Jorge Martin took his fourth sprint race victory at the inaugural Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit after a chaotic first lap. He was joined on the sprint race podium by Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.
Martin got a brilliant start when the lights went out and immediately took the lead from pole-sitter Marco Bezzecchi. The Italian rider cut across in front of his teammate Luca Marini and they were both involved in a crash, where the front wheel of Marini and the rear wheel of Bezzecchi made contact.
Marini went down and was taken to the medical centre where he was declared unfit due to a collarbone fracture.
Pol Espargaro, Stefan Bradl and Raul Fernandez were also involved in a turn one incident and Fernandez was the only rider to continue.
Jack Miller also had a good start gaining eight positions on lap one after a poor qualifying session this morning. His KTM teammate, Brad Binder, also improved on his starting position on the first lap by making his way to fifth place.
Marquez got past his Repsol Honda teammate Joan Mir on the second lap and looked incredibly strong on the laps that followed. Unfortunately, Mir lost various places on the fourth lap and then crashed at turn three, ultimately retiring there.
Martin continued to extend his lead at the front of the field to 1.8s by the fifth lap, but there was a charger coming through the field and that was the pole sitter.
Bezzecchi was tenth on the fifth lap and continued to set fastest laps and pass riders who were in his way. And he wasn’t stopping at tenth place.
Johann Zarco had a wobble on lap six and crashed at turn three but was able to rejoin the circuit.
Binder was looking at making a move on Marquez for the final place on the podium. The South African rider was looking for an opportunity to get past Marquez at all the corners on the track.
The gap at the front was extended to two seconds on lap seven and barring any mistakes, it looked as though Martin was on track for another sprint race win.
Polesitter Bezzecchi was able to get past Miller for sixth place on the following lap at turn twelve and then Aleix Espargaro crashed at turn thirteen on the same lap, causing a yellow flag.
But Bezzecchi still wasn’t done with the overtakes as he got past Fabio Quartararo for fifth place on the final lap.
Jorge Martin crossed the finish line with a 1.389s lead from championship leader Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez rounded out the sprint podium. Binder finished just behind Marquez in fourth place and the charging Bezzecchi finished fifth. Quartararo had a positive Saturday in India, finishing in sixth place. The top ten was rounded out by Miller, Maverick Vinales, Raul Fernandez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Feature Image Credit: @88jorgemartin on X (formerly Twitter)
2023 INDIAN MOTOGP, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – SPRINT RACE RESULTS
Jaume Masia was on fire on the brand new rain soaked Buddh International Circuit. The Spaniard took his 4th pole position of the season and the Leopard Racing team rider was unstoppable today in qualifying.
The championship in Moto3 this year is as hot as the hottest Indian cuisine. Just 29 points cover the top 6 riders battling it out to be crowned champion this year. With championship leader Daniel Holgado and David Alonso starting on row 6 and with Öncü starting at the back of the grid tomorrow. It’s all set for another crazy race in Moto3.
Image Credit: Leopard Racing Team
AS IT HAPPENED
Qualifying 1
Both Öncü and Holgado were the surprise names in the Q1 session. After receiving a black flag in practice, Öncü regardless of where he qualified would have to serve a long lap penalty and start at the back of the grid in the race tomorrow.
As the riders came across the line and posted the first set of flying laps, Kaito Toba topped the timings with a with 2:00.225. With a time of 1:59 set in the practice sessions, it wouldn’t be long before that time was beaten at the top.
Öncü with 8mins left of the session came through to top the timings with Holgado quickly to follow, currently up to 2nd and into the top 4 heading through to Q2.
The first set of times completed for the riders and we had a top 4 heading into Q2 of Öncü, Holgado, Scott Ogden and Toba.
Pretty much all of the riders peeled off into the puts for a quick stop to make any changes needed for the final run of the session, Öncü opted to stay out on track with dark clouds rapidly approaching the circuit.
Staying out for Öncü paid off and he continued to improve his time at the top and set the benchmark time to beat with a blistering 1:59.070. The fastest lap of the weekend so far in Moto3 here in India. As the dark clouds descended onto the track, an angry Öncü was clearly unstoppable in Q1.
The riders came through for the final flying laps of the session and Tatsuki Suzuki was unable to set a valid lap in the qualifying session. Disaster for the Leopard Racing team rider. Öncü topped the session followed by Holgado 2nd, Ryusei Yamanaka 3rd and Ogden 4th.
A big shock was announced at the end of the session as Holgado’s lap time was cancelled by the stewards for exceeding the track limits. The championship leader will not be taking part in the Q2 session.
With the standing water now cleared and track now free of rainfall, the riders headed out of the pits for the 15-minute fight for pole position. With the championship as tight as it is, this qualifying session was vital on a rain-soaked circuit in India.
