelli had one of his best races in recent times, but in the end could only manage eleventh, ahead of compatriot and fellow VR46 academy rider, Dennis Foggia who was running strongly all race but dropped back in the final two laps. Thirteenth over the line was Kazuki Masaki, ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki and Tony Arbolino who was the final points scorer.

    Nakarin Atiratphuvapat took sixteenth spot, whilst Jaume Masia was seventeenth, ahead of Alonso Lopez, Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Migno who completed the top twenty. Vicente Perez took twenty-first place, in front of Ayumu Sasaki, Darryn Binder and Filip Salac.

    There were only four retirements: Kaito Toba, John McPhee, Stefano Nepa and Adam Norrodin.

  • Terms & conditions of the giveaway

    1. The promoter of this giveaway is The Pit Crew Online in conjunction VirtTrade Limited.

    2. The giveaway is open worldwide to iOS users only over the age of 16 years.

    3. Members of the promoter and sponsor and their immediate families are excluded.

    4. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this giveaway however the following terms apply:
    • Download, (if you have not already), the F1 © Trading Card Game from: https://go.onelink.me/app/12f78352,
    • Register and claim the welcome bonus by using code, PITCREW in ‘Profile’ page’s ‘Redeem Code’,
    • You may enter the giveaway using iOS on any of the social media channels mentioned herein under the specific instructions below:
    • Twitter: Follow The Pit Crew Online and F1 Trading Card Game accounts, retweet and like the giveaway post and comment with your nickname from the game to verify your entry,
    • Facebook: Like The Pit Crew Online and F1 Trading Card Game pages, like the giveaway post and comment with your nickname from the game to verify your entry.

    5. By entering this giveaway, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

    6. Closing date for entry will be 11th of August 2018 23:59 GTM. After this date the no further entries to the giveaway will be permitted.

    7. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

    8. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the giveaway will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.

    9. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this giveaway.

    10. The prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered. The welcome bonus is 10,000 coins for everyone, and giveaway winners will receive 10 packs of ‘Featured Driver Pack’ for the F1 © Trading Card game.

    11. The winner will be notified by Twitter/Facebook. If winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.

    12. The promoter will notify the winner when and where the prize can be collected / is delivered. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the giveaway will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

    13. Entry into the giveaway will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Network.

    14. The winner will be picked at random from all complete entries.

    15. The promoter also reserves the right to cancel the giveaway if circumstances arise outside of its control.

  • British GT: Adam delighted with teammate Haigh’s pace

    British GT: Adam delighted with teammate Haigh’s pace

    Jonny Adam was full of praise for teammate Flick Haigh after the Optimum Motorsport duo’s win at the British GT two hours of Brands Hatch.

    Haigh had to contend with two Safety Car periods – one of them almost 15 minutes – during her stint as she tried to negate the 10s success penalty to be served in the pits.

    Adam appreciated the job his Am teammate did for him.

    “The pace was great and has been good all year, we had a 12s gap at one point and unfortunately that just went away with the first Safety Car and then obviously with the nasty crash down here.

    “Really for Flick there were only four or five flying laps and she showed her pace again to eek out enough of a gap, a seven or eight second buffer, our pitstop was good and we managed just to get in front of Beechdean and Barwell.”

    After emerging from the stops second, ahead of all of their Championship rivals, Adam had almost an hour-long battle with the #69 Lamborghini of Jonny Cocker.

    “The Lamborghini in front looked strong and that’s their best result of the year so they were desperate for the win, but we’re desperate for the Championship as well, so we were pushing extra to get those extra 10 points.

    The Scot is confident ahead of the deciding round at Donnington, where Optimum could be in the lead should an appeal against a 30s penalty from Snetterton be upheld.

    “The Aston is normally a good car around Donnington, luckily enough we won there last year with TF so it’s a good package at Donnington. Qualifying is key, we’ve qualified pole for the last two races and that has really helped our momentum, we’re on a roll now with three podiums on the bounce, a second win of the year so we’re going for it at Donnington.”

