Ayumu Sasaki takes pole position here in Germany shattering the lap record. Not just shattering the lap record, but demolishing the rest of the field in the process. A clear +1.092 seconds ahead to championship rival Deniz Öncü in second.
Ayumu Sasaki Pole Setter for the 2023 Moto3 Sachsenring GP. Image courtesy of Intactgp
QUALIFYING 1
Taiyo Furusato was the first of the riders to post a quick time setting the benchmark for the session. Filippo Farioli shortly followed Furusato, topping the timesheets in the sunshine here at the Sachsenring.
The Q1 session then came to a halt with yellow flags quickly turning to red in sector 2 with Scott Ogden’s highside at turn 3. A nasty fall for the British rider and good to see Ogden walking away from the incident. However, clearly in pain holding his left leg.
As the session restarted and with five minutes left of the session, it was Honda Team Asia leading the way with Furusato and Mario Aji at the top of the leader board heading for Q2. David Salvador crashing at turn 1 forced the yellow flags just as David Muñoz posted the fasted time. Another highside crash in the session, Salvador shaken but walked away from the incident ok.
A tightly contested Q1 in Moto3 and with a few minutes remaining, only a few tenths of a second separated the top 4 places.
Muñoz topped the session ahead of Xavier Artigas, Furusato and Farioli the top 4 making it through to the Q2 session.
QUALIFYING 2
With the grandstands packed as we headed into Q2, could any of the riders get ahead of Daniel Holgado in qualifying and take the fight to him in the championship. A key Q2 session here in Germany.
Sasaki set the benchmark time in the first run at pole position, with an impressive time of 1:25.963 seconds, 6 tenths clear of Öncü in second. The usual suspects of Ivan Ortola, Jaume Masia and Moreira rounding off the top 5 with Holgado in 6th.
Six minutes left of the session and all of the riders made their way out of the pits for their final go at pole position, could any of them get near Sasaki’s time? After a big crash yesterday in practice, Öncü clearly is a rider to never give up, was up on Sasaki half way through his lap only to fall short in sectors 3 and 4. Öncü cementing his second place reducing the gap to Sasaki. Now just +0.259 tenths of a second separating 1st and 2nd place.
With less than a minute to go in the session, a Moto3 snaking train of riders crossed the line to go for a final flying lap. Yamanaka overtaken by Holgado, the championship leader impatient chasing Sasaki’s time crossing the line only to improve to 5th place.
Holgado’s 5th place would only last a few seconds as just about every Moto3 rider crossed the finish line together in a flurry of changes in positions on the grid. Every rider in turn 1 glancing up at the screen to see where they would start in tomorrows race.
Next to cross the line and cross the line in some style was Sasaki. A lap time of 1:25.130 and new all time lap record for the #71 bike. The lap time was that quick from Sasaki that it was only 6 hundredths of a second away from getting into Q2 in Moto2! Incredible from the Husqvarna rider, a clear +1.092 seconds ahead of Öncü in 2nd place. Öncü and Ortola rounding off the front row with Holgado starting 7th in tomorrow’s race.
Championship hopeful Pedro Acosta set a time that just couldn’t be beaten by any other rider to start on pole for tomorrow’s race. He will start ahead of championship leader Tony Arbolino and Jake Dixon.
After getting pole last weekend at Mugello, Aron Canet struggled in the one dry practice session that the Moto2 riders experienced on Friday and was unable to set a fast time. This meant he needed to go through the first qualifying session at Sachsenring this weekend. Following the first set of flying laps, he was third behind Barry Baltus and Darryn Binder.
Binder made the decision not to go out for a second time and this would come back to bite as he was eventually dropped out of the top four and did not make it through to the second qualifying session. With 90 seconds to go, Lukas Tulovic also missed out on the top four by 15 thousandths of a second.
During the final run of Q1, Ai Ogura was at the front of a train containing Somkiat Chantra and Canet. Ogura set a good time, but the tow he provided to the riders behind him meant they were able to set faster times than him.
Baltus, Canet, Chantra and Sergio Garcia set the four fastest times allowing them to progress to the second session.
The next fifteen minutes on the track were dedicated to setting the positions for the top 18 riders on the grid. All riders went out early in the session to set representative lap times in case they were hindered later due to red or yellow flags.
Following these first laps, Arbolino had the fastest time followed by Canet, Alonso Lopez, Filip Salac and Acosta rounding out the top 5. Baltus and Dixon jumped up to third and fourth following their second flying laps, but Celestino Vietti dropped them both down after setting a slightly faster lap.
Half the field came in at the halfway point of the session to discuss changes with their crew chiefs and some changed bikes to see if that would improve the times they could set. Chantra was one of the riders who received the call to change his bike.
Albert Arenas set a good lap time to bring himself up to fourth place, just before Salac crashed at turn one bringing out the yellow flags for the riders who had just crossed the timing line.
Acosta and Lowes were in sector three when the yellow flags came out so their laps were unaffected by the caution and the Spaniard set a lap time 0.165s faster than the time set by Arbolino. Lowes slotted into third place with his time.
