The final curtain is about to fall on the 2023 season as Moto3 returns to Europe for one last dance.
A bumper crowd is expected at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo for the season finale this weekend (4/5/6 November).
With the championship already decided, you could be forgiven for expecting the Valencian Grand Prix to be somewhat uneventful, but there’s still plenty of motivation for the riders.
Izan Guevara heads to Valencia having secured both the riders title and a promotion to Moto2. He will be joined in the intermediate class by teammate Sergio Garcia and Leopard Honda’s Dennis Foggia. All three riders would love to add one last Moto3 victory to their illustrious CVs.
It’s the final race in the class for the surprise winner in Malaysia, John McPhee. The Scotsman stunned everyone with a brilliant move to grab the lead on the last lap in Sepang to secure a career-defining victory.
At 28 years of Age, McPhee is too old to compete in Moto3 beyond this season. Unlike many of his peers who have secured their Grand Prix futures, the Max Racing rider is yet to confirm his seat for 2023, at least publicly.
With McPhee moving on, Britain’s hopes will be pinned on the Visiontrack Racing duo of Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley. Both riders have had their share of adversity this season, but the experience will be invaluable for their fledgling careers.
Interestingly only one rider has finished every race so far this season, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü. The Turk has shown good pace all year but is still searching for his first win in Moto3. To finish all 20 races would be an impressive feat, so it’s certainly worth keeping an eye on the 19-year-old.
Another rider who has been impressive this year is Japan’s Ayumu Sasaki. His stunning victory in Austria was a real highlight and he has been one of the only riders able to keep up with the pace of Guevara, particularly in the second half of the season.
Whatever happens, the final chapter of the 2022 campaign promises to be a cracker. The forecast for the weekend looks good with clear skies and temperatures expected to be in the mid-20s. The race is scheduled to start at 11:00am local time (10:00am GMT).
Paul Bird’s British Superbike Ducati team have announced the signing of Glenn Irwin for the 2023 British Superbike season.
Glenn Irwin PBM Ducati – Image Courtesy Double Red Photography
The Northern Irishman retuning back to a team he has previously ridden for between 2016 and 2018, alongside series legend Shane Byrne before a short stint with FS-3 Kawasaki Racing, and then settling in the Honda camp for 3 seasons.
Glenn has been very vocal about his desires to continue racing with the Honda brand but after being approached by Paul Bird recently, Irwin has decided a move over to Ducati machinery aboard the updated for 2023 Ducati Panigale V4R is the move that he believes will take him to British Championship success.
In an interview given to the BBC Sport website, Glenn confirms he will not attend the Isle of Man TT in 2023 as a competitor, with PBM Ducati. “I love doing the event but I don’t love it as much as my kids”. It would seem for now after a desperately sad year, where 6 people lost their lives at the TT and with the recent tragic passings of Chrissy Rouse and Victor Steeman that perhaps Glenn has decided to stick with the safer of the 2 events, BSB over the Isle of Man TT.
Irwin believes he has a better chance of winning the BSB title in 2023 with PBM, even if it means he has to sacrifice entering the Isle of Man race where PBM won’t make an appearance. With this in mind it seems to have aided Glenn in choosing the best option for him for the season, after all his earnings and security come from the British Superbikes and I say fair play to someone thinking of their family first.
On the move, Glenn says“Re-joining PBM after four years apart is something I’m relishing as I feel I’ve improved as a rider and as a person during that time. The experience away has taught me a lot and to be coming back to the most successful team in the paddock is a fantastic opportunity. I’m in a stronger position now and we both know how each other works so the timing is perfect. I want to win, and Birdy wants to win and with Tommy as a very strong teammate, it will drive us all on. I’ve proved I can challenge for the title this year, so the plan is to go one better next season.”
Team Owner Paul Bird “With Glenn joining Tommy, I think we have an unbelievable line up for 2023 with the riders that finished second and third in this year’s championship. It’s great to have Glenn back as we have had a lot of success together in the past and he’s probably left what I would regard as one of the best, if not the best, team in the paddock to come to us. After a disappointing season for PBM, it will be good to be back at the sharp end.”
Max Verstappen became the first man in Formula One history to win fourteen races in a season with victory at the Mexican Grand Prix, as the Mercedes challenge failed to materialise on race day.
A different tyre strategy gave Mercedes hope of a first victory of the season, but Lewis Hamilton had to settle for second once again, with Sergio Perez coming home in third place.
The race start. Image courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media
The start of the race turned out to be crucial, with pole position traditionally not the best at this circuit due to the 800m run towards turn one. Red Bull started Verstappen and Perez on the softs to give themselves the best chance versus the medium-shod Mercedes cars, and it worked out with Verstappen able to retain the lead, and Perez able to get ahead of Russell. Barring pitstops, it remained that way in the top four, with Ferrari unable to challenge in what was the Italian squad’s slowest weekend of the season.
