The big news of the weekend was that the Austrian track had been changed. Turn 2 had now been split into two sections, a “flip-flop chicane”, now being re-named turns 2a and 2b. It caught some riders out over the weekend but, in the end would hopefully create some interesting overtaking opportunities.
Qualifying:
Cloudy conditions greeted the riders on Saturday, but they remained undeterred.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) looked to be confident, taking an early provisional pole in Q2. Jack Miller (Ducati) was also on fine form and soon took the pole spot. The championship leader, Fabio Quartararo on the other hand seemed to be struggling getting to grips with his Yamaha.
The Ducati’s though were dominant at the Red Bull Ring as Enea Bastianini took his first Moto GP pole, with a flying lap time: 1:28.772, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Miller – an all Ducati front-row.
Happy with his pole – Bastianini celebrates. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Race:
The weather remained cloudy for Race Day, leaving many fans to wonder if it would indeed rain as the bikes lined up on the grid, ready for lights out:
Undulating track and foreboding clouds at Austria. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Bagnaia got a great start, leading Bastianini and Miller into the first corner and through the new chicane for the first time.
However, turn 4 saw Joan Mir (Suzuki) take an early tumble from the race. Seen holding his ankle in the gravel, (it was later confirmed that he had had medical checks and that he had broken his ankle. We wish him a speedy recovery).
Mir crashes lap 4. Courtesy of: Moto GP official Twitter page.
On lap 4, Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) had managed to pass Quartararo for 5th place and the four front Ducati’s started to gain a lead ahead, with Jorge Martin in 4th taking the first fastest lap of the race, (1:30.364). Another pass came from Miller to take 2nd place from Bastianini, but ‘The Beast’ was having none of it and passed him right back.
By lap 5, A. Espargaro had taken fastest lap (1:29.979), while his teammate had been given a track limits warning and if that wasn’t bad enough, Maverick also got passed by 2 riders on the same lap (lap6), forcing him back to 8th place.
Back at the front, the four Ducati’s suddenly got broken up by the Yamaha of ‘El Diablo’, taking 4th spot from Bastianini. Seconds later, Bastianini appeared to have a technical fault and pulled out of the race. On the same lap it was Remy Gardener’s (KTM) turn to bow-out early as he crashed out – turn 4.
Bagnaia then led Miller, Martin and Quartararo onto lap 7.
With 22 laps to go Miller passed his teammate to briefly take the lead, but Bagnaia out-braked him, re-claiming his lead.
Fastest lap was soon taken by Martin – lap 9. Could he get close enough to the factory Dukes, with only a 1.023 second gap between them, to fight for the win? Further down the field Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) took to the gravel, finishing his race early.
Martin indeed managed to eat into the leading gap and soon got it down to 0.311 seconds. By lap 12 he was right on the back of Miller. Which Ducati would be dominant?
With 16 laps until the end, another track warning got issued, this time to Quartararo. Behind him Luca Marini (VR46) took 6th place from A. Espargaro and behind them Darryn Binder crashed out.
The next lap, Martin clipped the gravel forcing him to take evasive action and he took to the run-off section of the track, Fabio passed to take 4th place, but Martin also needed to make sure he wouldn’t incur a penalty so also gave back a second, but quick-thinking meant he also managed to keep his new position – 5th.
Two laps later and bad luck continued to keep hold of Vinales who got passed not just by Johann Zarco (Ducati) but also Suzuki-man Alex Rins.
10 laps to go – The front 3 riders had all managed to create gaps between each-other. Bagnaia still led Miller by 0.896 seconds. Quartararo continued to hunt down Miller with 0.515 seconds between them. A few places behind them Espargaro put up a great fight from the Italian – Marini, but in the end Marini passed him again on lap 21, this attempt the pass stuck.
Things were heating up, with only 4 laps until the finish line, a surprise move came from the Yamaha in 3rd – Quartararo passed Miller on the new turn 2b, to take 2nd place, leaving Miller in the clutches of Martin, who quickly seized the opportunity and passed Miller to take 3rd spot. Miller fought back though to re-take 3rd. Meanwhile, another yellow flag waved, this time for Yamaha rider Frankie Morbidelli, who crashed out turn 2.
Due to the on-going battles behind him, Bagnaia managed to extend his lead further to 1.554 seconds from the Championship leader.
Then it was Martin’s turn to receive a track-limits warning 2 laps later, as a result of his tussle with Miller.
Last lap – the clouds above still seemed dull and grey but the rain had stayed away.
Rain stayed away. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Turn one saw Martin try to overtake Miller once more, but this time resulted in him seeing the gravel instead. He managed to get back into the race and still finished in the top 10. This error meant that Miller could now finish comfortably on the podium.
Podium hopes fall from beneath him. Courtesy of: Moto GP official Twitter page.
Bagnaia managed to remain in complete control of the entire race and passed the finish line to take his 3rd consecutive race win in a row ahead of Quartararo and Miller. Behind them in 4th was an elated Marini.
Celebrates with team. Courtesy of: Bagnaia’s official Twitter page.
Top 10 race finishers:
1st
F. Bagnaia
2nd
F. Quartararo
3rd
J. Miller
4th
L. Marini
5th
J. Zarco
6th
A. Espargaro
7th
B. Binder
8th
A. Rins
9th
M. Bezzechi
10th
J. Martin
Top four championship:
1st
F. Quartararo
200 points
2nd
A. Espargaro
168 points
3rd
F. Bagnaia
156 points
4th
J. Zarco
125 points
The racing was super exciting and had fans on the edge of their seats through-out.