Lopez and Canet both set times faster than the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider, going to third and fourth respectively. Dixon crossed the line with a few moments to spare, setting a time that was only good enough for seventh place but he continued around, taking advantage of the fact that he could have one more flying lap.
When the chequered flag came out, Arbolino couldn’t set a faster time than Acosta. But the Spaniard, Dixon and Lowes were still on fast laps so all eyes were on them to see where they would end up on tomorrow’s grid.
The only rider of those three who set a faster lap time was Dixon who was working the bike incredibly hard through turn 12 and was able to set a 1:24.158 which was good enough for third place.
Canet, Lopez and Lowes will be starting on the second row. Chantra was able to come through Q1 to start the race in seventh place and will be joined by Fermin Aldeguer and Arenas on the third row. Garcia, Vietti and Manuel Gonzales make up the fourth row.
Feature Image credit: MotoGP
2023 GERMAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, SACHSENRING – QUALIFYING RESULTS
On a glorious day in the Tuscan hillside, Daniel Holgado stamped his authority on the Moto3 championship with a slipstreamed snatching victory in Mugello. Holgado now heads to the Sachsenring next weekend with a 35 point lead in the championship. With no victory from pole position so far this season, an ongoing curse causing major heartache for our Turkish teenage wonderkid, Deniz Öncü. Losing a race in the last few metres can’t be easy to take, and I’m sure Öncü will be gunning for revenge next weekend in Germany.
Image Credit: Leopard Racing
AS IT HAPPENED
With no threat of rain and the track temperature at 36°, we all know that Moto3 at Mugello produces a blistering slipstreaming battle at the front and this race was no exception.
Before we got going, Romano Fenati stalled at the start having to start in the pit lane watching the rest of the pack blast down to San Donato (turn 1) with Holgado moving up to 2nd. Pushing hard on lap 1, Öncü managed to create a bit of a gap in his favoured sector 3, only to be swallowed up, caught and past on the straight by Holgado and Ayumu Sasaki closing out the first lap of the race.
Approaching the end of lap 3 and into lap 4, a snaking slipstreaming train of Moto3 riders dicing into turn 1 was becoming common practice for the race. A leading group of 8 riders now lead by Öncü onto lap 4, and it was anyone’s guess at this point as to who would come out on top.
Each time Öncü tried to break free from the pack, the group of riders behind had other ideas, especially Sasaki in the early stages of the race. Sasaki clearly comfortable sitting in second place and dicing with Holgado, Öncü and Jaume Masia at every opportunity. Could any rider break free and build a lead?
As the laps ticked by it was becoming clear that whoever was leading this race after the last turn of the last lap, it was going to be difficult to win the race. A special mention to Öncü and the overtake around the outside of Masia at the start lap 6 into San Donato it was definitely my favourite overtake of the race.
As we move past half distance, we had a tightly bunched up group of 5 riders continuing to dice and swap places at every opportunity. With 7 laps left to go any of the 5 riders could take victory in the Tuscan hillside. Öncü, Sasaki, Masia, Holgado and David Alonso all showing what they’re made of as the Italian crowd looked on with awe as to who would come out on top.
Snaking along the straight with 3 laps to go, it was clear that this was shaping up to be a last lap thriller of a finish and we weren’t disappointed. Even as the leading pack all received conduct warnings, it wasn’t going to stop any of them in pursuit of victory in Mugello.
Now heading into the last lap of the race, Sasaki was 3 bike lengths ahead heading down into San Donato and leading the race coming out of turn 1. Out of turn 2 and into turn 3, Holgado didn’t wait any longer to make a move and take the lead of the race. Holgado holding station for now in the next few corners until Öncü made a move in his beloved Arrabbiatta 2 (Turn 9). Now with only 5 corners left, Öncü clearly desperately clinging on to first as we headed into the final few corners. As the group wound round the last corner to take the straight for the final time and with only a few metres to go for Öncü, the slipstream blasted Holgado by Öncü taking the chequered flag and first win away from Öncü, gifting Holgado’s 3rd win of the season. A cruel and thrilling finish to an action packed Moto3 race in Mugello.
As we move on to Germany this week in the second race of our triple header of back to back races, will Öncü manage to finally get his maiden victory? Will anyone manage to put a dint in Holgado’s championship lead?
After taking pole position and a sprint race win, Pecco Bagnaia has rounded out his home race weekend with a win on Sunday. He took a dominant win, leading every lap of the race after overcoming a short early challenge from Jack Miller. He eventually came over the line 1.067 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
The Italian rider, celebrating his third race win of the season, made his way to the Bagnaia Fan Club grandstand to enjoy an alfresco hot dog – a very old-school celebration for the reigning champion!
Bagnaia has been able to extend his lead at the top of the championship standings, after a difficult weekend for Marco Bezzecchi, who wasn’t able to make his way any higher than 8th today.
Joining him on the podium were both Prima Pramac riders, Jorge Martin in 2nd and Johann Zarco in 3rd. The veteran Frenchman had to fight hard for a podium today, coming through from 9th on the grid and then battling hard with Luca Marini for much of the latter stages of the race.