Given the high altitude nature of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez stretches the cars’ cooling to the limit, it was perhaps unsurprising to see the field managing their cars throughout the early stages. Despite this, Red Bull weren’t able to stretch their soft tyres much beyond lap 20, with Perez the first of the front-runners to pit on lap 23, and Verstappen coming in two laps later. Both were put on medium tyres, raising the question as to whether they’d be able to manage these enough to get to the end, or whether they’d go aggressive and push for a two-stop strategy.
The pace of these fresh mediums was clear to see, especially on Perez’s car, with the Mexican setting fastest lap after fastest lap as a cacophony of cheers followed him around the circuit. Mercedes were forced to react to stop Hamilton from being undercut by Perez, with the Brit coming in on lap 29 for hard tyres.
George Russell was adamant that he wanted to stay out on the mediums for as long as possible, in an attempt to change to the soft tyres at the end of the race. Eventually, he was called in on lap 34, again for a set of hard tyres.
Verstappen leading Hamilton. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool
Mercedes were hoping that the mediums would degrade enough to give them a chance of taking victory for the first time this season, but Hamilton spent most of his second stint looking in the rearview mirrors at Perez, rather than closing the gap to Verstappen. Although the Mexican did briefly get within DRS range of the Mercedes, Hamilton’s superior pace through the final sector meant that, as was the case last year, an overtake was never really an option. From here on in the positions looked set in stone, with Verstappen, Hamilton and Perez cruising home to take the podium places, as Russell finished in fourth place after a late stop for softs, in order to secure the fastest laps. Carlos Sainz finished in fifth place ahead of Charles Leclerc in sixth, with the Monegasque driver now dropping behind Perez in the fight for second in the standings.
As is often the case in Formula One, it was the midfield that provided most of the action. Fernando Alonso led this pack for the majority of the race, after jumping the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas at the start. Unfortunately, reliability problems struck the Spaniard once again, and he retired for the fifth race this season, in what could be a big blow in Alpine’s battle with McLaren for fourth in the championship.
One of the few drivers to go for a medium-soft strategy was Daniel Ricciardo, and he utilised the red-walled Pirellis superbly, securing seventh place despite picking up a ten-second penalty for a collision with Yuki Tsunoda, which led to the Japanese driver’s retirement. Ricciardo overtook Lando Norris, Bottas, Alonso and Esteban Ocon in the final stint – in what was by far the Australian’s strongest showing this season. Ocon came home eighth ahead of Norris, with Bottas holding on to take tenth for his first points since the Canadian Grand Prix in June.
Ricciardo’s pace on the softs at the end may have left many drivers wondering what could have happened to their races if they had gone longer in the first stint – notably Hamilton and Russell. Mistakes from both drivers in qualifying helped Verstappen to secure pole position. Still, the Dutchman’s pace on race day was once again on a different level – with Verstappen also now having the record for most points in a Formula One season, with two races still to go. However, as Max is one of the first to admit, the points system and amount of races in a season now mean these records are perhaps easier to secure in the modern era.
After a week that was dominated by talk of cost-cap punishments, Red Bull will be glad they could do their talking on the track once again – in what is now their most successful season in the sport. With Brazil and Abu Dhabi still to come, you’d be a brave person to bet against Red Bull and Verstappen securing the top step on the podium once again this season.
Three rounds left to go, and both championships wrapped up but that doesn’t stop the action. Mexico is next with plenty of off-track drama to chat about before the on-track drama begins.
Haas vs Alpine vs RedBull vs The Stewards
During the US Grand Prix Alonso hit the back of Stroll after the Aston Martin made a late move down the back straight. This sent the front end of the Alpine into the air before brushing a barrier. Luckily for the Spaniard, he was able to get his car back to the pits for the team to change the tyres and front wing. However, it appeared his wing mirror was not attached properly and came off during the race.
Perez with his damaged wing. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool
The RedBull of Perez also had an issue with body parts falling off. After a first lap incident part of his front wing was flapping around for several laps before flying across the track. The team decided not to change his wing through the entire race because he would lose too much track position.
After the race, Haas protested against both RedBull and Alpine which led to a 30-second time penalty for Alonso, dropping him outside the points. Alpine has since contested the result and will be a part of a hearing, scheduled to take place today. The protest regarding Perez was seen as inadmissible by the stewards.