Can Ducati continue their streak into the next round at Misano on 4th September? Or would Someone else step onto the top spot?
Featured image – Courtesy of: Moto GP official Twitter page
Not even two long-lap penalties could stop Ayumu Sasaki from storming through the field en route to a dominant win in at the Red Bull Ring, his second victory in Moto3.
The Japanese rider had shown great pace all weekend, but having been handed a double long-lap penalty from the previous round at Silverstone, few expected a win from the Husqvarna man.
Sasaki capitalised on his front-row grid position and settled straight into an early tussle with fellow Japanese rider Tatsuki Suzuki and Deniz Öncü for the lead of the race. He briefly held P1 before serving his penalties, which caused him to drop down to 21st position.
As is often the case in Moto3, the lead changed hands numerous times, with multiple riders taking advantage of the tow along the start/finish straight. A bold move from David Muñoz on lap 5 saw him fly from 4th to 1st at turn 1. The leading group surged towards the new chicane, where Öncü was forced wide, causing him to drop to 9th.
The Team Aspar duo of Sergio Garcia and Izan Guevara were making progress through the pack and joined the leading group with Guevara taking the lead from Suzuki at the start of lap 6.
As predicted before the race, gaps started to appear throughout the field. Several riders set personal fastest laps to try and stay with the leaders, but none were faster than Sasaki who was carving his way towards the front.
By lap 10, he had caught up to the leading group and forced his way past Garcia, who received a track limits warning for his troubles. Nobody was able to match Sasaki’s pace, and he continued to pick off the riders ahead of him with ease.
As Guevara led the pack into lap 13, Sasaki was all-over the GASGAS riders exhaust, hurrying him through the chicane and sliding into first place at turn 3. Suzuki followed his countryman past Guevara to put his Leopard Honda into 2nd.
Sasaki looked in complete control in the lead of the race, Suzuki was keeping him honest, but was unable to get close enough to make a passing attempt as the laps continued to tick past.
On lap 17 Jaume Masiá crashed in turn 3, the Spanish rider had struggled all weekend but was able to re-join the race. Elsewhere the Aspar riders were racing each other very aggressively, with Garcia passing Guevara and forcing him wide at turn 10 in the process.
In the closing stages, Suzuki had to contend with a hard charging Öncü and was unable to attack Sasaki who rode flawlessly to take the chequered flag. Suzuki held onto 2nd with Muñoz beating Öncü to the final step on the podium.
Garcia finished 5th, increasing the gap in the championship standings over his teammate Guevara to 5 points. It was a day to forget for fellow championship rival Denis Foggia who finished 12th, the Italian is now 49 points off the championship lead. Sasaki’s win puts him 55 points behind Garcia in the standings.
Ai Ogura has won the Austrian GP, despite a last-lap attempt from his team mate Somkiat Chantra. Chantra had to settle for 2nd whilst Dixon took 3rd in the final moments of the race. Ogura now leads the championship, just 1 point ahead of Augusto Fernandez.
Ai Ogura has turned his pole position into a stunning win at the Red Bull Ring. He took the lead early in the race and never looked back. Just behind him was his Honda Team Asia team mate, Somkiat Chantra, who had to settle for second despite a last-lap attempt for the win. With just a few corners to go, Chantra made his move round the outside and was ahead of Ogura until the Japanese rider got the cut back at the final corner.
Jake Dixon was able to capitalise on the drama and action around him, keeping his nose clean throughout the race and coming home in third. Much like Chantra, he made a final lap lunge on Pedro Acosta. Unlike Chantra, he was able to make this stick to take 3rd in the final moments of the race.
Acosta, who is returning from an injury sustained before the summer break, had a positive day despite missing the chance to visit the podium. He was the fastest man on the track in the early stages of the race, setting numerous fastest laps as he enjoyed a race-long battle with Dixon.
Just behind him were the ever-battling group of Augusto Fernandez, Aron Canet and Alonso Lopez who eventually finished in 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. Lopez will be frustrated with his final position today, after leading the race in the first few laps as well as enjoying a battle for the podium with Ogura and Vietti. His biggest mistake came on Lap 9 when he was sitting in third and trying to keep Vietti behind. He overcooked it, went wide and gave away the place to the Italian rider. A few laps later, whilst battling with Fernandez and Canet, he then dropped from 4th to 8th in the space of a few corners.
Meanwhile, Celestino Vietti had a terrible day and retired a few laps after he crashed. With 9 laps to go and sitting in 3rd, he was looking to make a move on Chantra for 2nd when he pushed too hard and the bike slipped out from underneath him. He rejoined at the back of the pack but retired shortly after.
Further non-finishers included Tony Arbolino and Lorenzo Dalla Porta who have a very scary crash at Turn 3 – the two riders tangled together as they misjudged each other’s braking points, leaving them and their bikes in the middle of the track as the grid had to carefully made their way through. Thankfully, the fast work of the marshal meant we didn’t need a red flag but Arbolino and Dalla Porta were unable to rejoin the grid. This wasn’t the way Arbolino would have wanted to finish his 100th race!
Aldeguer had a similarly scary crash – on Lap 12 he fell at the entry to the newly designed Turn 2a/2b chicane and almost slid into the path of the racing pack.