After sharing Parc Ferme together, for the first time ever, after qualifying on Saturday, the Marquez brothers faced a far more difficult day today with both Marc and Alex ending up in the gravel. The first crash was from Marc whilst running in 4th. He went down at turn 15 on lap 6 after running a little too wide when chasing down Marini who was running in 3rd. Then, on lap 15, Alex went down at turn 2 whilst running in 3rd and facing a huge amount of pressure from Marini just behind him.
It was also a tricky day for Miller who, despite flying off the start line and leading the race into the first corner, was eventually shuffled back and had to settle for 7th. Fabio Quartararo has really been nowhere this weekend, failing to make it out of Q1, settling for 10th in the sprint race and then, today, finishing the race in 11th.
As It Happened
As the riders went out for their warm-up lap, one of the grandstands could be seen holding red and white cards that spelt “Ducati”. There was certainly a lot of expectation in the air and the crowd were hoping to see their first home-grown winner of the day.
As the lights went out and the race got started, Jack Miller was the rider to get the best start and before the grid had even passed the pit lane exit, he was leading the field. The glory was short-lived as Pecco Bagnaia was back ahead by the following corner.
Jorge Martin was also quick to make moves in the field, flying from his starting place of 6th up to 3rd.
As the first lap ended, with had Bagnaia in the lead, followed by Miller in 2nd, Martin in 3rd, Luca Marini in 4th, Marc Marquez in 5th and Alex Marquez in 6th.
Although things were quickly changing up and down the pack – the most significant move came when Martin took 2nd place away from Miller. Marini tried to follow the Prima Pramac rider through, and Miller and Marini then battling hard for 3rd. This battle let Martin break away ahead of them and he quickly built a 1 second lead over the fighting pair.
By this point in the race, the end of the second lap, Bagnaia already had a 0.4s lead over the rest of the field – he was exactly where he wanted to be, out in clear air and controlling the field with ease.
On the third lap, Marc Marquez seemingly came out of nowhere to make a stunning move that saw him overtake three other bikes. In the same move, his brother Alex Marquez lost control of his bike and in an attempt to stay upright, nearly took Miller out of the race. Miller was quick to show his frustrations and the pair were soon locked in to a tough battle, swapping and changing positions at almost every corner.
At lap 5, Johann Zarco was behind Brad Binder with the pair fighting hard for 7th place. He eventually bested the South African and, on the start-finish straight at the start of lap 6, the pair flew past Miller and shuffled him back down to 8th.
It was shortly after this move, at turn 15 of lap 6, that Marc Marquez ended up in the gravel thanks to going a little wide when trying to take 3rd away from Marini. He was clearly pushing hard on a seemingly mediocre bike and his frustrations were clear for everyone to see.
This gave Marini some breathing room as Marc Marquez was very hot on his tail. However, he was then being followed by the younger Alex Marquez who is an equally ferocious competitor.
It was at this point that everything seemed to settle down across the grid with the only moves coming from Fabio Quartararo, who moved up to 12th on lap 9, and Alex Marquez tussling with Marini for 3rd as well as Zarco starting to close in on Marini for 4th.
At lap 15, the second Marquez brother ended up in the kitty litter with Alex Marquez going down at at turn 2 – it seemed that the pressure he was put under by Marini just became too much for him.
Everyone’s attention then turned to Zarco who was trying hard to claim the final podium spot away from Marini. He made the slip stream work perfectly, getting close behind the VR46 machine, but couldn’t seem to make a move work. That was until lap 18 when a tough battle between the pair ended with Zarco finally on top.
All this battling allowed Martin and Bagnaia to pull away from the field, with Martin 1.9 seconds ahead and Bagnaia a further 1.3 seconds ahead of him.
Full Results
1st
Pecco Bagnaia
Lenovo Ducati
2nd
Jorge Martin
Prima Pramac
3rd
Johann Zarco
Prima Pramac
4th
Luca Marini
Mooney VR46
5th
Brad Binder
Red Bull KTM
6th
Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia
7th
Jack Miller
Red Bull KTM
8th
Marco Bezzecchi
Mooney VR46
9th
Enea Bastianini
Lenovo Ducati
10th
Franco Morbidelli
Monster Energy Yamaha
11th
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha
12th
Maverick Vinales
Aprilia
13th
Takaaki Nakagami
LCR Honda
14th
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Gresini
15th
Augusto Fernandez
GASGAS Tech 3
16th
Michele Pirro
Aruba.it
17th
Raul Fernandez
CryptoDATA RNF
18th
Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia
19th
Jonas Folger
GASGAS Tech 3
DNFs: Miguel Oliveira (CrypotDATA RNF), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini)
As we are becoming accustomed to in MotoGP this season, the sprint race was full of drama from start to finish, with multiple overtakes and lots of drama happening on every lap.
After taking a stunning pole position earlier in the day, and smashing the qualifying lap record, Pecco Bagnaia has taken a dominant win in the Mugello sprint race.
He was joined on the podium by fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, who fought hard to keep his teammate at bay.
It was a difficult race for Alex Marquez who, after putting in a brilliant qualifying lap and starting the race in 3rd, sadly crash at the first corner, bringing his day to a sudden and unexpected halt.
