Well it’s been rumoured around the paddock for weeks, if not months, and became the worst kept secret in IndyCar but now it’s official: IndyCar are making their much-anticipated return to Laguna Seca.
The deal jumped through its final hoop after being approved by the County Board, something that was widely expected, and means that the series will return to the venue that held regular races from 1983 to 2004.
One of the most notable parts of the deal is Laguna’s position on the calendar; the race will take Sonoma’s spot as the season finale which has only fuelled speculation that the Sonoma race will not be present on the 2019 calendar. This, however, remains to be seen as the rest of the IndyCar schedule has not yet been announced, although the series organisers say that the reveal is impending.
Mario Andretti at Laguna Seca, 1991. Image courtesy of Stuart Seeger
Another point to pick out in the deal is its length – IndyCar have signed up for at least the next three years at the track with the finale position being confirmed for 2019 but not, as of yet at least, for the other two. This decision, if not already made, will probably hinge on the show that Laguna puts on for 2019 but, if the hype’s anything to go by, that shouldn’t be a worry.
The most famous feature of the 2.2-mile circuit is, of course, the Corkscrew which has seen a wealth of showstopping overtakes across all series that have, or still do, race there. From Valentino Rossi on Casey Stoner to IndyCar’s own Alex Zanardi on Byran Herta and many more; that corner has certainly seen a lot of action of the years!
The announcement has been given a very warm reception by the IndyCar drivers, teams and fans alike with many already reminiscing about old Laguna memories while also excited to jump at the chance of making more.
We’ll have to wait until next year to finally have an IndyCar turn a wheel at the legendary track but that wait is certainly worth it, the end to the Laguna absence is in sight.
5th October 2014 was a dark day that holds many painful memories for the world of Formula One. It was the day that French racing driver Jules Bianchi – a man so talented he was tipped to be a multi-world champion – crashed into a recovery vehicle at turn seven at Suzuka and, after a long battle, eventually succumbed to his injuries on the 17th July 2015.
Jules Bianchi at Silverstone 09/07/2014 Image courtesy of FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO X FERRARI
Exactly what has Formula One learned since Jules’ passing? First of all, we have to look at the marshals and the stewards. Regardless of whose responsibility it was, a recovery vehicle was deployed under a yellow flag in incredibly wet conditions. Not a safety car or a red flag, but a yellow flag. This, plainly and simply, should never have happened.
As a result of this recovery vehicle deployment, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was invented so as to keep the drivers to a delta time after an incident. This would mean that drivers would slow down immediately, and there would not be the confusion that is otherwise presented by localised yellows. This is not to say that localised yellows no longer exist, but Adrian Sutil’s accident in Suzuka – the reason the recovery vehicle was deployed – would have seen a VSC brought out instead. The VSC was first used at Monaco in 2015 when Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean crashed at Sainte Devote.
However, the most concerning aspect of the incident is not the yellow flags, but rather the fact that the recovery vehicle was allowed out on track under such circumstances. In 2008 at the Nurburgring, a recovery vehicle was deployed after several spins at turn one, and it was hit by a Toro Rosso. Thankfully it was a small impact and no harm was done as a result, but surely you would think that Charlie Whiting would learn from something so dangerous. As it was, he didn’t, and once again he allowed the recovery vehicle to be let out onto the track at Suzuka. This time, the decision resulted in a fatal accident.
This negligence is the reason Jules’ father, Philippe Bianchi, decided to sue Formula One, then-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, FOM (Formula One Management) and the Marussia Formula One Team for whom Jules had been racing. He later retracted this because, realistically, he could receive all the money in the world, but he would not get his son back.
Jules Bianchi. Image courtesy of Ferrari media
Our sport has come a long way since Bianchi’s death, and steps have been taken to prevent the same thing happening again. In fairness, Charlie Whiting has since taken precautions to avoid similar circumstances to the ones to which he contributed nearly four years ago.
They say the good die young, but Jules was not just good. He was on another level, but unfortunately these safety advances came too late for one of Formula One’s brightest ever stars.
Looking at the results, you wouldn’t have thought much happened during the British Grand Prix, but some action at the start and a couple of safety car periods spiced the race up. The final race of the triple-header in Europe saw Sebastian Vettel take the win.
The 2018 Formula One British GP winners; (left to right)Lewis 2nd, Seb winner and Kimi 3rd. Image courtesy of Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel – 9
There were pre-race doubts about Vettel’s fitness – he had tape put on his neck after FP3 – but the adrenaline kicked in and his start was beautiful, waving concerns away. All the action happened behind him. The safety cars late on in the race put him behind on the track but a great dive-bomb up the inside of Bottas sealed the win. Great victory as we head towards Germany next!
Lewis Hamilton – 9
The Brit got a tardy start which he would come to regret, even if he ended the race in a position where he lost minimal amounts of points. There were some very interesting comments from him afterwards suggesting that tactics from Ferrari were what resulted in him being taken out, bringing back memories of Mexico 2017. Hamilton was the last car on track at the end of lap one, but like a knife through butter he carved his way through the field. A disappointing start, but if you look from lap two onwards it was a great race for him.