As the riders now come through with the first attempts at pole position, Masia topped the timings with Taiyo Furusato 2nd and Diogo Moreira 3rd. The time set of 2:14.515 was over 14 seconds slower than Öncü’s time set in Q1.
As the riders got a feel for the grip and confidence growing the lap times would continue to tumble and we were set for a last lap shootout.
Masia then improved to a 2:11.985 already a few seconds quicker on his next lap compared to the lap time set only a few minutes before.
With 6 minutes left of the session, Masia lit up the sectors red through the first two sectors. Furusato replaced Masia at the top only for a few seconds as Bertelle now went top of the timings. Masia took charge and back to the top of the pile +0.465 seconds quicker to Bertelle in 2nd.
With 4 minutes left of the session, Masia was getting quicker and quicker as through sector 2 was already -0.862 tenths up on his current provisional pole lap time.
As Scott Ogden went up to 2nd, Masia improved to a time of 2:10.033. With Öncü at the back of the grid regardless tomorrow, its clear the team have told Öncü to just come back in one piece with Öncü currently 10th in the session.
As Ayumu Sasaki came through up into 3rd, Yamanaka lit up the flags in sector 1 crashing out at turn 1. Yamanaka was okay and picked up his Aspar GASGAS bike from the gravel.
Last flying laps in Q2 and Masia was on fire. Already under half a second faster than his already provisional pole time. Bertelle came through up into 2nd as Masia took his 4th pole position of the year. 7 tenths clear of his nearest rival in Bertelle 2nd and Sasaki rounding off the front row in 3rd.
A fantastic qualifying session for Leopard Racing’s Masia and Masia will be gunning for victory tomorrow with title rivals Holgado and Öncü way down the order on the grid.
Jake Dixon took his second pole of the season at the inaugural Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit on his final tour of the track. He is joined by championship leader Pedro Acosta and rookie Sergio Garcia on the front row.
Following a lengthy rain delay, the Moto2 qualifying got underway with a drying track. All eyes were on Aron Canet in the first round of qualifying as he was the highest-placed rider in the championship having to go through Q1. He struggled with the change in conditions.
All the riders went out to get an idea of the track conditions and slowly fast sectors began to be set. Zonta van der Goorbergh was at the top of the timesheets with six minutes to go.
The Dutch rider crashed at turn one with four minutes left to go causing a yellow flag, meaning the riders behind him had their lap times deleted. He was able to end the session at the top, progressing through to Q2.
Darryn Binder, on his return from injury, was also riding well and was set to improve significantly but his lap time was deleted due to exceeding track limits. He did make it through to the second qualifying session, finishing Q1 in fourth place.
Barry Baltus and Garcia were the other riders who progressed from Q1 to Q2.
As soon as the pit lane opened for Q2, all the riders headed out and it was obvious who had already been out on the track with the riders that came through from Q1 setting the pace early on. The track was still not dry enough for slick tyres, so the riders all went out on wet tyres as there are no intermediate tyres in Moto2.
After the first runs, Garcia was fastest from Tony Arbolino and van der Goorbergh. Arbolino had used van der Goorbergh as a marker which allowed him to follow the Dutchman’s line. But it wouldn’t stay that way for long as Binder made his way to first on the timesheet.
Going through Q1 turned out to be a massive advantage in damp conditions! 😮
The South African rider was only top momentarily as he was replaced by Acosta, who was replaced by Dixon as a flurry of riders improved their fastest lap times. Before the final runs, it was Garcia who was fastest in Q2.
With the chequered flag out, the times continued to fall. Acosta took the pole position briefly, and all eyes were on Dixon as he completed the final few corners. Dixon was able to go slightly quicker than Acosta taking his second pole position of the season.
The second row is populated by van der Goorbergh, Binder and Alonso Lopez. Championship contender Arbolino heads up the third row, joined by Joe Roberts and Somkiat Chantra. Celestino Vietti rounds out the top ten.
Feature Image Credit: Aspar Team (@AsparTeam) on X (formerly Twitter)
2023 INDIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – QUALIFYING RESULTS
Marco Bezzecchi takes the first ever MotoGP Pole Position at the Buddh International Circuit, and his third of the season, with the top ten riders being within one second of each other. He is joined by Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia on the front row for both the Sprint and Main Races.
The main shock in the paddock was to see both factory KTM riders, Jack Miller and Brad Binder, having to go through the first round of qualifying. However, neither of these two riders were able to progress through.
Track conditions continued to improve during qualifying one with the best lap time constantly swapping between riders as they passed the finish line. After the second set of fast laps, Binder was at the top of the timesheets, followed by Raul Fernandez.
Binder was replaced by Alex Marquez in the promotion places just before the Spaniard crashed at turn six. A. Marquez went to the medical centre and was sent to hospital for further checks. He has been declared unfit due to fractured ribs.