    1. Meanwhile, Haigh was delighted with her performance in testing circumstances after twice seeing a significant lead wiped out.

    After building a gap of 12.6 seconds before the first Safety Car period, she was over six seconds clear when the second, longer caution was deployed.

    When Haigh did come into the pits to hand over to Adam, she was over six seconds clear of Andrew Howard once again.

    2. “I’m really pleased, you never what can happen even when you’re on pole so to build a lead and then have to do it again was really good, It was all about helping Jonny out and bringing that deficit down by any margin I could. The team, as always performed amazingly in the stops.

    I just wanted to make it as easy as possible because it is hard enough with the level of the pros there anyway, and I feel like I did my bit and I am really pleased for me, for him and the whole team.”

     

  • British F3 Reaction: Kjaergaard relieved to get back to winning ways

    British F3 Reaction: Kjaergaard relieved to get back to winning ways

    Nicolai Kjaergaard was relieved to return to the top step of the podium to complete a strong weekend at Brands Hatch.

    Kjaergaard’s win backs up a third place in Race One and an impressive rise to ninth in the reverse grid Race Two.

    The Dane led home Carlin teammate Jamie Caroline for a Carlin 1-2, while championship leader Linus Lundqvist maintained a healthy advantage with third place.

    Kjaergaard was quick to praise his Carlin team after ending a run of one podium finish in six races.

    “Carlin have had mega pace all year and prepared a fantastic car, it’s great to be back at the top step of the podium after two average weekends. I’m really, really pleased.

    “The start was good enough and after that all I had to do was a decent job and it’s difficult to overtake, don’t make a mistake and stay consistent.”

    Despite a 111-point deficit to Lundqvist, Kjaergaard says there is still motivation for the rest of the season.

    “Obviously we want to do as well as we can at Donnington and that means wins. I can’t control what he does, but I’m going to try and win as much as possible as I still have second place to play for.”

     

  • British GT: Adam and Haigh win to take the GT3 Championship to the wire,

    British GT: Adam and Haigh win to take the GT3 Championship to the wire,

    Optimum Motorsport were the class of the field at Brands Hatch as Jonny Adam and Flick Haigh took the championship to the wire with one round remaining.

    Mike Robinson took a much needed victory for Balfe Motorsport in GT4 alongside Graham Johnson in the #501 McLaren that started the race 13th in class ahead of Bens Green and Tuck in the #42 BMW, who snatched second from Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher on the run to the line.

    Adam passed Barwell Motorsport’s Jonny Cocker late in the race after the Lamborghini had led for most of the second stint, with the first hour punctuated by a long Safety Car period caused when Mike Newbould and Paul Vice collided on the start straight, severely damaging the Ginetta and the tyre wall.

    Nicki Thiim took third from Darren Turner at the death while the championship leading Barwell Motorsport duo Phil Keen and Jon Minshaw retired late with engine failure to blow the title race wide open ahead of the decider at Donnington Park.

    As Brands Hatch basked in glorious sunshine, Flick Haigh made hay and quickly built the gap that was needed to negate the 10s pit stop penalty  as Andrew Howard provided stern resistance for Graham Davidson.

    Dean MacDonald had fallen back to second in GT4 class behind Century Motorsport teammate Ben Green as the BMWs bossed the early stages the race in that category.

    Haigh had got the gap to 12.6 seconds before the first Safety Car was brought out as the #88 Ginetta of Graham Roberts was spun off after contact with Minshaw, who was in the process of lapping the GT4 runner.

    A short Safety Car period ensued, and Haigh quickly got the hammer down again to build the gap up to seven seconds before a longer Safety Car period ensued, as Mike Newbould in the #55 Ginetta collided with Paul Vice in the #44 Invictus Jaguar on the start straight.