Kimi Raikkonen – 7
Raikkonen has finished on the podium at the last three races, but never on the top step. The Finn owned up to his coming-together with Hamilton, saying the incident at turn three was his fault and accepting the penalty handed to him. Team-mate Vettel stormed off into the distance, while Raikkonen couldn’t quite match Hamilton near the end of the race.
Valtteri Bottas – 8
The Mercedes team threw away the lead again today, deciding to keep Bottas out after the second safety car. Before that he was faster than Vettel, so on a level playing field Bottas could have beaten the German and taken the flag first. Much like in China and Baku, strategy from his team may have cost him the victory once again, even if it may have been tougher in Silverstone to remain in the lead. A great start made amends for a poor qualifying on Saturday, but he is clearly still playing second fiddle to Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo – 7
Silverstone turned out to be a track which highlighted the frailties of the Red Bull package. Roughly 80% of the track is spent at full throttle, and power isn’t exactly Red Bull’s strong point. Ricciardo was out qualified once again by Verstappen, with a DRS issue hampering his performance. He was great at defending against Raikkonen during the race but unfortunately the safety car came out at the wrong time for him, as he had already made a pit-stop two laps beforehand. The lack of speed along the straights prevented him from passing Bottas in the closing laps of the race.
Nico Hulkenburg – 8
Best of the rest and great haul of points for the German. Renault were the only team to use the hard tyre during the race, having worried about blistering on the other compounds, and the tactic worked brilliantly. Hulkenberg did supremely well to keep the pack behind him at the two safety car restarts.
Esteban Ocon – 7
Ocon is showing his worth a lot more this season compared to last, and provided a great result at for Force India at what is essentially the team’s home race, given that their factory is literally just over the road. Ocon made it through to the final part of qualifying, and kept the car in the top ten on Sunday.
Fernando Alonso – 8
Alonso’s McLaren may lack pace on a Saturday but on a Sunday, in the hands of the Spaniard, it is one of the best in the midfield. He took advantage of the safety cars to pit for some fresh rubber, allowing him to get past Kevin Magnussen at the end. He may appear calm on the outside, but it isn’t hard to imagine that deep down all is still not well with the relationship between himself and McLaren.
Sebastian Vettel leads the 2018 British GP. Image courtesy of Ferrari
Kevin Magnussen – 7
Hampered by the first lap accident with his team-mate, Magnussen did well to score points considering the clash inflicted some damage to his car, which restricted his speed. He was one of few drivers not to pit under the safety car which pushed him down the order late on, but he managed to hold on to salvage some points.
Sergio Perez – 6
Much like Hamilton, Perez saw the field drive past him after contact on the first lap spun him at turn one. He recovered well and found himself in contention for the last point, which was ultimately claimed by Pierre Gasly Chafter a collision between the two near the end of the race. After the race, though, Gasly was awarded a five-second penalty for the incident, meaning Perez inherited P10 and the one point that comes with it.
Stoffel Vandoorne – 4
It was a quiet weekend in general for Vandoorne. He was a whopping 0.9 seconds slower than Alonso on Saturday, and with others making the decision to start the race from the pit-lane it meant he was the last on the grid. He finished the race in 12th, meaning he now hasn’t scored since Baku. Lando Norris in currently second in Formula 2 and is hotly tipped for a drive in F1 next year. It could well be this seat that he takes.
Lance Stroll – 5
Williams are currently the worst car on the grid, and unfortunately nothing put that more on show than Sunday’s race. Prior to the first safety car they were the only team to have been lapped, and Stroll made a mistake in qualifying which ended up his car being beached in the gravel.
Pierre Gasly – 7
Gasly had a good Sunday and initially finished tenth, a welcome result given that Toro Rosso been having a tough time of it recently. The Frenchman collided with Perez with a few laps to go, and a harsh time penalty given to him after the race pushed him down the field. Silverstone was a track which showed Honda’s deficit to the other manufacturers, but there are still promising signs and it was a far better day for Gasly than the results suggested.
Sergey Sirotkin – 5
Sirotkin, along with his team-mate, started the race from the pits after taking on new parts. Like Stroll, Sirotkin also made a mistake in qualifying, but managed to keep the car going and set a lap, albeit one that turned out to be the slowest of the session. Seeing the Williams team run plum last is such a shame to see.
Max Verstappen – 7
Verstappen may have been classified as a finisher, but a brake-by-wire issue ended his day late into the race. Ever-hungry, he was running in a solid podium position, but with the deficit of his Renault power-unit he was a sitting duck at the restarts. His defending to Raikkonen was brilliant.
Carlos Sainz – 5
A poor performance for Sainz both on Saturday and Sunday. A less-than-par qualifying session put him in the thick of the action, and he collided with Romain Grosjean. A weekend to forget for the Spaniard.
Romain Grosjean – 5
Will Austria be seen as a peak in Grosjean’s season? Three collisions in one weekend isn’t good enough. The first occurred in practice, with the second being the cardinal sin of hitting his team mate on the first lap. The third, a tangling with Sainz at Copse, ended his race. Grosjean should have lifted off the throttle, but he kept his foot buried, causing instability and ultimately the collision.