Fernandez and A. Marquez were the riders who made it through to Q2.
As soon as qualifying two started, all the fit riders headed out to get a feel of the track once more. The first set of runs were completed quickly, and Martin sat firmly at the top of the pile. The time he set was not faster than R. Fernandez’s time in Q1.
Five minutes into the session, Marc Marquez crashed at turn three and was down in the middle of the track. Bagnaia had to take avoiding action to ensure that he did not hit the Spaniard or his Repsol Honda.
Bezzecchi continued to lap at a rapid pace, but he was once again displaced by Martin at the head of the field.
Marquez made it back to the pits and was able to head back out for the final four minutes of the session with the rest of the riders. Joan Mir set a quick lap time on his Repsol Honda, placing him in fourth place before other riders knocked him down the order.
Bezzecchi set his fastest time, a 1:43.947, which gave him the all-time track record at the circuit.
Bagnaia had a few wobbles on his final lap, but still improved, allowing him to join Bezzechi and Martin on the all Ducati front row.
BOTH of these HUGE moments were on @PeccoBagnaia‘s fastest lap! 🤯
Luca Marini heads up the second row and is joined by the two Repsol Honda riders, Mir and M. Marquez.
Johann Zarco leads the third row and is joined by fellow countryman Fabio Quartararo and Spaniard Maverick Vinales. Vinales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro rounded out the top ten.
Feature Image Credit: @VR46RacingTeam on X (formerly Twitter) (https://twitter.com/VR46RacingTeam/status/1705232774561780087/photo/1)
INDIAN MOTOGP, BUDDH INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT – FULL QUALIFYING RESULTS
Carlos Sainz wins the Singapore Grand Prix through some intelligent driving under immense pressure from behind. Verstappen made up places but the Red Bulls were not in good form while the Mercedes team made an impressive strategy call to challenge for the lead.
The Ferrari’s away cleanly at the start. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
Lights out and Sainz got away cleanly but behind him Russell bogged down meaning Leclerc made it past the Mercedes before turn one. The challenge was now on for Leclerc, who started on softs, to keep up with his teammate in the first stint.
Slightly further back Hamilton had a great start to out-break Norris before heading around the outside of Russell but having to take to the escape road and then back on track. Hamilton eventually gave back both places and then settled into his P5 position for a while.
It wasn’t all clean racing on lap one as there was a small amount of contact between Tsunoda and Perez which led to the Alpha Tauri retiring a few corners later. Luckily for the drivers he was able to pull off the circuit safely and the race continued.
Verstappen had gained a place in the first couple of laps and was now on the tail of Magnussen. It was a tight battle between the pair but Verstappen took advantage of DRS to make it into P8. His next job was to chase down Gasly, however, on the hard tyres the Red Bull was still sliding around so Verstappen was told a few times to back off and cool the car down.
Verstappen trying to gain places early on. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
The race began to settle down while we waited for the first pit stop window to open. Sainz was managing the race well by keeping the pack close together, however, this meant that even 15 laps in, if the Spaniard had pitted from the lead, he would have come out in P17.
Just a few laps later Sargent ended up hitting the barrier around turn eight and damaging his front wing. Sargent was able to get back to the pits but not without leaving debris along the track and causing a safety car.
Ferrari took this opportunity to double stack. Most Ferrari fans waited with bated breath as this was the sort of thing that could ruin a Ferrari race, however they managed to pull it off… to a certain extent.
Leclerc had backed up the pack in order to create himself a gap to allow the double stack to happen. Because of this a queue of cars formed behind him and all filed into the pit lane as the Monégasque needed to leave, so he had to be held in his pit box until there was a gap, which cost him track position.
In an interesting strategy call, Red Bull didn’t pit either of their cars as they had started with the hard tyres. However, Sainz came out ahead of Verstappen after his stop so the plan hadn’t paid off for the World Champion. This meant that he and Perez were on old tyres with everyone else of fresh hards around them at the restart.
The safety car restart. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area
On lap 23 the safety car came in and Sainz had the lead from Verstappen who was struggling to defend against Russell. Just behind them Perez had to fend off Norris and Hamilton who were closing rapidly.
Almost synchronised, Russell overtook Verstappen and Norris gained a place on the other Red Bull. Perez nearly left the door open for Hamilton but the Mexican was able to stay ahead for a few more corners before the Mercedes made a move stick using DRS.
This then became the trend for a few laps. The Red Bulls began to tumble with Norris and Hamilton gaining places on Verstappen in quick succession. Perez was at the start of a train of cars which led to an interesting battle between the Red Bull, Alonso, and Ocon.