    Newbould in particularly was fortunate to be able to walk away, and indeed gesture angrily at Vice – his Ginetta totally destroyed.

    Haigh only had five laps to build another gap and while she didn’t get the 10s needed, six seconds was nevertheless an impressive effort. A crowded pit lane and the associated chaos meant that her teammate Adam only lost position to Sam De Haan and Jonny Cocker.

    Adam hounded Cocker for almost the entirety of the last hour, and it didn’t look like the Lamborghini would wilt under immense pressure.

    But it only needed one mistake for Adam to pounce, as Cocker ran wide on the kerb at Dingle Dell with four minutes remaining to steal a vital victory ahead of the final round in September.

    Jack Mitchell saw his GT4 Championship lead cut to 10 points after finishing seventh in class after starting pole with Dean MacDonald.

    A 20s pit stop penalty and two Safety Car periods in the opening stint meant it was always going to be difficult for the #43 BMW to convert pole into a win.

    Fortune and strategy in the pit stops melee meant that the #501 McLaren of Mike Robinson ended the round of stops in the lead, and while he didn’t drive off he was never troubled by Martin Plowman in the #53 Nissan and Scott Malvern in the #66 Mercedes.

    Malvern was faster than Plowman but the Nissan was wider than ever and the Mercedes simply could not batter the door down, while Ben Tuck recovered well for the #42 BMW to climb back from eighth.

    Tuck caught Malvern and Plowman at the end and quickly deposed Malvern with a minute left, before he outdragged Plowman on the run to the chequered flag.

     

     

     

  • Safety in Motorsports Week: Dan Wheldon, A Horribly Perfect Storm

    The 2011 IndyCar season finale is about to begin. The thirty-four drivers line up on the grid of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but there’s an unusual entrant at the back. Dan Wheldon had been without a permanent ride all season – he’d only started two races in 2011. Las Vegas was to be his third, this time with a very tasty incentive. He had been offered $5 million if he could win from the back of the grid by IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard as a way of adding to the spectacle, dubbed a ‘dash for cash’.

    The race distance stands at 200 laps. 200 laps to pass 33 cars and make it to Victory Lane, a challenge that Wheldon, ever the racer, relished. ABC selected the two-time Indy 500 champion as their in-race reporter, and they talked to Wheldon just before the race start, where he told them, “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think that I could win”.

    Formation lap done, it was time for the green flag, and Wheldon made up ten places in the first ten laps. If he continued at that pace, he’d stand a very good chance of being in the mix by lap 200 and he knew it.

    Wade Cunningham and James Hinchcliffe made light contact on lap 12 in a seemingly insignificant incident. However, the numerous and fast-approaching cars changed that. Cunningham and Hinchcliffe were collected in a high-speed, 15-car wreck as drivers tried to avoid the chaos.

    This type of wreck was more accustomed to NASCAR rather than IndyCar, but it wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. The consequences, however, were.

    While 14 of the 15 drivers got away relatively unharmed, one didn’t. That one was Wheldon. There was a two-hour delay before the remaining drivers were given the news. It told them of something they knew could happen, but didn’t think ever would happen to them – they wouldn’t step in the car if they thought it would. The race was abandoned after the field completed a five-lap salute to their fallen friend, but this was just the start of what was to unfold.

    2011 Indy 500 champion Dan Wheldon. Image courtesy of Greg Hildebrand (creative commons 2.0 )

    On December 15th 2011, a 49-page document was published and released to the media, providing in-depth analysis of every angle of the 15-car crash that resulted in Wheldon’s death. It attributed his death to a “non-survivable” impact with a fence post on the catch fencing where his roll-hoop was torn off and left his helmeted head exposed.

    As a result, Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s contract was temporarily suspended and eventually permanently ended after it was deemed that the series could no longer race there with ensured safety. The same fate almost befell Texas Motor Speedway, which is another high-banked oval, but after some consideration it remained on the calendar and is still there to this day.