Marcus Ericcson – 6
Ericsson’s DRS didn’t close as he approached turn one during the race and he crashed heavily, bringing out the first safety car. The crash rounded out an unfortunate weekend for the Swede, after England took his country out of the World Cup the day before. He did, however, have great pace during qualifying and got through to Q2.
Charles Leclerc – 8
An unfortunate error in the pits for Sauber resulted in Leclerc’s rear tyre not being fitted properly and the team telling him to stop the car. He had made another Q3 appearance on Saturday and had been running seventh at the time of the error, which meant the loss of a potentially big haul of points.
Brendan Hartley – N/A
You can’t really comment on what a horrible weekend the Kiwi has had. The suspension failure on Saturday pretty much ended his weekend. He didn’t see any track action in qualifying, and a last minute problem starting from the pit lane resulted in retirement after one lap. None of it whatsoever was his fault.
Ferrari Media
There is now a two-week break before we head to Hockenheim in Germany, a track that we see appear every so often on the calendar. Vettel won on Hamilton’s home turf this weekend, but can Hamilton strike back with victory in Germany? Vettel hasn’t got a record like Hamilton at his home track, and has only won in Germany once in his Red Bull days. The summer break looms and, for drivers such as Grosjean and Vandoorne, the pressure increases.
While his title rivals faltered all around him, it was Scott Dixon who reigned supreme on the streets of Toronto to nearly double his championship lead, now standing at 62 points over defending champion Josef Newgarden. The #9 Chip Ganassi driver got lucky to get into the lead but once he was there, he never looked back.
Scott Dixon. Indycar 2018: Round Twelve – Toronto, Canada. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Dixon did not start on pole, that accolade went to Newgarden, and spent the first half of the race in a firm second, occasionally challenging but ultimately looking like the lesser force of the two. Teammate Ed Jones did his bit to reduce Newgarden’s advantage; after a problem in the pit stops, he’d come out just ahead of the leading duo and made Newgarden’s life very difficult, allowing Dixon to close up but not pass. However, the complexion of the race changed drastically when, on the first restart, Newgarden got onto the marbles, going wide, hitting the wall and damaging his suspension – handing Dixon the lead and eventually the victory. Gifted or not, this was a very important one for Dixon who now boasts a large, but not insurmountable, championship lead.
Josef Newgarden. Image courtesy of Jake Galstad/LAT for Chevy Racing
On a day of struggles for all of Dixon’s rivals, the most self-inflicted pain probably came from Newgarden after he was entirely at fault for his wide moment that completely ruined his race. Following this, the defending champion was dropped down to thirteenth and then dropped further when he had to pit to repair the damage that the incident had caused. Newgarden found himself battling through the pack with a familiar face in Alexander Rossi, who’d had his own troubles, and managed to get up to ninth in what became a damage limitation race. He may have lost a lot of ground, but the #1 Penske driver refuses to lose hope of defending the #1.
Rossi, as previously mentioned, had his own problems – two incidents in fact, both of which left his car damaged and meant that he got through three front wings during the race. After fighting with Takuma Sato in the early stages of the race, Rossi had caught up to the back of Will Power and was clearly the faster of the two. On the back straight, Rossi went for an overtaking manoeuvre which was just about on however, Rossi misjudged the speed differential between the two and clipped Power’s rear left, breaking his front wing and causing some damage to Power’s suspension. This dropped Rossi down the order, but things were about to get worse.
On the second restart Graham Rahal locked up into Turn 1 and hit the back of Max Chilton before spinning and tangling with Ryan Hunter-Reay who in turn clipped the rear of Rossi’s car, sending the #27 Andretti flying and causing extensive damage to the floor of the car. Even through all that, Rossi managed to finish in a respectable position, coming come in eighth and ahead of Newgarden, gaining ground on him in the championship but all the while losing ground on Dixon.
With Newgarden and Power’s troubles, the latter of whom got caught up in the Rahal collision, it was Simon Pagenaud who was left to fly the Penske flag, finishing in his equal best result of the season in second. After the restart melee, Pagenaud found himself in third, just behind Robert Wickens who held second but that was about to change. Wickens came into the pits first and had a poor out lap, giving Pagenaud the opportunity to overcut him and, despite some fighting on the Frenchman’s out-lap, that was achieved. There was a bit of wheel-banging and Wickens very nearly ended in the wall but both drivers managed to get through it, declaring that there were no hard feelings after the race.
For Wickens, his impressive, season-long, run of form continues with a home podium that he was delighted to stand on, especially given that most his family were in attendance. In fact, it was another good race for the whole Schmidt Peterson team with Wickens in third and last week’s winner, James Hinchcliffe, in fourth – both drivers solidly in the top five is a decent result for the self-proclaimed ‘Team Canada’.
Perhaps one of the surprises of the race was Carlin’s Charlie Kimball who came home in fifth, after challenging Hinchcliffe for fourth in the latter stages of the race. This marks the best result so far for Carlin, who are new to IndyCar this season, and is Kimball’s best result since the 2016 Indy 500. Kimball’s teammate, Chilton, was less fortunate, ending as an innocent party in Rahal’s collision but even so, it was a brilliant weekend for the British team.