Alessandro Zaccone was the first crash of the race – an enormous high-side at the reworked Turn 2 chicane ruined his bike and he was stretchered off the track by the medical team. Sean Dylan Kelly, Kemith Kubo, Manuel Gonzalez and Filip Salac also failed to finish the race.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Image Credit: MotoGP
After his flawless win, Ogura now leads the championship by a single point over Fernandez, who will have been disappointed with 5th today. After retiring from the race and scoring no points, Vietti has slipped back even further. He is still third in the standings but is now 26 points behind Fernandez.
Will Power put his Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet on pole in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, tying Mario Andretti for most all-time IndyCar poles with 67.
With a two-lap average of 182.727 he cleared his championship rivals and Team Penske teammates for the top spot for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway and secured his fourth pole of the season.
Will Power qualifying (Photo by Sean Birkle/Penske Entertainment)
Power received the complementary bonus point for securing pole, giving him a now seven point championship lead over Scott Dixon with just three race remaining.
Speaking to NBC Power said: “This is a big victory for me, to reach the 67 number and equal such a legend of the sport in Mario Andretti. I just can’t believe that I’m right there with Mario because there’s been no one like him.”
It could very well have been Power’s teammate Josef Newgarden who would have taken his second pole of the season but a mistake in turns three and four on lap one causing him to downshift, meant he had to settle for only third with a two-lap average of 181.629.
On the radio Newgarden said, “I goofed the first one” and later said to NBC “I wish I could have a redo.”
Josef Newgarden discussing qualifying with his team (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Joining Power on the front row is 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson who also broke the 182mph mark with a 182.070 two-lap average after using all of the race track to do it.
Marcus Ericsson out on track (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Power’s other teammate Scott McLaughlin qualified fourth. Ericsson’s teammates Palou and Dixon qualified fifth and sixth respectively.
It proved to be a frustrating qualifying for Arrow McLaren SP with Felix Rosenqvist spinning out on his qualifying attempt while Pato O’Ward felt he was too conservate on his.
Rosenqvist spun coming out of turn two on lap one in an effort to keep his car off the wall, and ended up tagging the inside tyre barrier before coming to a stop.
O’Ward qualified seventh with is first lap holding him back to a two-lap average of 180.303.
Takuma Sato impressively qualified eighth after the 2019 winner of the race, used up all of the race track saying he “had to pedal it” due to experiencing oversteer.
Takuma Sato qualifying (Photo by Sean Birkle/Penske Entertainment)
Romain Grosjean was the best of the Andretti Autosport cars qualifying ninth, continuing his good record at the track after a strong IndyCar oval debut at WWT Raceway last year.
Grosjean however has to take a nine-place grid penalty for Saturday’s race due to an unapproved engine change and will consequently start 18th.
A happy Romain Grosjean sat on the pit wall (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Andretti teammate Devlin DeFrancesco left off from where he did in practice and qualified 10th. Alexander Rossi qualified 11th. The last of the Andretti crew Colton Herta, had to contend with a wiggle in turns three and four on his qualifying run, resulting in a 12th starting spot.
The field of cars lined up on pit road readying to go out to qualify (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
The Ed Carpenter Racing cars were uncharacteristically slow, with Conor Daly, Rinus VeeKay and Ed Carpenter qualifying 16th, 23rd and 25th respectively with Carpenter saying he was not happy with the setup of the car.
Jimmie Johnson only managed 21st after putting it down to needing more track time since he had not raced at the track since 2002 in the NASCAR Xfinity series, whereas at Texas and Iowa he had more experience and time to adjust to the track.
Jimmie Johnson out on track during practice (Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Full qualifying results: 1st Will Power, 2nd Marcus Ericsson, 3rd Josef Newgarden, 4th Scott McLaughlin, 5th Álex Palou, 6th Scott Dixon, 7th Pato O’Ward, 8th Takuma Sato, 9th Romain Grosjean, 10th Devlin DeFrancesco, 11th Alexander Rossi, 12th Colton Herta, 13th David Malukas, 14th Simon Pagenaud, 15th Jack Harvey, 16th Conor Daly, 17th Graham Rahal, 18th Hélio Castroneves, 19th Christian Lundgaard, 20th Kyle Kirkwood, 21st Jimmie Johnson, 22nd Callum Ilott, 23rd Rinus VeeKay, 24th Dalton Kellett, 25th Ed Carpenter, 26th Felix Rosenqvist.
Will Power and Marcus Ericsson will lead the field to green for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at WWT Raceway flies Saturday at 6pm ET.
Featured Image: Will Power celebrates earning the P1 Pole Award with his crew (Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Ai Ogura has taken pole ahead of tomorrow’s race at the Red Bull Ring. He will be joined on the front row by Alonso Lopez and Augusto Fernandez.
Japanese rider, Ai Ogura, will start tomorrow’s Austrian GP from pole position after setting a stunning qualifying lap time of 1:33.933. Just 0.048 seconds behind him was Alonso Lopez taking 2nd place. Championship leader, Augusto Fernandez, will line up 3rd for tomorrow’s race.
The top five were covered by less than 0.2 seconds with Jake Dixon in 4th and Somkiat Chantra in 5th.
After being declared fit to race on Thursday, the returning Pedro Acosta made it to Q2 and took an impressive 6th for tomorrow’s race. Just behind him was Celestino Vietti who will be looking to make significant improvements after his recent poor performance.