    Las Vegas have since expressed interest at returning to the schedule, but IndyCar management remain sceptical, not wanting to re-open old wounds or risk anything else at that track.

    Since 16th October 2011, Bernard and IndyCar as a series have come under huge amounts of criticism for creating the deadly circumstances surrounding Wheldon’s death, namely the chance to earn $5 million, the often three-wide high-banked oval, the speeds in excess of 220mph and seasoned drivers having to fight against rookies. It is still such a worrying crash to look back on. Sure, the so-called ‘dash for cash’ competitions are no longer held, but the man-made nature of the circumstances are disturbing to say the least.

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway hosting a Nascar event in 2011. Image courtesy of Tom Donoghue (under Creative commons 2.0)

    This all happened at a time when IndyCar was far more like NASCAR than F1 and that was the direction that the series was being taken in. The directors wanted close, high-speed pack racing that was both unpredictable and dangerous in nature. But, while NASCARs can bump and barge without too much worry, open-wheeled IndyCars, quite clearly, cannot.

    This has since been turned around. A change of series directors brought about a change in attitude, and the realisation that IndyCar was not NASCAR and shouldn’t try to be like it because it just wasn’t going to work. The controversial and often polarising duo of Bernard and Brian Barnhart are no longer part of IndyCar’s management, with the former being removed in 2012 and the latter leaving to set up Harding Racing at the end of 2017.

    The truth is that Wheldon’s death didn’t cause anywhere near as much change as it should have, and probably would have if it happened now. It showcased the blame-culture within the management at the time, with blame being put on the circuit for a culmination of issues that were mostly in the series’ control, not the track’s. Change was dangerously slowly implemented but that has now altered, primarily and unfortunately due to another tragedy.

    Justin Wilson died as a result of injuries sustained at the 2015 IndyCar race at Pocono after being struck by a piece of flying debris that had come off the crashed car of Sage Karam. The report, which was never released to the media like Wheldon’s was, stated that it was a “freak accident”. Since then, front and rear wings have been tethered to the cars, the new universal aero kits were brought in to reduce the amount of flying debris and soon the new windscreen will be brought in, something that many believe would have saved Wilson’s life.

    This showed a quick, coordinated and effective response to a tragedy, one that was far from present in the aftermath of Wheldon’s crash. IndyCar, and motorsport in general, has thankfully changed drastically since 2011, with a much greater interest in safety and the prevention of unnecessary risks. But, the sport is, by nature, reactive rather than proactive. It takes an accident for the true danger of something to be seen and the correct preventive measures to be put in place.

    Not as much has been learnt from Wheldon’s accident as it should have, but times have changed. IndyCar has woken up to the safety revolution that European motorsport is already undergoing. That change just needs to keep going.

  • British F3 – Chadwick takes historic win in Race Two

    British F3 – Chadwick takes historic win in Race Two

    Jamie Chadwick took a historic victory in Race Two to become the first ever woman to win a BRDC British F3 race, after Pavan Ravishankar was penalised for a jump start.

    Krish Mahadik was second ahead of Kush Maini and Sassakorn Chaimongkol, while Ravishankar dropped back to tenth after a 10s penalty.

    Chadwick got most of her work done on the opening lap – moving up to second on the road at the expense of Ben Hurst and Arvin Esmaeili.

    A Safety Car bought out to recover Ben Hurst’s car after he spun off at Clark Curve lasted for five minutes, and Mahadik was stuck behind Esmaeili for two laps allowing Chadwick to build a gap.

    Once Mahadik did eventually clear the Swede, the gap was 2.5 seconds with three laps left of a shortened race.

    The Indian, who won at Brands Hatch last year, bridged the gap and finished just four tenths behind Chadwick at the flag but had to be content with leading compatriot Maini home in third.