Charlie Kimball at Toronto 2018. Image courtesy of Phillip Abbott/LAT for Chevy Racing
Another surprise was who took the accolade of top Andretti; normally this is swapped between Rossi and Hunter-Reay with Marco Andretti and rookie Zach Veach not getting a look in, but it was in fact Veach who came out on top after various incidents for the others. Hunter-Reay had driven into the tyre barriers at the same time that Rossi had driven into Power which all amounted to the first caution before both of them were caught up in the Rahal restart collision. For a long time, it looked like Andretti was going to get a near season best finish of fifth however, there was a miscalculation on the fuel numbers which meant that the American had to come in at the end of the penultimate lap for a splash and dash, dropping him down the order and leaving Veach to claim the position of top Andretti in seventh.
The last mention goes to IndyCar returnee Conor Daly who qualified in a near season’s best for Harding in eleventh (only second to Gabby Chaves’ eighth at St Petersburg) before racing to a season’s best finish of thirteenth. Given that was his first race for Harding and only second of the season (the Indy 500 with Dale Coyne being the first), it was an amazing performance from Daly who is now firmly in the frame for a seat that he so richly deserves next season.
With the only international round of the season done, IndyCar are heading back to American soil with the next race at Mid-Ohio after a weekend off.
Full Race Result:
Scott Dixon
Simon Pagenaud
Robert Wickens (R)
James Hinchcliffe
Charlie Kimball
Tony Kanaan
Zach Veach (R)
Alexander Rossi
Josef Newgarden
Marco Andretti
Jordan King (R)
Ed Jones
Conor Daly
Zachary Claman De Melo (R)
Matheus Leist (R)
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Rene Binder (R)
Will Power
Sebastien Bourdais
DNF – Spencer Pigot, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Max Chilton
Featured image courtesy of by Phillip Abbott/LAT for Chevy Racing
Before today, no Moto2 bike had lapped the Sachsenring in under 1’24. Now four riders have, led by Mattia Pasini who looks back on form after his post-Mugello depression. The veteran Italian has looked strong all weekend and in a field more closely packed than it is possible to remember, came out on top in qualifying with an early lap to give him pole position.
Mattia Pasini. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Nearly two tenths back of Pasini – yes, two tenths – was Luca Marini, who took his best career qualifying and second consecutive front row with second place. Marini was unable to convert his front row in Assen to anything special, but unlike Assen the Italian has had decent pace all weekend, and could challenge for the podium tomorrow.
Joining Pasini and Marini on the front row tomorrow is Francesco Bagnaia, the World Championship leader, who started off the weekend testing parts for Kalex which left him one second off the pace and down in 26th place. It turned around from there, though, and Bagnaia soon found his rhythm, as was able to make it an all-Italian front row, and tomorrow will be aiming to take consecutive victories for the first time in his career.
Pasini, Marini and Bagnaia, Sachsenring. Image Courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Sam Lowes was the final rider to dip below 1’24, with a 1’23.971 to give him fourth on the grid. Gearing changes – made for the race at Assen – to give the engine an easier time cost Lowes a better result than ninth, so on a weekend when he has been amongst the top times for its entirety, he will be hoping to maximise his potential tomorrow and take his first podium since Aragon 2016.
Lorenzo Baldassarri has floated about this weekend, sometimes outside the top ten, sometimes challenging the front runners, but in qualifying managed to pull it all together to take fifth on the grid from where he will be aiming to make up for the disappointment of Assen’s puncture.
The final spot on the second row goes to Xavi Vierge, who has also been there or thereabouts all weekend.
Alex Marquez suffered a big crash today in FP3, but still managed to take seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s German Moto2 Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Joan Mir and home hero Marcel Schrotter.
The top ten is rounded out by Brad Binder, who heads up row four and is joined on it by Romano Fenati – who was about the only person to improve their lap time in the final part of the session – and Danny Kent who has been strong this weekend despite the Speed Up historically not suiting Sachsenring.
Row five is fronted by Augusto Fernandez who continues to improve and impress on the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex. He is joined on the fifth row by Isaac Vinales and perennial poor qualifier Miguel Oliveira who will need a first lap sent by some sort of deity if he is to avoid losing more points to Bagnaia in the championship tomorrow.
It’s not easy to pass in Sachsenring and although Oliveira has possessed solid race pace this weekend, it’s difficult to use that if you have fourteen riders in front of you who, in reality, aren’t all that much slower. Furthermore, if there is a first turn on the calendar that invites a lap one pile-up, it’s turn one at Sachsenring – partly because it is so tight and partly because from turn one you have to wait, really until turn twelve to be able to pass again. Whichever way you look at it, Oliveira has a proper job on tomorrow.
Miguel Oliveira. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
The sixth row is headed up by Jorge Navarro who has had a quieter weekend than normal this weekend, and is ahead of Andrea Locatelli who has looked better than seventeenth this weekend, and Fabio Quartararo, the Catalan winner blighted by inconsistency this weekend as his name has become linked to the Petronas Yamaha team for next year.
Simone Corsi will start from the head of the seventh row, ahead of Remy Gardner who will round out the top twenty – a surprise after the Australian’s superb FP3 form – and Bo Bendsneyder.