Marcel Schrotter was forced to make his way through Q2 but eventually took 8th ahead of Albert Arenas and Lorenzo Dalla Porta who took 9th and 10th respectively.
After topping the time sheets in Q1, Cameron Beaubier took 11th in Q2. Fermin Aldeguer was also a Q1 progressor and, despite sitting at the top of the timing sheets in the early stages, took 12th as the session ended.
Aron Canet struggled during the session. With 3 minutes left on the clock and provisionally sitting in 11th, he crashed out of the session and was eventually shuffled back to 17th.
Tony Arbolino, who starts his 100th race this weekend, will line up in a slightly disappointing 15th. He lines up just ahead of the final Q1 progressor, Bo Bendsneyder in 16th.
Jeremy Alcoba and Joe Roberts were achingly close to a place in Q2 thanks to their final flying laps in Q1. However, they are forced to line up 19th and 20th respectively for tomorrow’s race.
All the race action will be available on Crew On Two so stay tuned for all the details!
Round 6 of the British Superbike Championship was teed up to be an absolute belter and it did not disappoint!
BSB Round 6 Thruxton 14.08.2022 Picture courtesy of McAMS Yamaha
Viewers at the circuit and TV audiences were treated to a stunning show from Yamaha riders Jason O’Halloran, Tarran Mackenzie and Bradley Ray with the podium positions in races 1, 2 and 3 shared between them. The Yamaha R1 has proven to be the bike in the best riding window throughout 2021 and 2022. Tarran Mackenzie took championship glory in 2021 on the YZF-R1 and this year it is looking dead set to be another Yamaha victory (though which rider is yet to be seen). You must go back to 2015 previously and 2011 before that, to see Yamaha’s last British Superbike titles in the hands of Josh Brookes and Tommy Hill respectively. 2022 more so than ever, the Yamahas seem to be able to handle what the tracks throw at them and have a handle on the remainder of the field using the bikes strengths. It gets off the corner well, although it doesn’t have the legs on say the Ducati Panigale or the BMW M1000R but in true BSB style, most tracks don’t have long straights where the other manufacturers can overtake, as we see in the likes of World Superbikes and MotoGP. The Yamaha (according to its riders) has very good edge grip on the tyres and gives a good feeling in the turns. To the layman, it corners well and doesn’t destroy its tyres. All a combination of engine characteristics and chassis/swingarm combination which is the bike to beat again in 2022.
Race 1 on Saturday morning started off as a bit of an unknown with riders such as FHO BMW’s Peter Hickman, Honda Racing’s Glenn Irwin, Cheshire Mouldings FS3 Kawasaki riders Lee Jackson and Rory Skinner being in the mix on lap 1. McAMS Yamaha’s Taz Mackenzie and Rich Energy OMG Racing’s Bradley Ray were running 4th and 5th followed by Buildbase Suzuki rider Danny Kent, Rich Energy OMG Racing’s Kyle Ryde, MCE Ducati’s Tom Sykes, Oxford Products Ducati Tommy Bridewell and Christian Iddon bringing up the rear of the front running pack.
The field had been split by a first lap crash involving Luke Mossey and Chrissy Rouse which looked to have been a collision caused by contact from Josh Brookes Ducati but was put down to a racing incident as no further action was taken by race control. The gap continued to grow as the field spread out. Things settled down by the midway point as Brad Ray and Taz Mackenzie made their way to the front of the group and sat in behind Jason O’Halloran, followed closely by Peter Hickman on the BMW but it seemed Hicky was doing everything he could to stay within a second or 2 of the front three Yamahas, Unfortunately Peter Hickman couldn’t keep the pace for the full race distance and was eventually overtaken by Glenn Irwin on the Honda Fireblade.
Interestingly Kyle Ryde had a problem, later alluded to as a setting issue which was out of their hands with his Rich Energy OMG Racing Yamaha and soon found himself slipping backwards out of the top 10. As the laps counted down, the field had settled into their rhythm and Jason O’Halloran maintained a few bike lengths of a lead going into the final lap.
Tarran and Ray overtook each other, back and forth in the battle for 2nd place which gave Jason the space he needed to take the victory for Saturday’s Race 1. Brad Ray thought he had seen off Mackenzie in the final chicane, but Taz was able to turn a tighter racing line and cut back toward the chequered flag and pip Brad to 2nd by 0.003th of a second. On the photo finish picture released by the event organiser, 0.003 is about the profile depth of Tarran’s front tyre. Approx 2 inches was the difference between 2nd and 3rd place on the day.
Of the riders finishing out of the points, the two riders of interest were Tito Rabat, who had been drafted in to ride the TAG Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade this weekend. The Spaniard is currently leading the Spanish Superbike Championship on board a Honda.
I got some grief on social media last week for stating that I didn’t see Rabat anywhere but at the back of the field. In my eyes, if the best riders in this championship struggle with Thruxton, a circuit where no testing or track days take place due to local planning rules, I didn’t see how someone can come to the championship and kick off there, on a bike with no electronic intervention, different tyres, a bike he hasn’t ridden, a team he’s never met etc etc etc (insert multiple other reasons here).