On lap 37 Alonso dived up the inside of Perez but went in deep and Perez was able to fight back. This opened the door for Ocon to join the fight which was getting closer and closer to the wall. Perez defended the inside of turn eight from Alonso but Ocon went around the outside of the Aston Martin to go side by side into the next few turns.
Ocon was able to make the move on Alonso stick for P8, and was able to pull off a switch back on Perez just a lap later. Alonso then saw his opportunity and overtook Perez a few corners later before the Red Bull headed into the pits for his tyre change.
Sainz at the front had been controlling the race at a decent but slow pace which meant the pack were still quite close together. By the time Perez exited the pit lane, he went from P9 to P18. The story wasn’t much better for Verstappen who came in one lap later from P6 to come back out P15.
Two laps after both Red Bulls changed tyres, the virtual safety car was deployed for Ocon who had stopped just before turn two with a gearbox issue. The top five had already passed the pit entry when the VSC came out but that didn’t stop Mercedes making a bold move.
They double stacked their cars on the next lap for some new mediums to come out P4 and P5 in clean air and only the top three ahead of them. Russell was ahead of Hamilton and it was a very aggressive call but as they headed out the VSC ended and both Brits were on a charge, closing in by two seconds per lap to the leaders.
With 17 laps left it was now an incredible strategy race to see the Mercedes pushing in full force for the podium. Something we haven’t seen for a few seasons. Because of this, it wasn’t long before both cars were within the DRS range of Leclerc in P3.
Out of the corner Russell pulled out a switch back and won the battle of traction against Leclerc to take P3. One lap later and his teammate made a similar move to take P4 from the Ferrari. Now the hunt was on to claim P2 from Norris ahead.
The Mercedes were gaining on the leaders. Image courtesy of Mercedes AMG F1
The Mercedes were closing at an alarming rate, so Sainz came over the radio to ask for the gap to Norris on every lap for the last five laps. When told Norris was 0.8 seconds Sainz replied with ‘that’s the point’. In some very clever driving, Sainz kept Norris within DRS range to give the McLaren some help with speed down the straights. This not only helped Norris but also meant Sainz would likely keep hold of his win.
It was the final lap and the top four were still within 1.5 seconds. Both Mercedes were moving all over the road in a bid to get past Norris. However, with only a few corners to go, Norris tapped the wall on his rear right but came away unscathed. Russell behind him was not so lucky as he clattered the wall with his front right, breaking the suspension and going head first into the barrier. He was ok but had lost P3 right at the end for his teammate to claim the podium.
Sainz was able to break the Red Bull 2023 win streak by taking the win, Norris finished on the second step of the podium while Hamilton took P3.
It was a fascinating race which intrigued not only this Formula 1 fan but many around the world. We are at Suzuka next weekend which will likely see the Red Bulls back on form.
The final day then and 41km’s three stages to decide the result of this event. Thierry and Seb both returned to the starting line-up and the Belgian would open the road.
First up was the classic SS13 Tarzan – 23.37 km and it was a stage win for Elfyn, beating Dani by nine seconds and with that the Welshman was back into second overall. Third fastest was Thierry. In WRC2 there were some changes made overnight with Gus and Andreas being swapped around after some changes to the notional time given to the Norwegian. Nevertheless, he won the stage and reduced Gus’ lead to just 1.1 seconds. Yohan remained in third place.
The first run of the power stage, SS14 Grammeni 1 – 9.00 km saw Dani take a good stage win, but with Elfyn setting a time just 1.3 seconds slower the Welshman remained in second place. Ott was third fastest and was holding fourth overall as well. Andreas took the lead of WRC2 as he was fastest again from Adrien and Joona. Gus was now in second place in the category.
Well, to the final stage then, SS15 Grammeni 2[Power Stage] – 9.00 km and the Welshman set the pace at the top of the timesheets beating early pace setter Ott and the Welshman confirmed his second-place finish. However, Kalle who had driven through the earlier stages with a measured drive, unleashed his pace which he’d been holding in reserve earlier and came through to win the stage and the rally. Top positions in the stage, Kalle, Elfyn, Ott, Dani and Esapekka. Andreas won the WRC2 category from Gus and Yohan. WRC2 top three in the stage was Joona, Adrien and Andreas.