Row eight will consist of Steven Odendaal, Dominique Aegerter – who started the weekend by topping FP1 – and finally Khairul Idham Pawi.
Iker Lecuona will be disappointed with 25th place, but either way he will be joined on the ninth row by Tetsuta Nagashima and Eric Granado.
Jules Danilo, Joe Roberts and Stefano Manzi make up the tenth row, Manzi incurring a three-place penalty for taking out Federico Fuligni in FP2 yesterday.
The eleventh and final row will only have tow riders on it, and they are the aforementioned Fuligni and the wildcard Xavi Cardelus.
Niki Tuuli has deemed himself unable to continue riding this weekend due to the finger injury he sustained in Assen two weeks ago.
Who else but Jorge Martin? Yes, the 2018 Moto3 World Championship leader took yet another pole position, his sixth of the season and fourteenth of his career. That said, it hasn’t been the usual dominance from Martin this weekend, despite admitting that he enjoys the Sachsenring a lot. That said, it is tough to bet against the Spaniard for the race win tomorrow, as he seeks to extend his two-point championship lead.
Jorge Martin. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Lining up alongside the Gresini Honda on tomorrow’s grid are Marcos Ramirez and Enea Bastianini. Ramirez finished on the podium in Germany last year, and so will harbour hopes of enjoying a good result tomorrow. Meanwhile, Bastianini is coming off the back of his second consecutive podium, and, lying just twenty-one points off the championship lead, will be looking to close the deficit he currently suffers to Martin.
Jaume Masia completed what was a very positive day for the Bester Capital Dubai team, by taking fourth on the grid – his best qualifying of the season. Aron Canet, who like Bastianini will be aiming to reduce his gap to the top of the championship tomorrow, starts between Masia and Tony Arbolino on the second row of the grid.
Marco Bezzecchi qualified seventh. His pace has not been anything fantastic this weekend, but Bezzecchi has a tendency to race better than he practices so we will see what he can do tomorrow. John McPhee and Ayumu Sasaki join the Argentine GP winner on the third row of the grid.
Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out the top ten in qualifying, and will start from the head of the fourth row tomorrow. Alongside him will be Albert Arenas and Gabriel Rodrigo.
Despite being incredibly fast at times, Philipp Oettl could only manage thirteenth place on the grid for his home Grand Prix, and alongside him on the fifth row of the grid will be Darryn Binder’s impressive replacement Raul Fernandez, and Tatsuki Suzuki.
Niccolo Antonelli will start from sixteenth tomorrow, alongside Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Adam Norrodin on the sixth row of the grid.
The wildcard, Ai Ogura, has been severely impressive this weekend, which makes nineteenth sound quite bad, but ultimately he was only eight tenths away from Martin’s pole time; and starting alongside Alonso Lopez and Jakub Kornfeil on row seven means he is in some good company.
Kazuki Masaki starts from twenty-second tomorrow, ahead of a disappointing Nicolo Bulega who has looked faster than row eight this weekend, but with such a difficult qualifying has probably ruined what could be his best chance of getting on the podium this season. Kaito Toba joins Masaki and Bulega on the eighth row.
It has been an awful weekend for Andrea Migno, as it has for Dennis Foggia. They both start from row nine, in 25th and 27th respectively. In between them is the wildcard Luca Grunwald who has not disgraced himself whatsoever this weekend, although being 26th on the grid in his home Grand Prix perhaps says a bit about the quality of the SSP300 field, in the standings of which he lies second.
The final row consists of Livio Loi’s replacement, Vicente Perez, Nakarin Atriatphuvapat and Stefano Nepa.
Nine in a row. That is Marc Marquez’s pole record in Sachsenring. It is a stunning statistic that will likely go unmatched by any other rider in any track. But the endlessly left-handed nature of the German Grand Prix track lends itself beautifully to Marquez’s flat tracking background, where turning left is the way of life. But that does not mean that pole position was handed to him on a silver platter, by twenty-three other riders kneeling before him. It was mostly thanks to Marquez’ approach this weekend, which has been entirely focused around race runs. He put almost a full race distance on a tyre in each of the first three free practice session, and didn’t bother to try a time attack.
This, obviously, hampered the reigning champion’s qualifying preparation, and handed a rare Saturday advantage to the rest of the pack. Most notably Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci; the current factory Ducati rider towing his 2019 replacement to provisional pole position with just over one minute left on the clock. But finally it was Marquez who took pole, by 0.025 seconds from Petrucci, with his very final lap, the value of such a result highlighted by the #93’s celebrations.
Second place for Petrucci was probably better than he had expected. Danilo had been around the top times all weekend, and had looked good over one lap. But still, to beat both the factory Ducatis and the Yamahas in qualifying is quite an achievement – especially at a track which historically should not suit Ducati. The problem for Danilo is race pace, which he admits is a different story to qualifying, but if he can get some track position at the beginning of the race, anything is possible.