Similarly, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez will have been disappointed to finish in 6th and 7th respectively after enjoying some dramatic battles in the podium places at the early stages of the race.
We have two returning riders this weekend – Aleix Espargaro is back from a bicycle accident and finished in 8th, whilst Enea Bastianini, who has returned from injuries sustained earlier in the season, ended the day in 9th.
As It Happened
As the lights went out, the rain began to fall – however, it was only light rain which didn’t affect the grip on the tarmac.
Off the line, Bagnaia managed to hold on to the lead despite Marc Marquez appearing alongside him into turn 1. Bagnaia was able to strategically place his Ducati to block this attack and keep the lead. In doing this, he also hampered Jack Miller’s approach as he left the Aussie nowhere to go.
Further back, we had Johann Zarco flying off the line but he sadly goes wide in turn 1, which hampers his amazing start slightly.
In the middle of turn 1 of the first lap, Alex Marquez sadly found himself in the kitty litter after Brad Binder bumped into him on the inside. After reviewing the incident, Binder was deemed to be at fault and was later handed a long lap penalty. That did nothing to soothe Alex Marquez though, who was forced to watch the rest of the sprint race from the garage.
As the grid crosses the line to start lap 2, Jorge Martin stole 2nd from Marquez. He was clearly the real winner at the start, working his way up from 6th. Miller was also on the climb and, with the drama hotting up, Marquez found himself squeezed in to the middle of a Miller-Marini sandwich, which pushed him down the order and promoted Miller to 3rd.
There were aggressive moves happening up and down the field, including the front where Martin stole the lead from Bagnaia on lap 2.
It was at this point that Miguel Oliveira, the wet weather specialist who was running down in 13th, laid down the fast lap of the race so far proving his mastery of these tricky and changeable conditions.
With 4 of 11 laps completed, Bagnaia made his way back into the lead with Martin settling for 2nd. Just behind them were the two Mooney VR46 riders, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, who were putting in a brilliant performance for a race where their boss, Valentino Rossi, was watching from the garage.
By lap 6, the action started to settle down and there were a few gaps forming throughout the grid. Bezzecchi was now the rider setting fastest laps, with a lap so fast that is smashed the previous race lap record by 0.3 seconds! Shortly after that, Binder clocked the fastest ever speed recorded at Mugello, as he topped out at 366km/h.
As the lap counter ticked down, and we reached the final stages of the race, we had Bagnaia leading, but being chased down by Bezzecchi in 2nd, and Martin in 3rd with his teammate, Johann Zarco in 4th and hot on his tail. It continued this way until the checkered flag fell, with neither Bezzecchi nor Zarco able to manufacture a move on their competitors.
Full Results
1st
Francesco Bagnaia
Ducati Lenovo
2nd
Marco Bezzecchi
Mooney VR46
3rd
Jorge Martin
Prima Pramac
4th
Johann Zarco
Prima Pramac
5th
Luca Marini
Mooney VR46
6th
Jack Miller
Red Bull KTM
7th
Marc Marquez
Repsol Honda
8th
Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia
9th
Enea Bastianini
Ducati Lenovo
10th
Fabio Quartararo
Monster Energy Yamaha
11th
Brad Binder
Red Bull KTM
12th
Miguel Oliveira
CryptoDATA RNF
13th
Maverick Vinales
Aprilia
14th
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Gresini
15th
Michele Pirro
Aruba. it
16th
Franco Morbidelli
Monster Energy Yamaha
17th
Takaaki Nakagami
LCR Honda
18th
Lorenzo Savadori
Aprilia
19th
Raul Fernandez
CryptoDATA RNF
20th
Augusto Fernandez
GASGAS Tech3
21st
Jonas Folder
GASGAS Tech3
DNFs: Alex Rins (LCR Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini)
Following two pole positions in a row, Sam Lowes was hoping to have a successful qualifying at Mugello this weekend but the best he could do was third place. Aron Canet crashed out in the second qualifying session but the time he set in the first half of the session, a 1:50.796, was too good for any rider to beat and he will line up on pole position tomorrow, dependent on the medical review he will have before the race starts tomorrow.
The top four spots in the first qualifying session were constantly changing but it seemed to be the same four riders who seemed most comfortable on the Italian asphalt.
Darryn Binder was so confident that he did not need to go out for a second time in the session with the time he set to take second place, behind Ai Ogura, at the halfway point. Even with all the other riders out on track, he was safe and finished the session in fourth place. Jeremy Alcoba and Joe Roberts both set faster times than Binder, dropping him down to fourth fastest.
The riders who made it through to Q2 from Q1 were Roberts, Ogura, Alcoba and Binder.
All riders went out at the start of Q2 to set some banker laps. After the first few tours of the circuit, Canet topped the timesheet with a 1:15.089, followed by Lowes and Manuel Gonzalez.
With nine and half minutes remaining on the clock, Pedro Acosta took the top spot away from Canet, but the Pons Wegow Los40 rider was able to take the position back almost immediately.
At the halfway point of the session, all riders except for Mattia Pasini had set a representative lap time.