There is no doubting the skill of the 2014 Moto2 World Champion and EX-MotoGP rider, but Thruxton was only going to be a very rude awakening for the popular Spaniard. Tito has also ridden in the World Superbike series and failed to make an impression on their production based motorcycles. Perhaps I feel a little like James Toseland on commentary for the Donington Park round of the World Superbikes, where he spoke out against being unprepared for what you are letting yourself in for with reference to the McAMS Yamaha wild card, but for me it seemed an ill prepared choice and one that has proven to be the wrong one for Tito with 2 last place finishes and a DNF in race 3.
Tito will run out for the team again in 2 weeks at Cadwell Park and he is very excited to ride the Lincolnshire course after watching the races on the TV. Fingers crossed with more time on the bike and a better understanding of the team, his results will be more positive but again, one round after the next, Cadwell is another of Britain’s quirky tracks that leaves people wide-eyed. Imagine telling any of the current MotoGP riders (barring Jack Miller) there is a jump in the middle of the track. I can’t see Cadwell being much different for Tito but welcome the exposure his presence brings to the series.
The second rider shockingly outside the points on Saturday was two time British Champion Josh Brookes, who finished down in 20th place. Josh Brookes had grip issues at the circuit back in 2021 and it was clear by the end of Qualifying for this weekend’s Thruxton race, his problems were there and still the same. After a qualifying position of 26th for Race 1, Josh couldn’t make the progress through the field he needed to give his showdown chances a much-needed lifeline. I fear at this point the 2022 season has been written off for Josh Brookes.
Race 2 panned out in much the same way with O’Halloran, Ray, Mackenzie and Hickman getting into their rhythm and pulling a gap. O’Halloran setting a pace with Mackenzie and Ray putting overtakes on each other and Hickman watching on. Mackenzie made the first move sliding up the inside of O’Halloran at the end of lap 14 and this was the point the pin was pulled. Ray outbroke O’Halloran in the chicane on lap 15, rubbing himself up the inside of the McAMS rider but O’Halloran retaliated straightaway barging back through to 2nd place.
Ray and O’Halloran started to repeat the Ray/Mackenzie show from Saturday, allowing Taz to pull a small gap while Brad and Jason squabbled. Once Brad got his head down, he was able to catch and overtake Mackenzie and put himself in 1st position, battling for the win, but his tyres were about to show him why Thruxton is a very hard track to judge. Upon exiting Church corner and at approximately 170mph, Ray had a huge slide forcing him to close the throttle, bringing Mackenzie and O’Halloran back into contention.
Battle ensued and the race boiled down to the last lap. Ray led O’Halloran, who led Mackenzie and after a huge slide at Church corner this time for O’Halloran, they entered the final chicane three abreast for the race victory. Tarran drifting wide allowing Jason to square off to the line and sneak the victory in the same way Mackenzie pipped Ray, in Saturday’s sprint race.
The surprise non-points finish for Race 2 was Danny Kent. After a podium in Race 3 last year, and a DNF Crash in Race 1 on Saturday, Danny would have been fired up for a good crack at Race 2, but it wasn’t to be for the local rider on the Buildbase Suzuki.
As you would expect, Race 3 panned out much the same, but the adrenaline seemed to have been spent in Race 2 for the most part. The three Yamaha riders got settled into their rhythm and made their way off into the distance leaving the midfield to fight amongst themselves. A strong race start from Sykes saw him running in the top 6 with Haslam, Jackson, Glenn Irwin and co but later would see his tyres struggle to maintain the grip on the 40+° tarmac.
Andy Irwin battled his way into the top 10 after a disastrous round so far with a DNS in Race 1 and finishing in just 13th place for Race 2, as the action from the leaders waited until the final laps. It seemed Jason O’Halloran either had no tyre left or the energy to use them. A goliath of a battle between these three Yamaha riders had entertained the viewers all weekend but the last lap battle came down to Tarran Mackenzie and Bradley Ray. Tarran defeating Brad using one of Jason O’Halloran’s own moves with the 170mph “up the inside” at Church corner and maintaining the lead into the final chicane. If you watched the drag to the line on the TV you will have seen both Taz and Brad’s rear wheels sideway pouring blue smoke while both tried to get the power down early to win the race.
British Superbikes seems to have moved in a different direction with its podium rider interviews. Previously they waited until the riders were off the bike and calmer, but it seems good viewing to have the interview as soon as the helmet comes off in parc ferme, while the rider is still sat on the bike. The result of this? Just go and take a look at the emotion pouring off Tarran Mackenzie after Race 3. Ecstatic with another return to the top step after battling his way back from an ankle injury earlier in the year, Tarran looked like he could burst into tears and was visibly shaking with adrenaline. It was quite something to see.
Race 3 Points Finishers: – Mackenzie, Ray, O’Halloran, Glenn Irwin, Jackson, Haslam, Bridwell, Andy Irwin, Rory Skinner, Tom Sykes, Christian Iddon, Mizuno, Vickers, Takahashi and Danny Kent bringing up the last point.
BSB Round 6 Thruxton 14.08.2022 Peter Hickman Picture courtesy of FHO Racing
What does this mean for the championship table and the showdown positions? It means Jason O’Halloran has extended his lead over Bradley Ray in second but more importantly, he has extended his podium credits lead.
1 Jason O’Halloran – 331 Points – 48 Podium Credits.
8 Tommy Bridewell – 158 Points – 5 Podium Credits.
Looking at the podium credits, this is where people can lose out. For example, Rory Skinner would move from 4th in the championship to 7th based on podium credits. Tarran from 7th to 3rd etc. If the showdown was now announced, it would be O’Halloran, Ray, Mackenzie, Irwin, Jackson, Ryde, Skinner, and Bridewell as the championship standings.