The problem actually lies with the stewards. They should have brought out the black and orange for both cars like they have done with Magnussen many times this season. This looks to be another case where the teams are coming out worst off from a decision which they should have made during the race by the stewards. This is likely to cause many rumours throughout the paddock.
Perez takes on his Home Race in a Championship Winning Car
Sergio Pérez celebrates after the Red Bull Racing Showrun in Mexico. Image courtesy of RedBull Content Pool
This year there is no doubt which team has been able to capitalise the most in races, and with both championships wrapped up, this may be Perez’s chance to be the first Mexican to win his home Grand Prix.
It has been no secret that Perez has had to play number two driver this year and last year, the difference now is that there is no need for the team to favour Verstappen to gain points for his championship. This means that Perez has everything behind him to win the race. However, performances have not been on his side lately.
Whilst overall he is still an extremely quick driver, he has struggled to keep up with his teammate as well as the Ferraris and often both Mercedes. He will be hoping for a turnaround in form so he can give the home crowd something to cheer about.
Qualifying is on Saturday at 9pm BST and the race starts at 8pm on Sunday.
Seemingly the worst kept secret in silly season is finally announced. Tommy Bridewell will race with the Paul Bird Motorsport squad for 2023 in the British Superbikes.
Tommy Bridewell PBM Ducati – Picture courtesy PBM Ducati / Double Red Photography
Bridewell had been rumoured to be joining the PBM Ducati lineup for a few weeks now and the rumours gained traction when Steve Moore, Team Principal of the Oxford Products Ducati team, which Bridewell has ridden with for the last 4 years, took to Twitter to say “Thank you Tommy Bridewell, Stacey Jo and the Bridewell family for a mega 4.5 years. They said we’d never get along, but the results made our team! I’m so proud that he was in demand from several big factory teams. He has earned his place. Now we’ve got to try to beat him.”
On the same day Bridewell was quoted by Ducati on social media“It was nice to end the @OfficialBSB season on some strong results. It was my last race with @MotoRapidoBSB, I’d like to wish them every success in their future and a huge thank you for everything they have done for me.”
On signing with PBM Ducati, Bridewell said “This is my best shot at winning the title with a team that knows all about winning British Championships. I’ve known the team for a long time and this represents a fantastic opportunity as I’ve strived for years to beat them. There was a consensus that we should work together and PBM can guide me towards our goal. I’m confident in my riding and the team can give me the technical support I need. The job comes with added pressure but it’s one I’m relishing.”
Team owner Paul Bird said “I’m delighted to have Tommy joining the team for 2023. He came up to me in the paddock as a 15-year-old when he was just starting out and told me he would ride for me one day and now it’s going to happen. He’s done a great job on a Ducati over these past couple of years and has been one of our toughest rivals so to have him on board with us is fantastic and we can’t wait to get started.”
We are still awaiting confirmation of who will fill the second seat alongside Tommy Bridewell. Lots of rumours are floating around at the moment but until it is confirmed, we have to keep biting our nails and waiting for news.
Follow me on Twitter @RacingArmchair for daily racing chat and updates.
Well, just 56km’s over four stages were ahead of the crews with two runs of each stage. This first started before the dawn, with the cars blasting through with their light pods ablaze. Gus Greensmith’s Puma had been rebuilt and was first to start.
Yohan Rossel, Photo Credit, Kinetix AF
First up was SS16 Pratdip 1 – 12.15 km and Dani set the fastest time from Thierry and Kalle. The Spaniard was really in the groove and feeling very confidant with his i20! Further back in the standings and at the head of the WRC2 standings was Teemu Suninen in his Rally2 spec i20. He was fastest overall in the category from Yohan Rossel. There was drama for Elfyn who reported at the end of the stage that there were pigs in the road and he was sure that he’d hit one of them.
Photo Credit, Kinetix AF
Next up was SS17 Riudecanyes 1 – 15.90 km and there was drama for three of the crews! Thierry was fastest from Seb and Dani. Meanwhile Craig had a off following getting a puncture from a drain cover that was on the inside of a left-hand corner, then Elfyn ran over some of the debris that was pulled onto the road and got his own puncture. Finally, Kalle also got a puncture, again at the same spot, but it went down nearer to the end of the stage and he didn’t lose so much time as a result.
After the break and service, the second running of SS18 Pratdip 2 – 12.15 km. Seb was fastest from Thierry and Ott. The M-Sport crews were enjoying themselves with all reporting a great drive at the end and Pierre-Louis saying that he preferred driving in the daylight. The top three fastest WRC2 crews were Emil, Teemu and Georg.