With six minutes to go, provisional pole sitter Canet crashed out at the exit of turn three and he lost his visor through the crash. He was taken to the medical centre and following a review, a small bone infraction was found on the ring and little fingers of his right hand. The doctors have decided to review him tomorrow before the race before they make the decision on whether he is fit to race.
Ogura also crashed during the session at turn 12.
At the end of the session, no rider was able to put together a good lap. Alonso Lopez and Celestino Vietti both set fast sectors 1 and 2 but were not able to improve in the third and fourth sectors.
Lining up on the front row alongside Canet will be Acosta and Lowes, who continues his streak of starting on the front row. Roberts, Filip Salac and Jake Dixon fill up the second row. Vietti, Fermin Aldeguer and Lopez are the riders who will start on the third row.
Championship leader Tony Arbolino will start tomorrow’s race from tenth on the grid.
Rory Skinner was injured in the morning practice session due to a collision with Alcoba, forcing him to withdraw from the race and move his focus onto the next round in Sachsenring.
2023 ITALIAN MOTO2 GRAND PRIX, MUGELLO – QUALIFYING RESULTS
With dark clouds lurking in the skies over the circuit in the Tuscan hillside, we headed into the Moto3 qualifying session here in Mugello unsure if the sunshine would hold out for the riders. After nothing short of perfection so far this weekend, could anyone put a stop to Red Bull KTM rider Deniz Öncü taking pole position?
With the longest straight on the MotoGP calendar, as always it’s a battle of the slip stream in Moto3. In Q1, we saw Ryusei Yamanaka dragging Joel Kelso along to post the fastest time. Kelso, with a fantastic lap of 1:57.282, returned to the pits confident of his Q2 slot which was later proved to be right.
As all of the riders took to the track for a final run at getting into Q2, and with only 5 seconds left of the session, Jose Antonio Rueda moved up into 2nd in the timings only to be quickly booted out of the top 4 by a swarm of riders crossing the finish line. Taiyo Furusato, Stefano Nepa, Vicente Perez and Kelso ended Q1 as your top 4 riders.
As we headed into Q2 the battle for pole was on. Deniz Öncü has been outstanding so far this weekend and quickest in every session. Sat in the pits, the riders all picked who to follow out onto the circuit to get the best slip stream possible.
In the early stages of Q2, Daniel Holgado and Öncü were dicing with each other during their first runs, nearly coming together at one point and resulting in Öncü diving into the pits to wait for a better spot to go back out.
With 8 minutes of the session left and all of the riders were now posting flying laps. It was Kelso who set the fastest lap with Diogo Moreira, Ayumu Sasaki and Jaume Masia rounding up the top 4. All riders headed back to the pits after their first attempts at pole, only to leave Öncü and Sasaki still pushing on track.
With the track empty and taking full advantage, Öncü quickly posted the fastest time of 1:56.135, nearly half a second clear of Kelso in 2nd. As the riders now made their way back out of the pits for the second attempt, they had a mountain to climb to claim pole position here in Mugello. Coming to the end of their out laps and half the pack blasting down the long straight into turn 1 , could anyone challenge Öncü’s time with only a minute remaining in the session?
Despite having provisional pole, Öncü wasn’t slowing down for anyone, again going faster and posting a 1:56.020 chasing that elusive 1:55 lap time. As the swarm of riders crossed the line on their next flying laps it was Kelso hanging onto 2nd with Sasaki in 3rd and Moreira 4th.
A brilliant qualifying for Kelso but an even better performance from Öncü who showed total dominance and ended the session half a second quicker than anyone else. Sasaki, true to form, ended up on the front row of the grid, his fifth front row start of the season. Rounding off the front row for the race tomorrow is championship leader Holgado promoted to 3rd on the grid after the penalties.
Top 10:
1. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:56.020
2. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) + 0.591
3. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) +0.780
4. Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) +0.844
5. Ricardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) +0.983
6. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) +1.077
7. Andrea Migno (CIP Green Power) +1.323
8. Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) +1.338
9. Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) +1.454
10. David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) +1.498
The jewel in the crown of the MotoGP season has delivered us a tantalising qualifying session, building the excitement ahead of the two races this weekend.
Championship leader and home hero, Pecco Baganai has set the first ever 1:44 lap at Mugello to take pole in the Tuscan hills. He tackled the pressure of being an Italian rider, on an Italian bike, at an Italian track in spectacular style to the delight of the grandstands.
He will be joined on the front row by both Marc and Alex Marquez, in 2nd and 3rd respectively. This is the first time the brothers have been in parc ferme together.
It was a truly difficult day for Fabio Quatararo who wasn’t able to get out of Q1 and will line up in 15th for the sprint and main races.
Qualifying 1
There were some big names in the first qualifying session, including both Monster Yamaha riders, Fabi Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Alex Marquez, Maverick Vinales and rookie-on-the-rise, Augusto Fernandez.
In the early stages of the session, it was Alex Marquez who set the first fastest lap – so fast, he was just shy of the overall lap record. Slotting in behind him, in the second promotion spot, was Morbidelli.
As normal, the riders made their way back to the garages to change tires before their second run. Vinales first improved up in to the promotion spots, followed by Miller who leap-frogged him to second.