Let’s take a look at the finishing positions and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification –Acropolis Rally
1
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
3:00:16.7
2
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+1:31.7
3
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+1:35.9
4
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+4:28.4
5
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+6:22.3
6
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+7:20.9
7
A. Mikkelsen
T. Eriksen
Škoda Fabia RS
+9:41.0
8
G. Greensmith
J. Andersson
Škoda Fabia RS
+9:51.3
9
J. Rossel
A. Dunand
Citroën C3
+11:07.0
10
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+11:43.4
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä
“It’s been a nice weekend, for sure. This rally is always so tricky, and it was a tough week with all the difficult conditions, starting already in the recce. It was a big challenge, and starting first on the road I was not expecting to finish first, so taking 30 points is amazing. Last year we struggled from start to finish in Greece, and this year even as first car we could at least fight with the others. Big thanks to the team, as the car was super strong. We could fight back quite well on Saturday, still staying out of trouble and trying to take care of the car and the tyres which you always need to do on this type of rally. Then I really went for it on the Power Stage, like we always try to do. Now we need to stay consistent and focus on the next rallies.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s been a pretty up-and-down weekend. If we rewind to Saturday lunchtime, we were very lucky to stay in the rally after the radiator damage. We lost over a minute, so to come back to second place, we have to be happy considering everything. Dani was keeping the pressure on and it was still really tight going into the final stage, so it was good to secure the place in the end and to take some Power Stage points as well. It’s not been a perfect weekend for us in championship terms, as Kalle’s been very strong, so congratulations to him, but we will continue to give it everything. And it’s an incredible result for the team: a credit to everyone for making a leap forward from where we were here last year.”
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s not been the rally we wanted on our side but that’s the way it is sometimes. This is the kind of rally where you need to have luck on your side, with the very rough conditions, and unfortunately, we had an accumulation of issues yesterday and had to stop. Today I tried my best in the Power Stage but starting pretty much in the front was not so easy. At the end, the positive is that we had some good performance this weekend. We were not rewarded for it, but at least the team did another great result with a one-two, both in the rally and in the Power Stage, which is really good for both championships.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo
“I tried everything in that final stage. Elfyn had a little bit of bad luck during the rally, but he has driven very well. I’m not really happy with my performance this weekend, but we managed to finish in third place. Today we were able to go for it, which I really enjoyed, so I’d like to give a big thanks to the team for giving me another opportunity to drive like this. They are striving all the time to improve the car and pushing me to do better, so I will try to continue doing so.”
Esapekka Lappi
“It was good to finish the rally in the way that we did. I was enjoying the final stages, I was aggressively attacking but lost some time as well because of that approach. Still, after two days of problems it was good to have a trouble-free day and an enjoyable drive. Today was ok overall, but it was not our weekend. We need to get better, and next time we will be.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Acropolis Rally 07-10 September 2023 Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville
“Luck wasn’t with us this weekend; yesterday, we were in control of the lead, had a good tyre strategy, and the car was working well. Everything was going perfectly until our suspension failure, and unfortunately that cost us a victory. I enjoyed the driving today, the car was feeling very nice, so that’s a positive to finish the weekend. This may be the end of our championship title hopes, but now we look ahead and target some victories in the final events of the season.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tänak
“It was altogether a very challenging time, not only to the organisers but the whole of Greece. It was extremely tricky and was definitely a big job for them, so to come out from that has been impressive. On the rally side, we can see how quickly the weather can change and that it can change everything.
It’s one of my favourite events, the stages are cool, and it’s not actually so rough. The roads have a really nice flow and most of it is quite wide, so they’re stages you can enjoy.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“It was a great start to the rally, when the stages were quite smooth, but then we had some issues with the tyres and punctures. We lost a lot of time after that, and we were 11th (in WRC2) on Saturday morning, and finishing fourth now, so we can be happy with the rest of the rally.
“The car has been good all weekend, it’s been difficult for everybody because it’s such a tough rally. We can be pleased with the performance of the car when we need it.”
Grégoire Munster
“It’s been a good weekend in Greece, I’m happy about the performance and the stage times we did. For sure Adrien is the reference with the Fiesta and we managed to be close to him, so that’s a good point here. We managed to stay out of trouble, apart from two punctures at the end of stages, and with that we managed to secure a strong end position and win in the WRC2 Challenger class.
“About Chile; we’re really excited to be there, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity so we want to just grab as much experience as possible and then look to reuse that back in WRC2.”
Jourdan Serderidis
“17th overall and 1st Greek driver: it was the objective, but you still needed to achieve it! First Greek means so much to me. Fred and myself, had a fantastic week, without punctures, without big moments and with decent speed. So, I am very happy!”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10
1
K. Rovanperä
200
2
E. Evans
167
3
T. Neuville
134
4
O. Tänak
119
5
S. Ogier
99
6
E. Lappi
98
7
T. Katsuta
66
8
D. Sordo
63
9
T. Suninen
34
10
P.L Loubet
28
2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 10
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
430
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
339
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
220
Summary
What an incredible rally then. The roads had lots of surprises for the crews, in particular the single run stages on Friday. It was a good battle throughout the Friday’s stages between Seb and Thierry which continued into Saturday. It did not continue though and with Seb also suffering a problem on Saturday’s final stage, Kalle was there to take his third victory of the year with a drive where he kept out of trouble. Elfyn overcame a tyre off the rim and also the technical problem with his engine to take an excellent podium and also with second fastest in the power stage good points for the championship.