Photo Credit, Kinetix AF
The final stage then, SS19 Riudecanyes 2 [Power Stage] – 15.90 km. The top five fastest were Seb, Thierry, Kalle, Ott and Takamoto. In fact, Elfyn set the same time as Takamoto, but as the Japanese driver set the time first, he got the nod for the final power stage point. This stage also saw the final time that Craig and Paul would compete together after 25 WRC rallies. A huge moment for the duo.
Photo Credit, Kinetix AF
This is what Paul had to say at the stop line – “A bit emotional. It’s been an incredible journey. I came into this sport as a young lad and I followed the dream. I have five wins and I leave as a husband and a father with so many memories. This mine beside me has been like a brother to me – he’s brought me so much success. I also have to mention Kris Meeke – without these men I’d be nowhere, so thank you.”
Well, the big result though was for Seb and Benjamin. Benji, as he is affectionately known took his first WRC victory and played his role as co-driver giving Seb his 55th victory. In addition to this, their win and Kalle’s third place also gave their team the manufacturers world championship. A very important result for the whole team.
2022 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 11 / Rally Catalunya/Spain / 19-23 October 2022 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Let’s take a look at the final standings and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification –Rally de España
1
S. Ogier
B. Veillas
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2:44:43.9
2
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+16.4
3
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+34.5
4
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+44.0
5
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 N Rally1
+1:16.5
6
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:51.1
7
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2:19.1
8
A. Fourmaux
A. Coria
Ford Puma Rally1
+2:38.4
9
C. Breen
P. Nagle
Ford Puma Rally1
+2:43.0
10
P. L. Loubet
V. Landais
Ford Puma Rally1
+3:25.1
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (1st)
“It’s a fantastic feeling today. The most important thing was the manufacturers’ title, for the whole team: They have done a fantastic job the whole season and really deserve it. I am also very happy personally to take a win after the bad luck we have had on the events we’ve done this year. It was a very enjoyable weekend; the car was really fun to drive and the times were following. It is almost a surprise because I hadn’t driven this car on asphalt for so long, apart from only one day of testing, so was nice to see straightaway at the beginning of the rally that we were really fast, even with not such a great starting position on Friday. I am also very happy for Benjamin as it’s his first win. After six wins for Kalle and one for myself, let’s try to make it eight victories in Japan – especially given that eight is a lucky number there.”
Kalle Rovanperä (3rd)
“A huge congratulations and thank you to the team. I think this year we really showed how talented this team and our people are, to be able to make this new car the strongest and the fastest and the most reliable. We could just have in the cockpit, so thank you to everybody. It’s especially nice this season as I think we have done our part quite well and brought many points for the team. We can all be really proud of what we have done. This weekend was pretty good for us. The goal was to be a bit sensible and bring home a good result if we didn’t have the pace to stay with the leaders. Seb was flying the whole weekend; he was really fast and even if I was pushing to the maximum I’m not sure if I could have matched him. So, he fully deserves the win and it’s nice to have two cars on the podium again.”
Elfyn Evans (6th)
“Of course, I’m very happy for the team securing the manufacturers’ title. It’s been a massive effort from everyone to build these new cars for this year and they’ve had a great season, so a big congratulations to every member of the team. This weekend was not the best for myself and Scott, we struggled for the most part with our outright pace so there’s some things to work on for the future. We’ve investigated some things over the weekend, playing with the setup and with driving style to try and improve. Hopefully we have taken some steps in the right direction and we have some more ideas on where to work on before we go to Japan.”
Takamoto Katsuta (7th)
“We had quite a difficult beginning to this rally but at the end I had a very good feeling with the car, with the pacenotes and with everything. It was getting better and better during the weekend and by the finish I felt very confident and comfortable. This was what I really wanted to have from this rally with Rally Japan coming next. My aim here was to build my confidence and I gained a good feeling with my asphalt driving and the car was working very well. There were a few times where I was trying to push too much and making mistakes, but this is good experience and learning for the future. Of course the result was not quite what I wanted but it has still been a pretty good weekend. I’m also very happy for the team to clinch the manufacturers’ title: This triple championship is an amazing achievement and everybody did a fantastic job over the whole season.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (2nd)
“Second place is a good result for us this weekend. It has been a challenging event and a huge fight. Somehow, we started to find more speed towards the end and enjoy it more. We missed a bit of performance in the early phase of the rally, in the tricky conditions on Friday. Unfortunately, we lost any chance to fight for victory there at the beginning. I am happy for the team that we have added another podium result, and now we can look forward to Japan. We don’t know what to expect there but hopefully we can translate some of our learnings from Spain to be in the fight.”