This pushed Morbidelli down to 4th, who stayed one place ahead of teammate Quartararo who was having a day to forget.
As the checkered flag fell for Q1, it was Alex Marquez (1:45.231) and Jack Miller (1:45.559, +0.328) who progressed to the next session for their shot at pole.
Qualifying 2
As rain threatened to add some drama to qualifying, every rider was quickly out on track and eager to set themselves a banker lap.
With Valentino Rossi watching from the sidelines, his VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi set the first flying lap with a 1:45.372. Marc Marquez and Jack Miller were close on his tail, taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.
With 11 minutes left on the clock, and without having yet set a lap time, Enea Bastianini crashed at turn 11 to give himself a huge amount of hard work on his return to MotoGP after recovering from an injury.
Jorge Martin then takes provisional pole away from Bezzecchi just before the riders came back to the garages for a tire change.
Instead of waiting to rejoin the track with everyone else, Pecco Bagnaia came out early to enjoy a complete empty track. However, he was soon joined by Marc Marquez and Bagnaia didn’t hide his frustrations at this, waving to the Spaniard and angrily gesturing to him.
Despite being forced to tow the Spaniard round the track, Bagnaia’s pace was blistering and he crossed the line to set the first ever 1:44 lap at Mugello, smashing the previous lap record. Marc Marquez, however, had to settle for 2nd as he was 0.078s behind the reigning championship
Luca Marini had his previously-cancelled lap time reinstated after the session, gifting 4th place back to him. Aleix Espargaro faced opposite luck – he looked set for a front row start but as the other riders set flying laps, he was eventually shuffled down to 8th.
Kyle Busch led half the laps in Sunday’s Enjoy Illinois 300, and conquered five late race restarts, including an overtime restart, to take the chequered to claim his third career win of the season, and win at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Illinois, in the Cup Series for the first time in his second try.
Kyle Busch checks off Gateway
Brake rotor failures
Rest of race recap
Full race results
Points standings
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
The polesitter won stage one, and led five different times for 121 laps of the 240 to get his 63rd Cup Series career win.
Kyle Larson challenged Busch for the lead in each of the final five restarts, who had got to first with under 65 laps to go after only taking two tyres on pit road.
Larson was unable to challenge Busch on the final restart, allowing Denny Hamlin to take second with last year’s winner Joey Logano finishing third and Larson fourth.
Kyle Busch said: “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby! Thanks to Team Chevy, appreciate 3Chi (sponsor).”
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, celebrates with RCR team owner and NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richard Childress and wife, Samantha Busch in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Kyle Busch had won at every track on the Cup Series schedule prior to the 2018 season, but with the addition of several new tracks in recent years, Busch has more work to do to reach that feat again. He has gotten one step closer by winning at World Wide Technology after only been added to the Cup Series schedule last year.
Kyle Larson had been outside the top 30 during stage one and described his car as “bad loose” finishing 28th in stage one. Several adjustments made to the car by the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports crew, along with the two-tyre call with less than 60 laps to go miraculously saw him go to the front briefly.
Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, and Alex Bowman, driver of the #48 Ally Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Ryan Blaney left off where he finished last week where he ended his 59 winless drought to win the Coca-Cola 600, led 83 laps, including dominating and winning stage two, but was unable to get by Busch and Larson in the closing 50 laps of the race and would finish sixth.
Ryan Blaney, driver of the #12 Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford, and Joey Logano, driver of the #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, race during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
William Byron had taken over the lead of the race halfway through the final stage but a slow pit stop under caution on lap 178 dropped him down to fourth and sank further through the field under green. Byron finished eighth.
Corey Lajoie made his debut for Hendrick Motorsports filling in for Chase Elliott, who was serving a one race suspension by NASCAR for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin in last week’s Coca-Cola 600.
LaJoie’s No. 9 Chevrolet was not handling well in the first half of the race after qualifying 30th, being stuck outside the the top 25 but managed a solid 21st place finish despite the ill handling race car.
Corey LaJoie, driver of the #9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, drives during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
Brake rotor failures
Full time Truck Series competitor Carson Hocevar, who got his first Truck Series win at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year, filled in for LaJoie in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, making his Cup Series debut and put on an impressive show.
He qualified 26th but worked his way up the order in the first two stages challenging Austin Dillon for 16th but his race ended early when on lap 90 his right front brake rotor exploded, taking him out of the race.
Hocevar said: “I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I was running 16th… just so surreal for the first time ever. I thought we were going to have a good day and be in a good spot for the No. 7 Chevy team. Hopefully, that call for a Cup ride isn’t the only one I get in my life.”
— Spire Motorsports (@SpireMotorsport) June 5, 2023
Several drivers experienced brake rotor failures in the race, most likely down to the hard braking required from high speed to make turns one and three. The brakes appeared to be worse when drivers only took two tyres and ran long.
Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, and Bubba Wallace all had front right brake rotor failures on lap 175, 198, and 235 respectively, bringing out the caution as brake rotor debris littered turns one and two.