Jorge Lorenzo. Image courtesy of Ducati
Jorge Lorenzo might be a little annoyed when he watched qualifying back when he realises he towed Petrucci round for his fastest time, something which Petrucci thanked Jorge for in the parc ferme after qualifying. Even still, at a track which no one expected the Ducati to go well at, Lorenzo is on the front row, less than one tenth off a pole position set by the most prolific pole hound both MotoGP and the Sachsenring has ever seen. But, as for Petrucci, the key to victory lies in the tyre life, an area in which Ducati seem to have regressed this year and in the scorching heat of the Saxony summer, is a big factor this weekend.
Maverick Vinales is off the front of the second row tomorrow after a solid qualifying session. Both he and teammate Valentino Rossi are suffering with wheelspin this weekend, but this time it is Vinales who is making the most of the situation, and has looked to have a little bit of pace over his more experienced teammate. The qualification was an important one for Vinales, too, because from there, even if he makes an average start, he should be in a decent position going into turn one – one from which he can recover. The number 25 is in the hunt for the podium, but like the Ducati riders the key is going to be making the tyre last.
The third and final GP18 on the grid tomorrow is Andrea Dovizioso, who is without a podium since Mugello but has looked strong this weekend, and seems to be the only one who can go with Marquez. With this in mind, it is essential that Dovi makes a good start from the middle of the second row tomorrow so that he doesn’t have too much work to do in the opening laps to be in contention. Of course, the tight layout at Sachsenring which features no real straight is difficult to overtake on, so making positions off the line will be essential for Dovi tomorrow if he wants to have a shot at Marc.
Sixth on the grid for Valentino Rossi looks quite good considering that at the end of yesterday he was seventeenth, 0.8 seconds off the pace. He has had some decent race pace, too, able to lap in the high 1’21s which looks at this stage as though it will be podium pace. There are many riders in that fight, though, including Lorenzo, Vinales and Petrucci, so Rossi will need a good start from the back of the second row if he wants to be in the podium battle. However, of all the riders theoretically in that fight, he looks to be the most fragile with the tyre, perhaps even more than Petrucci.
Cal Crutchlow has had a difficult weekend, but recovered well today to take seventh on the grid. He is another who can be in the podium fight. Andrea Iannone and an impressive Alvaro Bautista join Crutchlow on the third row.
Dani Pedrosa looks back on some kind of form, and has a good race pace with podium potential, but if he wants his first rostrum of the season he will have to recover well at the start as he qualified only tenth.
Alex Rins. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing
The Suzuki of Alex Rins is on the middle of the third row tomorrow, in the middle of the Honda sandwich, between retiree Pedrosa and rookie Takaaki Nakagami, who had a brilliant qualifying – making his second Q2 of his short MotoGP career.
Johann Zarco qualified fourteenth, but thanks to a six-place penalty for Aleix Espargaro – for blocking Marc Marquez in FP3 – the Frenchman will start thirteenth alongside Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro on row five.
Bradley Smith, Hafizh Syahrin and Tito Rabat make up row six, whilst Espargaro’s penalty dropped him to nineteenth, and will be joined on row seven by Scott Redding and Franco Morbidelli’s replacement, Stefan Bradl who was commentating yesterday morning before he got the shout that Morbidelli could not continue.
Tom Luthi, Karel Abraham and Xavier Simeon make up the back row of the grid, whilst Mika Kallio will not start after his huge FP2 crash yesterday in which he suffered ligament damage in his knee.
Featured Image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool
Well, football may not be coming home but, for the three Canadians on the grid, IndyCar certainly is! Those three are last week’s winner James Hinchcliffe, his Schmidt Peterson teammate Robert Wickens and the often forgotten but highly rated Zachary Claman De Melo. Toronto marks round twelve of seventeen, meaning that there will be just five rounds remaining once this weekend has run its course, so the championship is really starting to get serious.
Last time out was at the ‘world’s fastest short track’ at Iowa which is a sharp contrast to the bumpy streets of Toronto for IndyCar’s only non-American round of the year. Back to Iowa for a minute and it was Hinchcliffe who stole the show from Josef Newgarden, who’d looked dominant throughout the weekend. The hardest blow for Newgarden was not being passed by the afore mentioned Canadian on track but the strategic blunder that robbed him of a certain second place and a stab at the victory on the restart. Simple though the situation seemed, the decision whether to pit or not was an incredibly tough call to make, mainly due how late in the race the last caution was.
Normally, the rule to go by is: if there’s a caution, always pit however, since the race didn’t restart, track position became more important than pace so those who didn’t pit were rewarded while the others were punished. This made for an interesting podium of Hinchcliffe, Spencer Pigot and Takuma Sato – certainly not you’d put money on going into the weekend but then that’s the joy of IndyCar this season!
The 2017 Honda Indy Toronto race was won by a Chevrolet, more specifically the then champion-in-waiting Newgarden who trounced the field, leading more than double the laps of anyone else. Following him home were the Honda duo of Alexander Rossi and home hero Hinchcliffe, somewhat restoring the Honda pride at their own race. The pole sitter last year was Simon Pagenaud who didn’t last very long in the lead, being overtaken by Penske teammate Helio Castroneves before the first corner which shows that pole isn’t everything! The other Penske of Will Power was as unfortunate as ever, tangling with Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon on the opening lap – ruining both their races.