Thruxton was a fantastic spectacle this year. Certainly one that can be looked back on as one of the key races of 2022. I cannot wait for Cadwell Park in two weeks, I just hope for some of the other riders to come and mix it at the front, however if the show is another Yamaha dominated one, after the three races at Thruxton, it’s still going to be a belter!
The second half of the 2022 Moto3 season began in style with a thrilling British Grand Prix barely a fortnight ago. Now that the dust has settled, our attention turns to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for Round 13 of the championship this coming weekend (19/20/21 August).
Moto3 Sergio Garcia Picture courtesy of Aspar Team
The GASGAS Aspar duo of Sergio Garcia and Izan Guevara were unstoppable during the first half of the season, they sit first and second in the championship standings respectively, despite both crashing out in the latter stages at Silverstone. The chequered flag was taken by title rival Dennis Foggia, who masterfully guided his Leopard Racing Honda to victory, capitalising on the Spanish riders misfortune. The Italian is now just 42 points behind Garcia in the race for the Moto3 crown.
Perhaps the biggest talking point ahead of the Austrian GP is the new chicane which has been installed to reduce speeds on the approach to turn 3. The alteration was prompted after an incident in the 2020 MotoGP race, where Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco came together at high speed, nearly collecting the Yamaha duo of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales in the process.
The revised layout has divided opinions, with some riders suggesting that the new chicane itself is dangerous. How the racing will be affected remains to be seen, but the hope of course is that the changes will lead to more overtaking as well as improved safety.
Moto3 Izan Guevara Picture courtesy of Aspar Team
As is often the case in this class, there are a number of contenders for victory. Last year’s podium finishers will all be in the hunt this weekend. 2021’s race was won by the aforementioned Garcia, with 3 wins already this season, he is probably the favourite. Turkish rider Deniz Öncü is still searching for his maiden Moto3 win, he was last year’s runner up and has the added motivation of Austria being both KTM and Red Bull’s home race. Foggia, who was third, has shown steady improvements in his results of late, though he knows as well as anyone that more victories will be required if he is to win the championship.
British fan’s hopes will once again rest upon the shoulders of Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max rider, John McPhee. The Scotsman rode well at Silverstone and almost led at one stage, though a chaotic final lap saw him shuffled back to 7th place. Visiontrack Racing Team’s Scott Ogden made progress through the field after a poor showing in qualifying, finishing 12th. He and teammate Josh Whatley will be hoping for better fortunes this weekend.
Moto3 Dennis Foggia Picture courtesy of Le0pard Racing
Weather was an infamous factor at the Red Bull Ring in 2021, and the forecast suggests it will be again this year. Thunderstorms are predicted for Friday, with showers anticipated on both Saturday and Sunday. The race is scheduled to start at 11:00am local time (10:00am GMT).
Following the speed fest that was Rally Finland that Ott and Martin took victory in, we head to the fast tarmac roads of Belgium in the Ypres region. This was the scene of the Thierry and Martijn win last year, and they will hope that they can repeat this again this year. There will a number of drivers that will want to take victory though.
At Toyota, Kalle and Elfyn will know that their car has the pace on tarmac, whilst at M-Sport Ford, they know that their car is also on the pace, and with Craig and Paul taking a podium on this rally last year when at Hyundai the Irish crew will fancy their chances.
The stages will be tricky on the second pass once the tarmac is covered in dirt from the big cuts in the corners, and this will make road position very important during the morning stages on Friday.
Let’s take a look at the stages and hear from the drivers. This year there are 281km’s over 20 stages.
Ypres Rally Belgium begins on Friday with two passes of four stages: Vletern (11.97km), Westouter-Boeschepe (19.60km), Mesen-Middelhoek (7.99km) and Langemark (8.95km).
Saturday is the longest day of the event, with the itinerary consisting of eight tests that have a combined distance of 133.82km.
Two runs each of Watou (12.36km) and Kemmelberg (13.31km) bring the rally to a close on Sunday.
The second pass of Kemmelberg (13.31km) will be the event’s Power Stage, which offers additional points to both the crews and manufacturers.
You’ll notice that there is an absence of the stages run into and around the Spa-Francorchamps track this year, with some proper stages run on the final day instead.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä
“I’m feeling good about going to Belgium. Last year we had quite a good rally there overall, I enjoyed the challenge of a new event and hopefully we can do a good result again this time. The style of the roads are tricky, with really big cuts and a lot of mud and gravel on the road. It could depend on the weather conditions: If it’s dry then we saw last year that it can be a bit dusty for the first cars, but if it’s wet then it should be perfect for us to be the first on the road. We had a good test a couple of weeks ago and between us I think we improved the car quite a lot.”