    Race One winner Jamie Caroline retired after deciding not to risk the car ahead of Race Three, while championship leader Linus Lundqvist was 11th and Nicolai Kjaergaard ninth after difficult races for the lead pair in the standings.

    After the race, Chadwick was pleased with her groundbreaking victory.

    “Obviously I am delighted with that win, I didn’t know that (I was the first woman to win a BRDC British F3 race) and it is a big weight off my shoulders.

    “Ultimately I’m so happy even if it was the reverse grid race win.”

    While Ravishankar crossed the line first on the road before his penalty, Chadwick was quite sure of his fate from early in the race.

    “I I felt like I knew he’d get a penalty, I saw him moving at the start. I was still pushing to try and put a move on him in the first half of the race to try and get a better lap for the last race too.

    “As soon as I saw that the penalty was confirmed, I just sat behind him and stayed sensible.”

  • Glenn Irwin Takes Second Consecutive BSB Pole

    In Brands Hatch, two weeks ago, Glenn Irwin took his first British Superbike Championship pole position, and backed it up with two second places, narrowly missing out on both race victories. Coming into this weekend, his intentions were always going to be to right the wrongs of round six, and take his first victory. He provided himself with a good opportunity to do that in race one tomorrow, as in Saturday’s qualifying session he managed to take his second career pole, and second in succession. He couldn’t be in a better position to try to take his first win, but the race is very different to qualifying – especially in Thruxton – and managing the tyre will be the critical element.
    Before we discuss that more, it is important to speak about the riders also on the front row: Luke Mossey and Glenn’s brother and teammate Andrew Irwin.

    Glenn Irwin. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Firstly, Mossey. His 2017 season was ruined by a crash in Thruxton last year, before which he looked like a genuine championship contender and after which he looked like what he was: a rider recovering from a big injury sustained in a big, fast crash. It was a big moment in Mossey’s career and it has affected him until, well, today. Of course, he was not helped by the change in tyre spec for this year, which ruined his preseason, but the after effects of the injury from last year have been a factor, too. So, what does he do when he returns to the scene of the accident that has lingered for the past twelve months? Well, he sticks it on the front row. This, from Mossey, is another one of those insane moments in motorcycle racing that are difficult for us mere mortals to comprehend, in a similar vein to, for example, the feat of Jorge Lorenzo in Assen 2013. Returning to something which has caused so much long term pain is a tough thing to do, for anyone, and what Mossey did in qualifying today deserves tremendous respect.

    Now, Andrew Irwin. It’s his fourth British Superbike meeting after returning to the British championship from a half-season in the World Supersport Championship. Superbikes are incredibly complex and, ultimately, alarming. They have more power than they can deal with, and with no electronic assistance the confidence of the rider is critical, and fragile. The McAMS Yamaha pair for this year are good comparisons. Josh Brookes, one of the most experienced riders on the grid, entered this year with no speed, because he had a poor feeling and thus no confidence. The take Tarran Mackenzie. He has been riding the Yamaha R1 since last winter, and only at the last round in Brands Hatch was he able to make the top ten. In comparison, Andy Irwin has come in has immediately been fast. In every circuit he has visited with the superbike, he has been up in the top ten in practice, but in Thruxton there is always a question mark, because if you feel a little bit off it costs you more than usual because the speeds are so high. But he arrived, and he was fast immediately. In Q2, he was the fastest rider, and that time stood as the fastest time of the weekend even after Q3, when he qualified third for his first front row in BSB, in just his fourth round in the championship. Irwin has been incredibly impressive, but I think I echo the feelings of everyone when I say that I hope he doesn’t make a mistake soon, because whilst confidence takes a long time to build, it can be completely destroyed in ten seconds. A mistake now could have career-defining consequences, which Irwin doesn’t deserve to have to endure.

    Josh Brookes took fourth place, which he wasn’t overly impressed with, but his race pace is demonic; beating the Aussie over race distance tomorrow will be a challenge for anybody and everybody.