Dani also kept out of trouble as well and took yet another podium. He is a really good driver and deserves the success he took this weekend.
Next round is over the weekend of the 28th of September to the 1st of October in Chile. Look out for my preview just before.
Jorge Martin does the double for the second time this season after winning both the Sprint and Main Race in the same weekend. He was joined on the podium by Marco Bezzecchi and Francesco Bagnaia who suffered a horrific crash last weekend in Barceona.
Martin got a great start from pole position and led from the front into the first corner. Bagnaia dropped down behind Bezzecchi off the start, but the factory Ducati rider was able to get past his compatriot around the outside of turn two.
The Italian pair kept close behind Martin during the first lap and Bagnaia had a look into the final corner of the first lap and second corner of the second lap but was unable to get past.
Brad Binder made his way past wildcard rider Dani Pedrosa on the second rider and the South African was also the fastest rider on the grid towards the start of the race and was even faster than the Ducati’s ahead of him on the track.
Bezzecchi was able to get past Bagnaia once again on lap six. The Mooney VR46 Ducati rider ran wide and was unable to keep the position.
The front four riders began to break away from Pedrosa and Bagnaia continued to trail the rear wheel of Martin, putting pressure on the Spaniard.
On lap 8, Binder crashed out of fourth place at turn fourteen, leaving the leading group being Martin, Bezzecchi and Bagnaia.
Two laps later, another KTM rider went out, this time Jack Miller after being involved in an incident with Michele Pirro. Fabio Di Giannantonio also got caught up in this incident but was able to continue following this.
Joan Mir crashed at turn four on lap 11 and Pol Espargaro crashed at turn one on lap 16. That crash was the Tech3 GASGAS riders fifth crash of the weekend.
By lap 17, Martin had begun to break away from the leading group and slowly extended his lead at the front. However, the Spaniard was given a track limits warning, meaning that if he exceeded them once more, he would need to take a long lap penalty. This would have dropped him out of the lead, so he made sure not to go over the white lines.
Marc Marquez had a relatively quiet race but on lap 17, he started using Maverick Vinales as a marker around the track, looking for a chance to try and overtake the Aprilia Racing rider.
Bagnaia was visibly struggling on the bike and on lap 19, Bezzechi passed him and Pedrosa gained 0.7s to him on the same lap. Pedrosa would have hoped to have found an opening to pass the Italian but was unable to.
Martin increased his gap to Bezzechi to 2.335s on lap 21 and this was the largest gap during the race because the Italian rider started setting faster lap times.
Miguel Olivera was able to pass M. Marquez at turn 8 on lap 22. On the same lap, Bagnaia ran wide at turn fourteen and Pedrosa closed the gap once more.
The battle for seventh place started well before lap 25 but M. Marquez had to block Raul Fernandez and Luca Marini continuously. Marini did get past on the final lap but at the end of the race, M. Marquez had regained seventh.
Jorge Martin stood on the top step of the podium for the second time of the season during the main race and closed the championship lead that third placed rider Francesco Bagnaia had over him. Third in the championship, Marco Bezzecchi also brought home a good haul of points for the Mooney VR46 Ducati team finishing the race in second.
Wildcard rider Pedrosa was the highest placed KTM rider in third followed by Vinales and Olivera, both on Aprilia’s. M. Marquez finished in seventh place followed by Raul Fernandez, Luca Marini, and Johann Zarco.
Glorious sunshine today in San Marino and yet another glorious Moto3 race to match. Rookie teenager David Alonso took his 3rd victory in 4 Grand Prix’s here in Misano.
The Colombian wonderkid Alonso clearly a title contender now and after a thrilling last lap, saw Alonso snatch the win from Leopard Racing’s Jaume Masia and KTMs Deniz Öncü to victory.
Image Credit: Aspar Team
AS IT HAPPENED
A great start from Ayumu Sasaki and took the lead into turn 1, but it was short lived as pole sitter Masia got by Sasaki on the brakes into turn 4. Front row starters Sasaki and Kaito Toba swapped places in the early parts of the opening lap only for Toba to go from 2nd to 5th on lap 1 as Diogo Moreira and David Alonso blasted by.
It was the first front row start since 2019 for Kaito Toba, 51 races. Long overdue from the Japanese Squadra Corse rider.
Masia was keen to get on with it in the early stages of the race and quickly pulled a gap to over a second to the chasing pack behind. The more the group fought and diced with other, the better it was for Masia in the opening stages. Masia just able to concentrate on his own race and mind his own business at the front.
Coming to the end of lap 3, Öncü was now at the head of the pack and had a gap to Masia of 1.229 seconds to chase down. The group started to realise that the more they fought the better it was for Masia, so allowed Öncü to chase Masia down.