Ott Tänak (4th)
“It has definitely been a long weekend. On the first day, we had a couple of hybrid issues but other than that it was quite a smooth run through. Performance-wise, we’ve been lacking a bit and I’ve not really been able to find the balance in the car or get it to work for myself. Rally Spain is a challenging rally, almost like a racetrack, where car performance means a lot and it’s crucial to have a good balance and feeling; it’s fast, smooth, and flowing. Still, we finished the rally in one piece and got some points and collected plenty of useful data. Japan will be new for everyone, so we’ll have to wait until we’re out there to find out more about it.”
Dani Sordo (5th)
“I have given it everything this weekend. We lost some time to the front-runners on the first day, but I got more confidence as the rally went on. On the Power Stage, I was pushing hard; the car was oversteering towards the end, and it was difficult to keep in the line. But I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to the team for giving me the opportunity to compete again in my home rally and giving me a car like this. We are always learning about it, making it more comfortable to drive. It has been incredible to see so many fans here and to feel all their support. I am disappointed in one way not to be on the podium, but I am happy in another to have shared this weekend with them.”
Photo Credit, Kinetix AF
2022 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’
After Round Twelve
1
K. Rovanperä
255
2
O. Tänak
187
3
T. Neuville
166
4
E. Evans
124
5
T. Katsuta
106
6
S. Ogier
85
7
C. Breen
79
8
D. Sordo
60
9
E. Lappi
58
10
G. Greensmith
36
2022 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’
After Round Twelve
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
503
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
410
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
238
4
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team NG
122
Summary
Well, what a brilliant rally for the Toyota team headed by Jari-Matti. They have had an amazing performance taking their first win since returning to the championship in 2017. It was a well deserved 55th win for eight-time champion Seb and first for Benjamin.
Thierry showed again why he is so fast on these roads taking a podium. He certainly hoped for more, but given the difficulties with this version of the i20, this was a good result.
Finally, Kalle took a good third place, showing good pace on tarmac and dealing with punctures and other issues, but showed that great pace to secure the final step on the podium and therefore the teams championship.
2022 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 11 / Rally Catalunya/Spain / 19-23 October 2022 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
The earlier superpole race was won by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha), followed by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki KRT).
Track temperature was a lot higher compared to race 1, which meant it would start to feel greasy for the riders, and tyre management would surely be a big factor for the race.
Lights out for race 2 then, and it was Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) with a great start, followed by the Kawasaki team mates of Rea and Lowes in 2nd and 3rd, Bautista 4th, and Toprak in 5th. An unhappy Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), got a shove from Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati), which sent the Frenchman ploughing into the gravel, and his race was over. Bassani would no doubt receive a penalty for that incident.
Next lap and Rea ran wide losing positions and ended up in 6th. Lowes was having a great start to the race, and was attacking Bautista, the two of them fighting for 2nd. Toprak was now up to 4th.
With 19 laps to go positions were as follows; 1. Rinaldi 2. Lowes 3. Bautista 4. Toprak 5. Vierge (Honda HRC) 6. Rea. It was the Northern Irishman who then put in the new fastest lap with a 1:38.3.
Next lap and Bautista was finding his rhythm and came through on Lowes to move into 2nd. Toprak was next to come through Lowes, and moved into 3rd. Meanwhile further back it was Redding (BMW Motorrad) 10th, Laverty (Bonovo Action Ducati) 11th, and Vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) 12th.
With 16 laps to go, it was Lecuona (Honda HRC), who set the new fastest lap with a 1:38.2, impressive from the ex-MotoGP rider, as it was his first visit to San Juan. Bautista took over the lead from his team mate, and Toprak wasn’t about to let Bautista clear away, and moved through on Rinaldi into 2nd. Further back it was the Kawasaki team mates of Lowes and Rea, in 4th and 5th respectively. Bautista held a gap of 0.2s to Toprak.
Next lap and Toprak put in the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.923. The leading two of Bautista, and Toprak were pulling away from the rest, and had pulled out a significant gap. Rinaldi then ran wide allowing both of the Kawasaki team mates through. Positions were as follows; 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Lowes 4. Rea 5. Rinaldi.
With 13 laps remaining, Bautista had increased his lead to 0.5s. Toprak was doing all he could to stay with the Ducati, and set a new fastest lap of 1:37.890. Would we see team orders come into play, forcing Lowes to let Rea through? The GRT Yamaha team mates, Gerloff and Nozane, were having a disappointing weekend and found themselves way down in 16th and 17th.
With 11 laps remaining, Bautista was once again ramping up the pace and set the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.789. He now held a gap of 0.8s to Toprak, who was doing everything he could to keep in contact. Meanwhile further back Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), came through on Redding into 9th. Bassani had caught the Honda team mates of Vierge, and Lecuona in 6th, and 7th respectively.
Over half distance now, and Bautista had increased his lead to 0.9s to Toprak. Bautista then put in the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.660.