    Bradley Ray. Image courtesy of Suzuki racing

    Bradley Ray discovered something to fix the front end issues he has suffered with the front end of the Suzuki in the last few rounds. It seems the opening round double winner is back to something like his giant-killing best. The podium has to be the aim for Ray tomorrow, it would be his first since race one at Brands Indy.

    Jake Dixon has looked quite strong this weekend, and qualified decently in sixth place. He has a good chance to make the podium tomorrow from the back of the second row, but the most important thing for Jake tomorrow is to take points out of the podium credits lead of Leon Haslam.

    Speaking of Haslam, he only managed to qualify eighth, behind Christian Iddon and ahead of Danny Buchan. The championship leader has a job on tomorrow to extend his advantage over Dixon, but he can take some steps closer to confirming his spot in the Showdown.

    Jason O’Halloran qualified tenth, ahead of Friday’s fastest man, Peter Hickman, who was ill today. Richard Cooper completes row four.

    Tommy Bridewell was thirteenth for Moto Rapido Ducati, ahead of an impressive Martin Jessopp and equally impressive Chrissy Rouse. James Ellison was sixteenth, a surprising Shaun Winfield seventeenth and Mason Law was the last of the Q2 contenders in 18th.

    Michael Laverty made the mistake of only using one tyre in Q1, which means he only starts 19th for tomorrow’s first race, whilst Gino Rea rounds out the top twenty and Fraser Rogers completes the seventh row.

    Dan Linfoot’s replacement, Tom Neave, qualified 22nd for his first BSB, ahead of Sylvain Barrier, Luke Hedger and Aaron Zanotti.
    Tarran Mackenzie had a bike issue on his out lap in Q1 which means he starts from the very back of the grid in 26th for tomorrow’s first race.

  • Kornfeil Takes First Moto3 Pole

    Brno qualifying was just like any other for Moto3, at least it was for thirty-seven minutes. Everyone went out, set some laps at a reasonable pace, and then came in. Then they waited, and they waited, looked at the clock, waited some more, and finally went out with just under three minutes to go. With a 2’08 lap time, they were up against it to get round in time to set a final qualifying attempt, and sure enough, most didn’t.

    However, Jakub Kornfeil did, and set his first ever Grand Prix pole in his home race. He was helped on his way by John McPhee for half the lap, but passed the Scot at turn eleven, towing him up the hill and to the line. In turn McPhee went second, as the two of them fooled the field to snatch the front two places on the grid. With many of the favoured riders starting further back tomorrow, they both have a big chance to grab a podium, or maybe even a win.
    Marcos Ramirez completes tomorrow’s front row, and for once he took third without the necessity for penalties for his rivals.

    Jacub Kornfeil, John McPhee & Kazuki Masaki .Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM

    Philipp Oettl took fourth place on the grid, whilst Fabio Di Giannantonio – who held provisional pole for most of the session – was fifth ahead of Aron Canet who was the first rider to miss the chequered flag on his last run.

    Row three is fronted by Gabriel Rodrigo, ahead of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat who had his best performance of 2018, and Niccolo Antonelli who has seemingly seen something of a return to form after the break, although the confirmation of that is still pending.

    It was a self-proclaimed disaster for Enea Bastianini, who was tenth and needs a good race here to get his championship challenge back on track, although he hasn’t looked so brilliant this weekend. Jaume Masia and Kazuki Masaki – who has had a stellar weekend, topping FP2 – join Bastianini on row four.

    Thirteenth fastest was Dennis Foggia – his best performance since the paddock arrived in Europe back in May – ahead of championship hopeful but Czech GP struggler Marco Bezzecchi and Albert Arenas who suffered a crash at the end of the session but was okay. Speaking for Bezzecchi, a good start is essential for his race tomorrow, even more so as his main title rival Jorge Martin, is out of the weekend with a broken radius. Like all the other championship hopefuls, Bezzecchi must make the most of Martin’s absence this weekend.