Patience is rare in Moto3 and as Moreira set the fastest lap of the race, was up on the back wheel of Öncü and trying to get by. Both Öncü and Moreira gradually starting to reel Masia in.
Meanwhile, Sasaki was being hounded by the young wonderkids Munoz and Alonso, but championship leader Daniel Holgado was 10th. Holgado seemingly not making much progress at the start of lap 6. A long way still to go in the San Marino Grand Prix but Holgado needed to get a move on soon.
Lap 6 and Öncü was clearly dialled in now. Fastest lap of the race and Öncü halved the gap to Masia in front on the opening two sectors of the lap. Masia only had a 0.280 seconds gap to Öncü in 2nd. Öncü was close enough on the final corner to try and go for the lead into turn 1 at the start of lap 7.
A quarter of the race gone now and we had Masia leading with Öncü on his back wheel and just behind those two was Moreira. A lead group of 3 fighting it out for the win in the sunshine in Misano.
Masia’s pace slowing brought the pack back together. At this point it looking more and more likely we will have a big group of riders soon all fighting for the win. Öncü gets it wrong dropping him back to the group with Sasaki and Alonso and Munoz in 3rd. Öncü with it all to do again to catch the leaders.
Halfway through the race and after Masia’s early getaway we now have a lead group of 7 lead by Masia all interchanging positions especially at turn 4 which is a favourite spot for overtakes.
Onto lap 11 now and coming out of turn 10 Masia makes a mistake and opens the door for the rest to come through. Öncü and Munoz don’t need a second invitation and pounce on Masia with Öncü now taking over the lead of the race with Munoz 2nd and Masia in 3rd.
Through the fastest section of the track turns 11, 12 and 13, Masia chases down and gets by Munoz. A great overtake and Masia was eager to get back in the lead.
With 8 laps to go Öncü was leading as Masia set the fastest lap of the race in 2nd, with Munoz 3rd. Holgado looked like his championship lead of 13pts was going to shrink in Misano as Holgado was currently in 11th place.
7 laps left and the pace was heating up with Alonso setting the fastest lap of the race just as Öncü received a track limits warning mid way through the lap. Öncü lead from Masia 2nd, Alonso 3rd and Munoz 4th. This quartet of riders all still had a great opportunity to take the victory. Öncü now with his track limits warning had to be inch perfect for the remainder of the race.
Munoz at the end of lap 15 on the last corner made a great move up the inside of Masia. Munoz now hunted down Öncü and we know after Öncü wiped out Munoz last weekend in Barcelona. Munoz would be looking for revenge in the final few laps to take the victory away from Öncü.
Masia hadn’t given up though and through his favourite fast section of turns 11, 12 and 13 gets by Munoz and up into 2nd.
With only a couple of laps left now in the race, Öncü lead with Masia close behind in 2nd. Alonso and Munoz needed to get up to the leaders if they still wanted to win the race.
Öncü on the penultimate lap of the race resisted the pressure from Masia and Alonso as we headed into the last lap it could of been any of the top 3 to take the win. Munoz after a scare earlier settled for 4th.
THE LAST LAP
Öncü lead into turn 1 as Alonso set the fastest lap of the race. Alonso got by into 2nd place with only 6corners left of this San Marino Grand Prix.
Onto the final few corners of the race, Masia went up the inside of Alonso just as Alonso ran wide. Masia then dove up the inside of Öncü. 3 of them side by side through turn 14. Masia managed to block Öncü to take a position but opened the door for Alonso to swoop into the lead and hold on to take the win in Misano. What a last lap and what a win for the Colombian wonderkid David Alonso. The 3rd victory in the last 4 races for Alonso and took this win by just +0.036 seconds to Masia in 2nd. Öncü taking 3rd.
With Daniel Holgado finishing way down in 16th place, its set the championship alight. Only 21pts now separate the top 5 riders in the championship. With a brief break next week before we then set off to India. Sasaki, Masia, Öncü and now Alonso will all be thinking they can overtake Holgado and take championship glory.
Pedro Acosta wins the San Marino Grand Prix ahead of Celestino Vietti and Alonso Lopez. Acosta finished the race with a lead of 6.3 seconds and extended his championship lead by 12 points. Tony Arbolino, his closest championship rival, finished the race in fourth place after starting in ninth.
Vietti and Manuel Gonzalez had a good start from the front row, but Acosta took the lead into the first corner and didn’t look back from there. All the riders made it through the first corners without any issues. Aron Canet made up one place to third place at turn three.
Although he had a good start, Gonzalez had dropped down to fifth place by the end of the first lap. Filip Salac gained four places on the first tour of the circuit to cross the line in sixth place. This pair started to compete for fifth place.