Rest of race recap
Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 3CHI Chevrolet, leads the field during the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway on June 04, 2023 in Madison, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
The race was stopped on lap seven and delayed for two hours due to lightning in the area but no rain reached the race track.
A general view of pit road during a weather delay of the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Brad Keselowski lost engine performance at the end of stage one and went down a lap. Due to a flurry of late race cautions, Keselowski was able to finish 28th on the lead lap despite the loss in performance.
The start of stage two saw Ross Chastain tag Michael McDowell on the restart sending McDowell go for a spin. McDowell had taken two tires during the stage break, gaining 11 positions, that put him inside the top 10. McDowell recovered from this to finish ninth.
Lap 61 saw Ryan Blaney finally clear Kyle Busch for the lead after racing side by side for several laps, and would lead the rest of stage two to lap 90 to take the stage win.
Daniel Suarez and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had strong runs going in the first two stages, running inside the top 10.
William Byron took over the lead briefly from Tyler Reddick at the start of the final stage. Reddick had gained 11 positions during the stage break on pit road by taking two tyres only. Byron lost the lead to Larson on pit road during the next caution due to Reddick’s brake rotor failure.
With 55 to go, Kyle Busch cleared Kyle Larson for the lead coming off turn two, who had held it briefly on the restart. Busch would stay out front for the remainder of the race.
Christopher Bell was spun out by Austin Cindric in a three-wide incident in turn two but recovered to a 11th place finish.
Klye Busch’s RCR teammate Austin Dillon ended Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s strong day with 22 laps to go when he turned off of the nose of Austin Cindric and piled into Stenhouse going into turn one, taking both of them out of the race.
Bubba Wallace’s brake rotor failure with five laps to go saw the caution come out again that led to the overtime finish that saw Kyle Busch take the chequered flag for Richard Childress Racing.
The next race for the NASCAR Cup Series will be the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in California with the green flag flying this Sunday at 3:30pm ET.
Full race results
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin
Joey Logano
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr.
Ryan Blaney
Daniel Suarez
William Byron
Michael McDowell
Kevin Harvick
Christopher Bell
Chris Buescher
Austin Cindric
AJ Allmendinger
Todd Gilliland
Justin Haley
Ryan Preece
Erik Jones
Aric Almirola
Ty Gibbs
Corey LaJoie
Ross Chastain
Harrison Burton
JJ Yeley
Ty Dillon
Alex Bowman
BJ McLeod
Brad Keselowski
Gray Gaulding
Bubba Wallace
Austin Dillon
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Noah Gragson
Chase Briscoe
Tyler Reddick
Carson Hocevar
Stage one
Kyle Busch
Ryan Blaney
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr.
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
William Byron
Ross Chastain
Austin Cindric
Daniel Suarez
Stage two
Ryan Blaney
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamlin
William Byron
Daniel Suarez
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Ross Chastain
Kyle Larson
Points standings
(* = locked into playoffs)
Ryan Blaney* – 495
William Byron* – 482
Kevin Harvick – 473
Martin Truex Jr.* – 472
Ross Chastain – 466
Christopher Bell* – 455
Kyle Busch* – 451
Denny Hamlin* – 451
Kyle Larson* – 411
Tyler Reddick* – 411
Brad Keselowski – 403
Joey Logano* – 401
Chris Buescher – 393
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.* – 368
Bubba Wallace – 334
Daniel Suarez – 313
Alex Bowman – 307
Ty Gibbs – 298
Austin Cindric – 280
Michael McDowell – 278
Corey LaJoie – 274
Justin Haley – 268
Todd Gilliland – 266
AJ Allmendinger – 260
Aric Almirola – 251
Erik Jones – 245
Ryan Preece – 245
Chase Elliott – 215
Harrison Burton – 209
Austin Dillon – 200
Chase Briscoe – 175
Noah Gragson – 143
Ty Dillon – 132
BJ McLeod – 88
Featured Image: Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet, takes a bow after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 at WWT Raceway (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Round 10 and Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship brought many turns, drama and unexpected events.
Round 10:
Qualifying:
Qualifying for round 10 saw Dennis, Vandoorne, Vergne and Frijns get through from group A and Gunther, Wehrlein, Rast and Mortara go through from group B.
Quarter Final 1 saw the DS Penskes go head to head with Vergne taking victory over Vandoorne. It was Frijns and Dennis in quarter final 2 with Dennis winning over the Abt Cupra driver. Rene Rast went against Pascal Wehrlein in quarter final 3 with Wehrlein beating his fellow German. Both the Maserati drivers went against eachother for quarter final 4 with Gunther winning.
Vergne and Dennis went head to head for Semi final 1 and Jake Dennis won over the 2 time champion. Wehrlein and Gunther went to battle and Gunther won over the championship leader.
It was Jake Dennis vs Maximilian Gunther for the final and Gunther took his first pole position!
Race:
Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 took off with a clean getaway for the majority of drivers. Vandoorne managed to get ahead of Jake Dennis on the opening lap with the Envision of Sebastian Buemi falling down the order to P21.