With 7 laps to go positions were as follows; 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Lowes 4. Rea 5. Rinaldi.
With only 4 laps to go, Rea did come through on Lowes into 3rd, Lowes didn’t try to respond, knowing his team mate needed the extra points. Rea wouldn’t be able to catch Toprak who was well away. There was then a three-way battle for 5th between Rinaldi, Vierge, and Lecuona. Meanwhile, Bassani was given a long lap penalty for his earlier incident with Baz, which he failed to take, and was subsequently given an additional long lap penalty. He rejoined the race down in 20th.
Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to claim his second win of the weekend, followed by Toprak 2nd. Rea 3rd, Lowes 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Vierge 6th, Lecuona 7th, Locatelli 8th, Redding 9th, Vd Mark 10th.
It has been an amazingly dominant season for Bautista, who has now finished on the podium in 27 of 30 races so far.
Next stop is Round 11 in Mandalika, Indonesia, and Bautista will be the World Champion if he outscores Toprak by 18 points, and Rea by a single point.
Verstappen makes it a double championship win for RedBull in 2022 after putting in a great recovery drive when he had a slow second pit stop. Hamilton finished P2 after leading the race for several laps before being inevitability overtaken by the frustrated and incredible quick Verstappen.
After penalties were applied Sainz still started on pole, but Verstappen was alongside him with a second-row lockout for Mercedes. Leclerc and Perez would have to make their way through the pack if they wanted to have a chance at a podium.
Russell was given a 5-second time penalty for the turn one incident with Sainz. Image courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media
A great start from Verstappen to take the lead on the inside of turn one which proved to be all-important as Sainz collides with Russell who was on the inside of Hamilton of the line. Russell locked up into turn one as Sainz came back across the track, spinning the Ferrari and meaning he had to retire the car with a water leak.
With the change up front, this meant that coming out of the first corner Stroll ended up in P3 between the Mercedes. The Canadian had a brilliant start from P5 and capitalised on the drama for the pole man. We were then back to 2021 with Verstappen leading Hamilton, Stroll, Russell, and Vettel in P5, who was making the most of the Aston Martin pace this weekend.
By lap 10 however, Perez and Leclerc were back up with the leading pack. Vettel was under threat from the Ferrari while Perez made short work of the Aston Martin pair to be in P4 behind Russell. However, the Mexican had picked up damage from a lap one incident, so his front wing was compromised.
As drivers came into the pits to change tyres most were opting for the hard tyres. Bottas was yet to pit when, on lap 18, he spun on the exit of turn 19 and ended up in the gravel pointing in the wrong direction. This brought out the safety car and gave Leclerc a cheap pit stop bringing him right back into the mix for the lead.
Safety Car deployed. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
Verstappen went early on the restart, but Hamilton went with him leaving Perez behind. By the time they got to the start-finish line, there were gaps forming at the front while battles ensued behind them.
Out of turn, one Alonso was gaining on Stroll at a rapid pace. Alonso moved towards the inside on the run down to turn two, but Stroll put on a very late defensive move. Alonso couldn’t avoid the rear right corner of the Aston, lifting the front of the Alpine in the air and having an extremely high-speed crash with debris spread everywhere.
Both drivers were ok with Alpine able to put new tyres and a front wing on Alonso’s car so he could carry on. Stroll’s car was very second-hand and therefore brought out the safety car again while they recovered the stricken vehicle.
Onboard with Alonso during that collision with Stroll
At the second safety car restart, everyone got away well while Ocon and Magnussen were side by side into turn one. Ocon coming out on top in that battle. Perez was able to keep ahead of Leclerc but just a few laps later Leclerc was on the tail of the RedBull.
Lap 30, and Leclerc used DRS to get alongside Perez down the back straight but couldn’t slow down in time for the corner and went wide. One lap later the Ferrari had another go, this time using the inside line to put a late lunging move on Perez which the Monaquase made stick.
Redbull brought Verstappen in for his second stop on lap 16 but it was slow as there was an issue with the front left wheel gun. To make matters worse for RedBull, Ferrari had brought in Leclerc and managed to get him out in front of Verstappen. This was now a fight back to the front for the current world champion.
Three laps later Verstappen had closed the gap to Leclerc meaning he was able to make a move down the inside of turn one. Leclerc used the switch back though to hang on to the P2. However, coming down the back straight Verstappen still had DRS and this time made a clinical move to take P2 from Ferrari and start to close the gap on Hamilton in the lead.
Hamilton leads the rapid RedBull. Image courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media
With 10 laps to go, every Mercedes and Hamilton fan was on the edge of their seats as Verstappen ever so slightly closes the gap each lap. It appeared to start with that the 3.5-second gap may be enough, with the drivers exchanging equal lap times each lap.