Castroneves was somewhat robbed of the win by a conveniently timed caution for Newgarden after Tony Kanaan hit the barriers; Newgarden was in the pits just as it happened whereas everyone else had to pit under caution, giving the American all-important track position.
Looking ahead to this year, we have three driver changes to speak of – two scheduled and one less so. Jordan King is back in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing entry, taking over from the boss as usual while Juncos are back, this time with Rene Binder. The other change is at Harding where Conor Daly takes the wheel from Gabby Chaves as the team asses their options for a second driver next year, reassuring Chaves that he’s not going to be done out of drive.
Scott Dixon at 2017 Round Eleven: Ontario, Canada
I sound like a broken record saying that it’s hard to predict who will be strong but that’s the truth! The home boys have always run well here while Penske, Andretti, Chip Ganassi and co should be up there as normal. What I can say is that the championship is getting tighter with Dixon’s lead reduced to 33 points and, when there’s 50 on offer for a win, that’s not a lot. Newgarden is the man is second while Rossi is close behind in third with those three looking to be the ones to watch – not to discount Ryan Hunter-Reay and Power.
The practice and qualifying action, of which there is plenty, is being streamed by IndyCar as usual, along with all the Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and USF2000 action with the full Mazda Road to Indy programme in tow this weekend. BT Sport 2 have the Toronto race and there will be full commentary on our Twitter account for both qualifying and the race.
If you’re looking to catch any of the action, your timings for the weekend are as follows:
The 2018 German Moto3 Grand Prix could well be the final lightweight class GP to be held at the Sachsenring, as the tight, eastern German circuit looks set to be replaced by the Nurburgring from 2019 onwards, although how long that will be for is yet to be seen – currently the promoters have a contract with Dorna until 2021. Many issues surround the Sachsenring, not least that part of it is owned privately, and part of it is owned by the ADAC; primarily the circuit is a road safety facility, not a race track. Another is one similar to Brands Hatch, as there are many nearby residents who are not the biggest fans of the noise created in the track, no doubt especially on MotoGP weekend. But this merely begs the question: why, if you like peace and quiet, would you decide to live in close proximity to something which, by definition, creates a lot of noise? Anyway, for the Sachsenring, the end of its time on the MotoGP calendar seems to be coming, and just two years after the circuit was completely resurfaced.
Jorge Martin, winner at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
Moto3 is about the only GP category which actually fits Sachsenring, the tight, twisty layout lending itself handsomely to the lightweight, nimble, 250cc, four stroke, single cylinder machines.
Last year, the German track was best mastered by Joan Mir, who took the victory from Romano Fenati and Marcos Ramirez, all three fighting until the final corner for the victory. Of course, 2018 Moto2 graduates, Fenati and Mir, will not be on the Moto3 podium, and with the current form of Marcos Ramirez, it is unlikely that any of last year’s top three will be returning to the German lightweight class podium.
It’s also predictable – on the surface, before a wheel has turned in the weekend – that no KTM will be able to match the leading Hondas this weekend. This is because of the characteristics of the KTM compared to the Honda – the Austrian bike having a strong engine but suffering quite significantly in the corners and the NSF250 having a seemingly far superior cornering performance and with little deficiency in the motor department. Theoretically, the Japanese machine should excel on such an awkward circuit with such a small percentage on the lap with full throttle. That said, Marco Bezzecchi has not been averse to a surprise or two this season.
In his first year at the front – his second in Grand Prix racing – Bezzecchi has been superbly consistent (he has finished on the podium in each of the races he has finished) and infectiously calm, and those two qualities pulled him a nineteen-point championship lead going into the previous round at Assen. However, a crash on the final lap for the Italian, and a win for the fastest man on a Moto3 bike in 2018, Jorge Martin, saw Bezzecchi’s championship advantage transform into a deficit and he now lies two points behind the Spaniard. A response will be important for Bezzecchi this weekend, and the unpredictable German weather could bring him into victory contention, like it did in Argentina.
As for Martin, his points lead comes as little surprise. His speed this year has been rarely matched, bad luck being the largest factor in preventing the number 88 from steaming away with this championship. Of course, a crash out of the lead in Barcelona did little for his championship too, but had he taken the fifty points he likely would have from the two races he was taken out of earlier in the season – Jerez and Le Mans – his position would be a lot more secure. Maybe the recapturing of the title lead will lead to greater consistency from the Spaniard, although for the sake of his rivals, and the championship battle, hopefully that will not be the case.
Nicolo Bulega enjoyed his strongest race of 2017 in Sachsenring last year, and in 2016 it was the first race where he showed his ability in the wet, when he was one of the fastest riders on the track before he made a common mistake in the monsoon conditions that day. The recent form of Bulega has been promising; fighting for the win in Montmelo before being taken out, and scoring his first front row and first points of the season in Assen last time out. After a shocking start to the season, it seems like Nicolo Bulega is back, and this weekend could provide a good opportunity for him to score a second career podium.
The recent form of
Enea Bastianini third, at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing
and Aron Canet has also been promising. Both still within reach of the championship lead, and coming back into podium-contending/race-winning form their title chances are not over. You might have expected them to be further back in the championship considering their respectively inconsistent starts to the season, but the similar inconsistency of Martin and Bezzecchi have kept them within reach.