Further on, David Beckmann (the stand in rookie for Andre Lotterer for this weekend) had a collision with Buemi and lost his front wing with Buemi suspecting he had a puncture. Wehrlein then took the lead of the race with DiGrassi, Mehri and Buemi taking their first attack mode. Attack mode was very different for this weekend. Drivers could go for 2 minutes then 6 minutes, 4 minutes in both stints or 6 minutes then 2 minutes. It was up to the drivers and teams whichever one they went with. Gunther and Dennis then joined the other drivers by taking attack mode.
When Wehrlein took attack mode for the second time, he dropped down to P3 with Gunther in P1 and Vandoorne in P2 respectively. When Vandoorne went for his second attack mode on lap 12, he rejoined at P4, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne but far behind Dennis. Wehrlein then takes back the lead after Gunther goes for his attack mode. Dennis eventually takes his 6 minute attack mode and Muller joined him while Mortara went for 2 minutes. Dennis passed Vandoorne with 4 minutes remaining.
Towards the latter stages of the race, the championship leader Nick Cassidy nearly spins his car. He collided with Vergne in turn 1. Dennis also got ahead of Gunther for P2. Gunther tries to line up a move into turn 1 but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Cassidy had to take his final attack mode but he dropped to P7 with no one having attack mode ahead of him. Rene Rast had a spin at turn 16. Near the end of the race, Evans got hit by his teammate Sam Bird in turn 1. Bird then ended up bringing out another yellow flag on the final lap. Wehrlein then crossed the line as the winner! Jake Dennis finished in P2 with Maximilian Gunther in P3. Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne made it a DS Penske P4-P5 respectfully. Educardo Mortara finished P6, Championship leader Nick Cassidy finishes P7, Antonio Felix Da Costa finished P8 with Robin Frijns and Jake Hughes filling the final 2 points positions.
Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st position, celebrates on the podium. Image Credit: LAT Images
Round 11:
Qualifying:
Qualifying for round 11 consisted of Dennis, Fenestraz, Evans and Hughes getting through from Group A and Gunther, Mortara, Wehrlein and Vandoorne through from group B.
Evans came out victorious over Fenestraz, Dennis beat Hughes in a Jake Vs Jake quarter final, both the Maserati drivers beat both Wehrlein and Vandoorne in the final 2 quarter finals.
Dennis and Mitch went head to head for semi final 1 and Dennis got through by 0.001 of a second. Mortara and Gunther went against eachother in semi final 2 with Gunther winning out.
It was Dennis vs Gunther in the final(the exact same as Round 10 Qualifying) and the result as the same as Gunther won pole position.
Race:
The race for Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 started off with 2 drivers being wheeled to the pitlane before the formation sequence even began. Sacha Fenestraz and Sam Bird had an issue on the grid which was not able to be fixed intime for the race. Gunther kept the lead as the lights went out. Gunther managed to keep the lead as the race went on, he took attackmode after his engineer told him to gain 4 tenths. This meant the German driver dropped down to P3.
Dennis then took attack mode after Gunther but he stayed ahead the Maserati driver. Evans was then leading the race but when he took attack mode, he fell behind both Dennis and Gunther. Behind Gunther and Evans was Vandoorne and Mortara in P4 and P5. Soon after, David Beckmann had to retire due to an incident with Di Grassi. Both Evans and Mortara managed to make p a place to P2 and P4 respectfully. Gunther then makes a move to go up to P2 which he manages to make stick. It was then revealed that Roberto Mehri was down to 65% energy while everyone else was down to about 70%. Gunther looks to go around the outside of Dennis.
Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3, leads Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore. Image Credit: Simon Galloway
Buemi then pits for a new front wing after getting damage. Jean Eric-Vergne follows him after a seperate incident. Dennis then takes attack mode but drops down to P3. Gunther takes his attack mode soon after Dennis but Gunther stays ahead of Dennis. Following this, Mortara, Da Costa, Nato and Vergne (who rejoined after pitting a few laps back). Further on, Gunther lead the race by over 2 seconds to Dennis. Vandoorne was hot on the heels of Evans for the final podium spot. Gunther’s teammate Educardo Mortara locked up going into turn 1 and fell down a few places.
Towards the final stages of the race, Wehrlein took attack mode and dropped back to P8. He then managed to get past Da Costa. Vandoorne then got overtaken by Fenestraz while Fenestraz’ teammate Norman Nato tries to make 2 overtakes at once but he doesn’t manage to make it stick. Wehrlein overtook Vandoorne to make it up to P6. Wehrlein started to struggle to catch up to the rest of the pack at the front of the field. There was no added laps to the race. Dennis tried to get past Gunther but it did not work as Maximilian Gunther won the Jakarta E-Prix! Jake Dennis finished P2 and Mitch Evans in P3. Sacha Fenestraz finished P4 with his teammate Norman Nato in p5. Pascal Wehrlein was in P6, Antonio Felix Da Costa in P7, Eduardo Mortara in P8, Stoffel Vandorne in P9 with Sebastian Buemi finishing the points positions.
In the championship standings, Pascal Wehrlein leads the way by 1 point to Jake Dennis in P2 with Nick Cassidy behind by 5 points to Dennis. Mitch Evans is 19 points behind Cassidy with Jean-Eric Vergen 12 points back from Evans with 97.