Despite this Verstappen was able to gain ground on the Mercedes and used DRS to take Hamilton into turn one with six laps to go. We will have to wait for the final few rounds to see if Hamilton can keep his record of winning in every F1 season he has competed in.
Just when we thought the drama was over Track limit warnings began to appear for Verstappen. He was given a black-and-white flag with 4 laps to go meaning all Hamilton had to do was stay within five seconds of Verstappen if he got a penalty. Hamilton himself then got a black and white flag trying to keep up with the RedBull so he decided to back off and settle for P2.
Winning the race for RedBull means it is mathematically impossible for another team to catch them in the constructors. With Sainz out early, however, this was almost sealed by the end of lap one. The cost cap debate still looms over RedBull, but to win the double is a fitting tribute to their founder Dietrich Mateschitz.
Clouds loomed large overhead on Saturday, but the sunshine prevailed.
Down on the track Marc Marquez (Honda) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) managed to make their way through to Q2. Marquez kept his performance up and claimed 3rd place for Sunday, while Bagnaia unfortunately fell and could only manage 9th on the grid, ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) managed 11th place, after also crashing.
Making up the rest of the front row was Enea Bastianini (Ducati) who took 2nd and pole went to Jorge Martin (Ducati), who did a phenomenal lap to not only take pole (his 4th this year and 2nd in a row) but also a new lap record – 1:57.790.
Race:
The weather remained the same through to Sunday and the pressure was mounting. With 20 laps till the end, the drama continued:
Martin started well and kept hold of his lead, but it was Bagnaia who made a fantastic start going straight to 2nd by the first corner. He wasn’t the only one though – Fabio also managed to make up 6 places, but Espargaro fell back to 11th.
Leading on the first lap was Martin from Bagnaia, Bastianini and Marquez.
Leading the group. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The championship hunt was on!
Lap 2 of 20 and Bastianini looked like he was ready to line a pass up on Bagnaia but would he? Ducati had already confirmed there were to be no team orders, but he would still need to be careful with his decisions.
Martin soon took fastest lap and continued to lead, Bagnaia, Bastianini and Marquez. The leading group had started to break away from Quartararo in 5th.
While some Ducati’s were soaring unfortunately Luca Marini (Ducati) had to retire from the race early on – the first time this season he hadn’t managed to finish a race.
With 17 laps to go: Bastianini still looked menacing behind Bagania for second. Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha) took his long-lap penalty (which was enforced following on from qualifying sessions and rejoined the race in 10th) and Fabio managed to pass Marquez for 4th – keeping his championship hopes alive.
Marquez in 5th looked like he was in trouble from the two Suzuki’s following closely behind him. On lap 7 Joan Mir managed to pass, forcing Marquez back to 6th. Behind them Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) had also passed Alex Rins (Suzuki) for 7th.
Yellow flags were suddenly waving and a Pramac Ducati was in the gravel – Martin had crashed out of first place on turn 5. All of a sudden, the championship leader was in the lead, with his 2023 teammate following closely behind. Fabio was also up to 3rd. The battle continued.
Next lap Marquez passed Mir back, but Bezzecchi had better pace and managed to pass both riders to go to 4th. Could Bezzecchi help Bagnaia by passing Quartararo?
With 13 laps to go, Bagnaia led Bastianini, Quartararo and Bezzecchi.
Pecco led The Beast. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Gapping had started to appear between the top 4 riders – Bagnaia and Bastianini were 3.156 seconds ahead of Fabio who was 1.156 seconds ahead of Bezzecchi. But Bezzecchi was eating away at his gap to Fabio. Could he fight for a podium spot?
Half-way through the race, Bastianini couldn’t hold back any further and on turn 4 he managed to make a move on fellow Italian Bagnaia to take the lead. Ducati had said no team orders, were they going to commit to this rule? Audiences were on the edge of their seats wondering what would happen next.
With 7 laps to go Bagnaia re-passed Bastianini on the start-finish straight and managed to hold onto first place into turn 1 (lap 16). Every championship point counted, with only one round left.
The lead for the two Italians at the front had decreased to Fabio in 3rd to 1.620 seconds, could he catch up and fight for the win? Bezzecchi behind him seemed to have had tyre issues, after fighting hard early on in the race as the gap between himself and Fabio had increased to 1.523 seconds.
With only 3 laps to go Mir crashed out of his race on turn 1, leaving his teammate to battle Marquez.
The pressure from Bastianini remained constant throughout the entire race even down to the final lap.