    Tony Arbolino was sixteenth, ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Nicolo Bulega, who has looked much better than eighteenth this weekend. Darryn Binder was nineteenth, with Kaito Toba rounding out the top twenty and Adam Norrodin rounding out row seven.

    Twenty-second fastest was Andrea Migno, then came Stefano Nepa, Vicente Perez, Alonso Lopez and Filip Salac who was superb in FP3 in the morning but could not translate that to qualifying.

    Tatsuki Suzuki and Ayumu Sasaki did not set a qualifying lap as they crashed on the first lap out of the pits and both missed the flag at the end. Sasaki also had a trip to the medical centre and looked in pain at the end of the session. Hopefully he will be okay for tomorrow, and able to mount a comeback from the back of the grid.

    As previously mentioned, Jorge Martin is absent this weekend. The championship leader suffered a nasty high side in FP1 at turn ten, and suffered a broken radius bone. That has put him out of this weekend, and also made him a doubt for next weekend in Austria. Hopefully the Spaniard will make a decent enough recovery over the next days to be able to turn up and be at least semi-competitive in Spielberg but right now it is difficult to say.

  • BRITISH F3 ROUND-UP: Caroline’s sweet victory makes it two from four

    BRITISH F3 ROUND-UP: Caroline’s sweet victory makes it two from four

    Jamie Caroline’s dominant display ensured that he continued his winning return to Carlin with victory in Race One at Brands Hatch.

    He led home Double R’s Linus Lundqvist and Nicolai Kjaergaard, the former extending his championship lead to 125 points, while Billy Monger was fourth.

    Sun Yue Yang made it four Carlin cars in the top five ahead of Kush Maini in sixth, with last year’s winner Krish Mahadik edging out Manuel Maldonado, Tom Gamble and Sasskorn Chaimongkol.

    Caroline, who’s replacing the injured Clement Novalak, was delighted with his second win in four, and praised his relationship with Carlin.

    “It’s a shame we didn’t start the season! It’s been great to link up with Carlin again, every time I come into the weekend it’s done to me because the car will be good, it adds a little pressure to do well.

    “Quick teammates push me on a little bit, obviously I’m here as a sub for Clement (Novolak, who has a broken thumb) so I am trying my best to do a better job than them really. I wouldn’t say I’m doing  much better job but I’m doing as good a job as I can given that I’ve not had as much time in the car its my second weekend in F3, we got a race win at Spa albeit a reverse grid win but a win’s a win.”

    After winning from eighth at Spa in the reverse grid race, Caroline was happier with a more traditional route to the flag, and credited an aggressive formation lap build for building a three-second lead early on in the race.

    “Here a lights to flag win always feels a bit better, after all these years it’s great to be driving for Carlin again, two wins in two events isn’t bad. I got a lot of heat in my tyres, I’ve never worked tyres harder and I was knackered after that! I pushed like I was on a qually lap from the off, got the gap and then it was about maintaining that gap and looking after the car.

    £I wish this was until the end of the season but I think it’s until whenever he’s fit enough to come back in, it may be Donnington clashes with his Euro programme, fingers crossed I can get something together for then.”

    After a difficult Spa two weeks again, Kjaergaard was relieved to be back to form this weekend.

    “It was great to get back on the podium after such a long time, I’d have preferred P1 or P2 after starting second but we got on the podium and the fastest lap, which is important for the Race Three grid.

    “There’s still second on the table and I want to finish the season as well as I can.”

    Linus Lundqvist had earlier pledged to go all out for the victory despite a huge points lead, but was satisfied with second place on Saturday.

    “I wouldn’t say that I gave up the win after qualifying (fourth) but around Brands it is hard to overtake. There wasn’t going to be much chances of moves unless someone made a mistake, we made a good start and got to second on old tyres while the Carlin boys were on new ones.

    “I’ll take another podium and extending the championship lead.”