Teammates Arbolino and Sam Lowes were battling with each other for space on the track with the Italian coming out on top and matching the race leader for lap times.
Senna Aigus crashed on the third lap causing a yellow flag in the second sector. Vietti and Canet started to work together, following the yellow flag, to catch up with Acosta with all three of these riders setting lap times in the one minute 36 second ballpark.
Arbolino successfully got past Salac for sixth place on the road on lap four just before another yellow flag came out due to Dennis Foggia and Zonta van der Goorbergh crashing in sector 4.
At the front of the field, Acosta continued to set fastest lap after fastest lap and kept increasing the gap to the chasing field behind him.
Further down the field, Somkiat Chantra and Joe Roberts were fighting for ninth place.
On lap 9, Aron Canet crashed out of third place at turn fourteen causing another yellow flag. On the same lap, Vietti set the fastest lap to attempt to close the gap to the leading rider.
Rory Skinner had to retire the bike on lap 11 and pulled into the pits.
Arbolino had started to close the gap to Gonzalez but had a wobble on lap 12 after going too high on the kerb through turn six and lost all the progress he had made.
Lopez had the front two riders in his sights but was 4.5 seconds behind them coming into lap thirteen and would struggle to catch them up, especially with Acosta’s pace.
Fermin Aldeguer had a race to forget after crashing at turn two on lap fifteen and on the following lap Lowes crashed at turn one.
Arbolino caught up to the back of Gonzalez once again and got past the Spaniard to take fourth place. Immediately, the Italian rider started to catch up to Lopez ahead of him.
By lap 17, Acosta had a lead of just over two second and by the end, the race lead extended to 6.3 seconds. Vietti and Lopez completed the podium followed by Arbolino and Ogura. Chantra had a good race finishing in sixth place ahead of Gonzalez who started on the front row.
Roberts had his second best finish of the season in eighth place ahead of Salac and Pasini who rounded out the top ten. The rest of the points scorers were Sergio Garcia, Jake Dixon, Bo Bendsneyder, Marcos Ramirez and Barry Baltus.
Feature Image Credit: Pedro Acosta (@37_pedroacosta on X (formerly Twitter))
SAN MARINO MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MISANO – RACE RESULTS
Celestino Vietti took his first pole since the third round of the season followed by championship leader Pedro Acosta and Manuel Gonzalez. Acosta’s closest championship rival, Tony Arbolino, was only able to qualify in ninth place and will need to make up places in the race tomorrow to close the championship gap.
Arbolino had to go through the first round of qualifying once again after his combined practice time was not fast enough for him to be automatically placed into the second session. Bo Bendsneyder finished the first qualifying session in first place, a position he held after the first set of flying laps.
Gonzalez also went through the first qualifying session and finished just behind Arbolino in third. The final rider to go through was Zonta van der Goorbergh.
The second qualifying session got underway without any issues and following the first flying laps Gonzalez was at the top of the timesheet followed by Vietti and Mattia Pasini. Jake Dixon and Acosta only ran installation laps in the first half of the session, meaning that they did not have a representative lap time and they sat towards the bottom of the times.
Ai Ogura had been quick all throughout the weekend and all eyes had been on the Japanese rider. Midway through the session, he sat at tenth on the timesheet.
Sam Lowes set a good time to bring himself up to fourth place but was dropped down the order when Acosta put in the fastest time of the session, 0.133 seconds faster than Gonzaez.
Joe Roberts also dropped Lowes down the leaderboard when he went into fourth place.
After setting a fast time at the start of the session, Pasini crashed causing yellow flags in the second sector. This meant that many laps were cancelled including a fast time for Acosta. Dixon also had a lap time deleted, but this was due to a track limits warning.
On the following lap, Alonso Lopez crashed causing another yellow flag, this time in sectors two and three. This meant that Dixon and Vietti, amongst other riders, had their times deleted. Acosta did improve on his lap time, but this was also deleted due to the yellow flag.
As the chequered flag flew, Aron Canet came across the line to put his bike into fourth place. He was visibly pleased with the lap time and will be starting the race at the head of the second row.
Vietti came across the line and went to the top of the timesheet by 8 hundredths of a second ahead of Acosta. The Spaniard was on course to set a fast lap time but encountered traffic during his final lap and was unable to improve on his time. Gonzalez joins Vietti and Acosta on the front row.
After crashing earlier in the session, Pasini and Lopez join Canet on the second row. Roberts heads up the third row with Sam Lowes and Arbolino. Filip Salac rounds out the top ten.
Dixon crashed towards the end of the session and was only able to set a time fast enough to qualify in fourteenth place.
Feature Image Credit: Fantic Racing
2023 SAN MARINO MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MISANO – QUALIFYING RESULTS