Close racing. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Last lap – would Bastianini make a last lap move on the championship leader? He certainly tried too. On turn 9 he made an attempt to pass but went slightly wide leaving Bagnaia free to take his 7th victory this season.
Top 10 Finishers:
1st
F. Bagnaia
2nd
E. Bastianini
3rd
F. Quartararo
4th
M. Bezzecchi
5th
A. Rins
6th
J. Miller
7th
M. Marquez
8th
B. Binder
9th
J. Zarco
10th
F. Morbidelli
Congratulations to Ducati for winning the team championship.
It’s a team game. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Top 4 Championship:
1st
F. Bagnaia
258 points
2nd
F. Quartararo
235 points
3rd
E. Bastianini
211 points
4th
A. Espargaro
211 points
It is now down to the wire – who will be crowned World Champion in the next round?
In the words of Fabio – “…even if the chance is super small, we bring it to Valencia”. We will see you there!
Then there were two. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Going into the weekend with a 51 point gap over title rival, and reigning world champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu. Alvaro Bautista could put serious damage into the hopes of both Toprak, and Jonathan Rea, of closing the gap with a strong weekend.
WorldSBK 22.10.2022 Alex Lowes Picture courtesy of KRT World SBK
However the championship leader would have to start the race from 3rd on the grid, after Toprak (Pata Yamaha) claimed pole with an unbeaten time of 1:36.216, followed by Rea (KRT Kawasaki) in 2nd.
Ideal weather for the start of race 1 then, with the Andean sun baking down onto the track. Lights out and it was Toprak with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Rea, Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), and Lecuona (Honda HRC) in 4th. And then massive drama as Toprak went off line, and way too hot into turn 9, sending his R1 plunging into the gravel. He managed to pick up his bike and rejoin the race at the back of the field. A huge, and potentially catastrophic shift in the outcome of this championship now for Toprak.
With 19 laps to go, it was Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) with an impressive start, and leading the race, setting a new fastest lap of 1:37.881 in the process. Positions were as follows: 1. Bassani 2. Rea 3. Lecuona 4. Bautista 5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) 6. Redding (BMW Motorrad) 7. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) 8. Lowes (Kawasaki KRT).
With 17 laps remaining, Bautista made a move on Lecuona, getting through to move into 3rd, and setting a new fastest lap in the process of a 1:37.5. The leading trio of Bassani, Rea, and Bautista were now pulling away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile further back it was: 10. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) 11. Vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) 14. Laverty (Bonovo Action Ducati).
Next lap and Bautista was beginning to ramp up the pace, he lined up Rea, and made a clean move, and up into 2nd. Rea had no response. Further back Redding was struggling, and dropped two places down into 8th. Gerloff was also struggling, and the Texan found himself down in a disappointing 15th. Toprak was still at the back of the field.
With 14 laps to go, Bassani held a gap of 0.3s to Bautista, the Spaniard was reeling him in however, and he moved through on the young Italian a few corners later, taking the lead. Rea knew he had to stay with Bautista, and made an aggressive move on Bassani into turn 10, moving into 2nd. The move surprised Bassani, the Italian now in 3rd. Drama for Mercado (MIE Honda), who crashed out into turn 14, and the local rider’s race was over. Meanwhile at the front, Bautista was increasing his lead, and now held a gap of 0.6s to Rea.
With 12 laps to go, Bassani had got back past Rea into 2nd, the speed of the Ducati again proving a decisive factor. Rea was growing increasingly frustrated, as he could once again see Bautista disappearing down the road.
With just over half race distance done, and with the lower fuel load, the Ducati was even quicker, and Bautista continued to ramp up his lead, the gap was now 2.7s. Positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Bassani 3. Rea 4. Lecuona 5. Rinaldi 6. Lowes 7. Redding 8. Vierge (Honda HRC) 9. Locatelli 10. Baz.
With 7 laps to go, Rea was throwing everything he could at Bassani, but to no avail. The fight between Bassani and Rea suited Bautista, and he forged on, putting ever more time into the gap.
With only 5 laps left, Bautista put in the new fastest lap of the race with a 1:37.389. Meanwhile further back, Toprak had moved up places, and was now in 18th.
With 3 laps left, Rea finally made a move on Bassani that stuck, and he moved into 2nd. Bautista was 6s ahead, and no doubt had the win firmly sealed up.
WorldSBK 22.10.2022 Alvaro Bautistas courtesy of Aruba.it_racing
Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to take another dominant win, followed by Rea 2nd, Bassani 3rd, Lecuona 4th, Rinaldi 5th,Lowes 6th, Redding 7th, Locatelli 8th, Vierge 9th, Vd Mark 10th, while Toprak came in 15th claiming just the single point.