Last year this race was a difficult one for Canet, dropping through the pack after qualifying on the front row, before crashing out of the race at turn twelve. In the case of Bastianini, he was sixth, over thirteen seconds off the win.
In wildcard/replacement news, Darryn Binder has been ruled out of this weekend after a training crash last week. He will be replaced by Moto3 Junior World Championship points leader, Raul Fernandez, who will be racing his second GP of 2018 after wildcarding in Barcelona earlier in the season.
Additionally, Livio Loi has been dropped by the Reale Avintia Academy team, and will be replaced until the end of the season by Avintia’s CEV rider, Vicente Perez.
Also, Ai Ogura will make his third wildcard appearance of the season, again in the Asia Talent Team, after riding in Jerez and Assen already, and acquitting himself rather well, scoring a point in Jerez and taking 23rd on his first visit to Assen.
Finally, World Supersport 300 rider, Luca Grunwald, will be making a return to Grand Prix racing. The German rider has a total of 23 GP starts between 2011 and 2014, scoring all eight of his points in 2012 when he rode a Kalex KTM. He has scored one win this season in the SSP300 World Championship, which is also his only podium. Despite this, he is second in the championship and only sixteen points off Ana Carrasco at the top of the championship.
A win and a second place is apparently all it has taken for Fabio Quartararo to gain the interest of a MotoGP team. Supposedly, foetal Petronas Yamaha team are in talks with the French youngster with the aim of acquiring the double CEV Repsol Moto3 champion to pilot one of their YZR-M1s for the 2019 season. The past two races have been very impressive from Quartararo, and he does have one more Moto2 win than Ecstar Suzuki’s 2019 rookie, Joan Mir. However, should two races grant you a pathway to MotoGP? You would say probably not, but there is no doubting Quartararo’s talent and, if he gets the ride, there is every possibility that he can make it work for him.
Another Moto2 rider in the frame for a Petronas Yamaha ride for next year is Lorenzo Baldassarri. Since his win in Jerez, the tall Italian has been quite inconsistent, but saw a return to form two weeks ago in Assen, where he fought back from thirteenth on the grid to second place, and was closing down race leader and eventual winner Pecco Bagnaia before the rear Dunlop on the back of the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex let go with just a few laps remaining. Balda re-joined after pitting for a tyre but was one lap down and didn’t score any points. It was a big shame for the number 7, and it probably took him out of championship contention. However, the season is long, and Lorenzo will be keeping that in mind this weekend as he looks to return to the podium to prove that he is capable of fighting for this title, as well as being a solid pick for the satellite Yamaha team for next season.
Francesco Bagnaia at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing.
Last year’s Moto2 German GP was won by Franco Morbidelli, but only narrowly. It didn’t look as though it would be that way; when Tom Luthi crashed out of second place early in the race in turn twelve it seemed that Morbidelli would enjoy another comfortable win, but Miguel Oliveira saw to that. The Portuguese rider closed the Italian within a few laps and pressured the eventual 2017 Moto2 World Champion until the final corner, although was unable to make a move stick.
This is positive for Oliveira in respect to this weekend, when he will look to recover from his worst weekend of 2018 in Assen, where he finished sixth, five seconds from winner Bagnaia. At the heart of the issues in Assen was the KTM chassis’ lack of ability to make a fresh soft tyre work on low fuel, which severely compromised both Oliveira’s and Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Brad Binder’s respective races. In Assen, Oliveira qualified seventeenth, whilst Binder was twenty-first, and for the first time this season he was unable to make a full recovery in the first lap. Furthermore, Oliveira did not have the race pace of Bagnaia for the first time since Le Mans.
This weekend, it will be even more critical for Oliveira to qualify well than in Assen, because the high percentage of time at the Sachsenring that is spent on full lean angle makes it incredibly tough to overtake. If he is not there at the start it could be beyond him to recover and get to the front.
Francesco Bagnaia had no such problems in Assen. In fact, he had no problems at all in Assen. He took his second ever Moto2 pole, from which he took a lights-to-flag win with relative ease. Whilst it was Oliveira who finished second in Sachsenring last season, Bagnaia completed the podium with his third career Moto2 podium. Pecco towed up fellow Italians Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini to the podium battle with him, but he stood his ground against his more experienced compatriots, and the pace he showed in last year’s race will fill the current championship leader with confidence as he looks to head into the pretty much non-existent summer break on a high.
Alex Marquez, teammate Joan Mir, Marcel Schrotter and Xavi Vierge should be up there this weekend too; the former two just because you’d expect it and the latter two because their recent pace has been quite electric, although a series three mistakes in five corners in Assen led to a crash for Vierge.
Especially Schrotter should be entertaining this weekend, as he looks to make up for a couple of missed opportunities for his maiden Moto2 podium in the last two races. Perhaps he will do as Pasini, and make his first Moto2 podium with a win in his home Grand Prix.
There is only one wildcard; Xavi Cardelus who, considering the action taken by Dorna over Jesko Raffin prior to this season, is perhaps quite lucky that he is still able to compete as a wildcard.