Elfyn Evans
“Ypres is a unique event, and completely different to our recent rallies. Even compared to the last asphalt round in Croatia, the demands are quite different. There’s a lot of long straights and junctions, which sounds straightforward on paper but in reality, it’s far from it. There’s a lot of surface changes, the roads are often very narrow and bumpy in places, and the braking from very high speed into the junctions is critical. Those who had previous experience showed the value of that last year, and this year we went into our pre-event test knowing a bit more what to expect and what we need from the car. So, I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Ypres will certainly be a tough challenge. I’ve been there once, eight years ago in the European championship, and the speed was OK until we crashed out. But I’m actually really looking forward to going back there. I enjoy this car on asphalt a lot. In Croatia we didn’t get the result we wanted but I was really satisfied with how good the car was to drive, and that’s why I’m feeling pretty confident going to Belgium. I don’t have the experience that the others have from last year, but I still think we can be competitive and fight for a good position.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Ott Tänak
“We head to Belgium on the back of our Finland victory, which was certainly a good morale boost for the team. Ypres is a unique tarmac rally, one that looks quite simple on paper – lots of straights and junctions, and not so many types of corners. In reality, it is actually quite tricky because the junctions and cuts are different and it can be very demanding, especially if the weather is mixed. You need a lot of confidence in the cuts and a stable car. Power will also be really important with acceleration from slow speed. We’ll try to keep the momentum from Finland, even if it’s a very different type of rally.”
2022 FIA World Rally Championship Round 03, Croatia Rally 21-24 April 2022 Thierry Neuville Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville
“Ypres Rally Belgium, our home rally, is probably the event that we’re looking forward to the most in the season. I’ve got good memories from last year, and in fact previous visits when the event was part of the IRC. I can’t wait to get back. We’re finally heading to tarmac again after a run of tricky gravel rallies. We hope to return to winning ways in front of the local spectators, fans, supporters, and family members; we’ll certainly be motivated and ready to do our best. There is only one goal: to repeat our victory from last year. It won’t be easy, as the competition is so tough. We will need to make sure everything is on point if we are going to be competitive.”
Oliver Solberg
“The disappointment from Rally Finland was huge, so I am determined to bounce back from that quickly. It was, at the same time, great to see all the smiles and celebrations after the team’s victory. The girls and guys in Alzenau are working so hard for this. Ypres is next and it’s a very specific event on the calendar, lots of cuts and mud make it one of the trickiest tarmac events. I have great memories from last year when I was leading WRC2. Of course, this year, I will be in the Rally1 car which will be a new challenge, but I will try to go fast. You need a precise car to suit the narrow roads, and an easy car to drive with all the cuts. Most importantly, we don’t want any surprises.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Craig Breen
“It’ll be nice to go back to Ypres, it’s always a rally I like. I’ve been now quite a number of times and last year went extremely well; we were fighting for the win the whole way through, and I had some good speed. We also won the event in 2019, before it was in the world championship, so we have some good memories there.
“We’re looking forward to the rally, hopefully we can get a good result and show the car’s speed, it’s shown its pace on Tarmac right from the start, so let’s see what we can do.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“I’m happy to be back in Ypres and back on Tarmac on what is a really technical rally. There are a lot of different grip levels here, and plenty of junctions where we need to be fast and efficient. There are a lot of really fast sections that are quite narrow with low grip into the entry, so we need to keep a lot of focus there.
It’s the closest rally to home of the season for me, less than an hour from my house, so I hope to see a lot of fans and to really enjoy the moment. My goal this week is just to get some confidence back on Tarmac and finish the rally in a decent position.”
Gus Greensmith
“Ypres is a very difficult and unique rally because there’s very little room for error with ditches lining every single road, and the roads themselves being very narrow. It’s a tricky rally to compete on, even though it seems very simple on paper.
“We’ve had a good car on Tarmac all year, so we’re hoping to put that to good use and go for a good result.”
Jari Huttunen
“Finland was a very exciting event for me and a really big challenge, but it will be nice to get back into the Rally2 on this event. We had a strong performance last year here in Belgium and the format is going to be more or less the same, so we are hoping to build on our knowledge to get another good result.
“We’ll need to take some time to re-adjust to the car first, but then we’ll see what happens.”
Summary
Well, we are set for a very fun and quick rally later this week. Can Kalle and Jonne take another victory this and look to put their hands onto this season’s world championship? They hold a huge 94-point lead over their closest competitors, Ott and Martin, whilst Thierry and Martijn are just one point back in third.
Could Elfyn and Scott get in the mix for the victory though? We know that they have pace on tarmac and have fought for wins over the last few sealed surface rallies. They will be a crew to definitely watch.
Finally, Craig and Paul have to be considered as potential winners. We know that the Puma has pace on the tarmac and so let’s see if they can go one better and take victory. The M-Sport team would love to see that happen, so let’s wait and see how it all comes together for them.
Stoffel Vandoorne claimed his first Formula E title at the finale staged in South Korea’s capital Seoul this weekend. The Belgian scooped another podium to cement victory, with Mercedes also claiming the spoils in the constructor’s championship, a perfect swan song for the departing manufacturer. The Mercedes man held off a late charge from title rival Mitch Evans who won the race yesterday to take the championship as the curtain fell on the Gen 2 era. Vandoorne started the race from P4, with Evans in an insurmountable P15, but it was Edo Mortara who claimed victory in the final race of the Gen 2 era, a stark difference to the day before where his Venturi stopped on track. Jake Dennis continued his incredible form and shrugged off a five second time penalty to round out the podium.
Credit: Sam Bloxham
Da Costa took a dominant pole position, the departing Techeetah man looking impressive through qualifying. He made light work of Robin Frijns in the opening duel but Dennis was a more difficult challenge, the Portuguese man scoring a place in the final by a mere two tenths. Mortara, another dominant force throughout the new qualifying format had to settle for lining up in second position as Da Costa delivered an all but perfect pole lap, a fitting end to this generation as the Portuguese driver was the first to secure a pole position in the Gen 2 era. London ePrix winner Dennis also looked impressive in qualifying, but he just fell short having to settle for P3. Behind Vandoorne, Frijns and Lucas di Grassi rounded out the top six. Evans struggled as the clock ticked down and a brief impact with the wall left the Kiwi out of the duels as Dan Ticktum surged up the rankings at the last moment in a surprise inclusion, Nio’s first appearance in the duels. The Brit started the race in a respectable seventh position.
Da Costa held the lead at the start of the race, however, he soon came under pressure from Mortara. The Venturi man, hungry to shrug off the disappointment of his race ending from mechanical failure the previous day, surged past Da Costa on the third lap and after that, he never looked back. Mortara continued to manage his energy to seal victory in Formula E’s 100th race – fittingly, Mortara also won the 50th race of the electric series. On the other side of the garage, it was a race to forget for London podium winner Di Grassi as he was forced out of a points-paying position due to a puncture which all but handed victory in the team’s championship to Mercedes for the second year running. Former world champion Nyck de Vries was also forced out early on after a tangle with Pascal Wehrlein put both of them out of the race.
Credit: Andrew Ferraro
As the time ticked down, the leaders settled into a rhythm until the dying stages when Max Gunther’s Nissan stopped on track, forcing a late safety car. However, despite the squeeze, Mortara held firm against the pressure whilst Dennis and Da Costa tangled together, which sent the Portuguese driver to the back of the pack after he was forced wide. The incident handed Dennis a five second time penalty, with the Brit looking like he would lose his hard fought podium, but the Brit managed to hold off Robin Frijns, who rounded out the season in P4. Oliver Askew had a relatively quiet race, finishing in P5 ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. Title hopeful Evans could only manage P7, with Nick Cassidy getting a few points to add to his tally in P8. Sebastien Buemi monopolised on other’s failure taking P9 and Da Costa rounded out the top ten, taking the final point.
Originally built and used as RAF Thruxton back in WW2, Thruxton Racing Circuit is a typical British “Airfield” circuit. Flat, fast and frightening. It has been a motor racing venue since the 1950’s in both 2 and 4 wheeled variants. Wide, sweeping corners create fast paced, high action races with plenty of battles up and down the grid. 2.35 miles of multiple racing lines, adrenaline fuelled, tyre smoking petrol headed madness. With fast bikes turning right at for what feels like an eternity, the circuit is as intimidating as short circuit’s come.
BSB Jason O’Halloran Picture courtesy of McAMS Yamaha
Based in Andover in the south of England, 30 or so miles from Southampton and the English Channel, Thruxton is known for extremes of high temperature sunny days or howling cross winds and hard rain due to the lack of undulation and level change. A “thinkers” circuit which requires an action plan that gets you to the chequered flag before your bike, tyres or even skill cry “enough”.
2021 was the year of O’Show. “Jason O’Halloran from Wollongong, New South Wales” (a little nod to dearly loved Jack Burnicle) dominated the 2021 visit to Thruxton with a hat-trick of 1st places with the remaining podium positions shared out between Christian Iddon, Tarran Mackenzie, Glenn Irwin, Peter Hickman, Danny Buchan and Danny Kent. 2021 is a perfect example of what can happen at Thurxton with Saturday’s Race 1 and Sunday morning’s Race 2 running in dry race conditions and slick tyres. Rain set in afterwards and ensured that Race 3 (Sunday’s second race) ran as a wet race after a downpour in the afternoon.
Both Christian Iddon and Chrissy Rouse have said recently the circuit is an unknown when riders turn up there. It can throw up crazy results out of nowhere and have a huge effect on you, both positively or negatively.
Notably, a lot of the riders look forward to the coming to Thruxton due to its fast nature. With the current crop of superbikes running in the region of 200BHP, it’s becoming a rare thing to see the riders opening the throttle and keeping the bike running up to full speed on our small, thin, undulating and twisty British circuits whereas Thruxton (like Silverstone and Snetterton) offers exactly that. With an average speed in the region of 120mph, only this low thanks to its chicanes, it is certainly a thrilling track to ride.
Chrissy Rouse Picture courtesy of Bonnie Lane
Due to planning restrictions, the circuit can only run a limited number of motorsport events per year, of which British Superbikes takes a front row position on the calendar. The weather this weekend is set to be a scorcher, forecasting Friday 33°, Saturday 33° and Sunday 31°c which means the Thruxton round of British Superbikes is on course for being a cracker.
Thruxton is set to be an important round as we start the run up to the showdown. Just 3 rounds remain until the final 8 finalists are declared and the showdown kicks on and we move our concentration to who will lift the 2022 championship trophy.
Will Tarran Mackenzie continue his run of form and climb higher into the showdown? Will Jason O’Halloran return to the circuit for a clean sweep of wins? Will we see a resurgence of the form Glenn Irwin showed at the opening round of the year at Silverstone? Could Rory Skinner, fresh from his Moto2 wildcard at Silverstone MotoGP, be fired up and have a point to prove to cement himself in the window for 2023? Or will we see results that would have you winning £1000 from a £5 bet? Who knows? All I do know is the race is going to be a belter and I for one cannot wait for those red lights to go out and see them round turn 1.
Good luck to all the teams and riders attending at the weekend.
