Category: Moto2

The Moto2 qualifying session for the seventh round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship took place on a sun-baked Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

In Q1, it was Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) who topped the session from Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Iker Lecuona (American Racing) and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team, VR46), with those four advancing to Q2.

In the Q2 session, it was Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who took his first Grand Prix pole position in his home race. Perhaps the fact that this is the first track at which Fernandez has raced a Kalex, as he first replaced Hector Barbera in the Pons squad in Barcelona last year, says a lot. Fernandez has been strong this weekend, and will be eager to seize a first victory this weekend.

Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) had a strong session, finishing Q2 in second place, whilst a late lap from Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) propelled the Briton onto the front row in third place.

The second row is headed up by Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) who is in search of his first win on Sunday, one year on from Fabio Quartararo’s win on the Speed Up last year and in the Spaniard’s home race. Joining Navarro on row two are HDR Heidrun Speed Up teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and the winner of the previous two Moto2 races, Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS).

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) had the final spot on the second row before Lowes’ late lap for third place. Instead, the championship leader will start seventh – better than Mugello but not where he would want to be.

Fortunately for the Italian, his closest challenger in the championship, Marquez, is only one place ahead of him at the start. Baldassarri’s pace is often stronger in the race than in qualifying, so it will be interesting to see what progress he can make in the race. Joining Baldassarri on row three are compatriot and fellow VR46 Riders Academy rider, Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) who ensures row three is an all-Italian affair.

Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) will make it four successive Italians on the grid from the front of row three to the front of row four tomorrow. Although Bastianini has had a strong rookie season so far, tenth in Q2 in Barcelona is in fact his best qualifying of the year. La Bestia has looked good this weekend, and could still be a feature in the battle for the podium tomorrow. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) suffered a crash in Q2, and will start alongside Bastianini on the fourth row as the Aussie starts eleventh. Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) completes row four.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) will start the Catalan Moto2 Grand prix from thirteenth, ahead of Bo Bendsneyder and Iker Lecuona on row five; whilst Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Team) – who crashed early on and whose only time was 2.792 seconds off the pace – make up row six.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the fastest rider in Q1 to not make Q2 and will therefore head up row seven. The South African will be joined on the seventh row by Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Dominique Aegerter (MV Aguta Idealavoro Forward); whilst Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward), Jonas Folger (Petronas SRT) and Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) make up row eight.

Row nine sees Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) ahead of Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP); whilst row ten consists of Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing), Joe Roberts (American Racing) and Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team).

Red Bull KTM Tech3 take both places on the back row, with Marco Bezzecchi ahead of Philipp Oettl who didn’t set a time.

The Moto2 World Championship heads to Barcelona this weekend for the seventh round of the 2019 series, two weeks on from an Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) win in Italy.

That win for Marquez last time out confirmed him as a championship contender. Coming off the back of his first win since Motegi 2017 two weeks earlier in Le Mans, Marquez was unstoppable in Mugello, where he completely dominated the race and won by nearly two seconds. Montmelo is something of a home round for Marquez, and he has a good history there, winning in 2014 by a comfortable margin in the Moto3 class on his way to the title, and standing on the top step again three years later in the Moto2 class. A third win in three races this weekend would certainly start the alarm bells in the ears of the other Moto2 championship hopefuls.

One such championship hopeful is Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40). The Italian had a complicated home race, finishing fifteenth in qualifying ahead of the race. From that fifteenth grid slot, Baldassarri fought through, and finished fourth, which was a damage limitation job which was sufficient for him to maintain his championship lead. However, if Baldassarri wants to maintain that points advantage this weekend he needs to take the fight to Marquez on track, since the Spaniard seems to be the #7’s main threat for the title.

It would be unjust to discount Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) at this stage, though. Aside from Marquez and Baldassarri, Luthi is the only rider to have won a race this year, his coming in Texas. Additionally, the Swiss has the same number of podiums as both Marquez and Baldassarri and sits just four points behind the championship lead. However, Luthi has never won in Montmelo, and has only four podiums at the Catalan GP.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a strong race in Mugello, and was fast all weekend, finishing second in the end ahead of Luthi. It was a strong turnaround from the Italian after a dismal pair of races in Spain and France, and a subpar opening to the season for the winner of last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. It will be interesting to see if Marini can continue that performance into this weekend in Barcelona.

Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) finished off the podium for the first time since Argentina in Mugello, where he came home seventh. Speed Up won in Barcelona last year with Fabio Quartararo, so Navarro, who won in Montmelo in 2016 in the Moto3 category, will be hoping to bring the Italian chassis back to the top step twelve months later.

Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Rcing Team) returns this weekend to the circuit which often brings a step up in his performance. In 2014, Barcelona was the site of his first GP podium, where he won the Catalan GP last year in the lightweight class. Additionally, La Bestia took to the podium in 2015 and 2016, and will hope to have a similar performance this weekend, after his strong weekend at home in Mugello, where he finished sixth behind Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who, himself, will be after a strong result in his second home round of the season, after finishing third in the Spanish Grand Prix just over one month ago.

Jonas Folger is back in action this weekend. The former Grand Prix winner is replacing Mattia Pasini, who was replacing Khairul Idham Pawi at the Petronas SRT team. Pasini broke his collarbone in training, so Folger is in at Petronas and will be keen to make an impression in his first GP since Aragon 2017 in the MotoGP class this weekend in Barcelona.

The rolling hills of Tuscany await the Moto2 World Championship this weekend for round six of the 2019 series, currently led by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40).

Although he leads the series, it has been far from plain sailing for Baldassarri so far in 2019, with three wins but also two crashes – including one at the previous round of the championship in France – leaving him with a seven-point lead coming into his home Grand Prix this weekend. Baldassarri’s history in Mugello is quite good, however, with his second place last year adding to his second place of 2016 to mean that he has two podiums at home so far in his career. If he finishes this weekend, statistically he is likely to win.

Second in the championship is still Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) in spite of his difficult round in Le Mans where he struggled for pace all weekend and finished sixth. Fortunately for the Swiss, he seemed to pick a good race to drop his pace, as his rivals either crashes or had similarly poor results, such as his injured Dynavolt Intact GP teammate Marcel Schrotter who could only manage eighth; Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who crashed, and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) who also fell. Nonetheless, Luthi needs a return to form this weekend, especially if Baldassarri is to please his home crowd.

The two aforementioned fallers in Le Mans are also in need of strong results in Mugello, Lowes more than Gardner, who simply needs to bounce back from a poor weekend.  Lowes’ opening to the season has been disappointing – despite dominating testing, the Briton has failed to make the podium thus far in 2019, but with a good record in the past at Mugello there is a good opportunity for the #22 to turn his season around this weekend.

Whilst not being Italian himself, Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up) does ride for an Italian team, and a chassis which historically has worked well in Mugello, with Andrea Iannone way back in the early days of Moto2, and slightly more recently with Sam Lowes, who was on pole with the bike in 2015.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had a new KTM chassis in Le Mans, and it took him to his best result of 2019 so far with fourth place, which he will hope to build on in Mugello, where Miguel Oliveira won in 2018 for the Austrian marque.

Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), like Binder, had his best result of 2019 two weeks ago in France, as he won for the first time since Motegi 2017. The cash of Baldassarri and the poor result of Luthi also meant that Marquez’ win brought him into championship contention, as he now enters round six in Mugello just fourteen points adrift of the points lead.

Baldassarri is not the only hope for the Italian crowd this weekend. Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) had a strong run in Le Mans, and was looking strong to pass Marquez for the lead just before he crashed; whilst Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46), along with Fabio Di Giannantonio (MB Conveyors Speed Up), have been impressing in their rookie respective rookie seasons in the Moto2 class.

Finally, Mattia Pasini is once more replacing Khairul Idham Pawi at the Petronas SRT team, and the 2017 winner will be hoping to return to the podium this weekend after getting caught up in Baldassarri’s crash back in Le Mans.

Qualifying for the fifth round of the 2019 Moto2 World Championship got underway in difficult conditions, with light rain presenting the intermediate class riders with their first competitive session in the wet of the season.

In Q1, it was the second-placed rider in the championship, Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) who topped the session to move through to Q2. The Swiss was joined by returnee Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) and Spanish GP runner-up Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up).

The experience of the track conditions benefitted Navarro, especially, who took pole position for the second Grand Prix in succession. It was Navarro’s start which let him down in Jerez, and cost him the win, so it will be interesting to see if he has rectified that issue for this weekend.

Tom Luthi also made the most of his Q1 experience, to qualify second. After a difficult Friday, this is important for the Swiss, who lies second in the championship. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) lines up tomorrow at the back of the front row, as he goes in search of his first win of the season.

After impressing with a fourth place finish when replacing Augusto Fernandez at the Flexbox HP 40 team in Austin on the Kalex, Mattia Pasini was unable to repeat the same form for the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team in Jerez when replacing Jake Dixon on the KTM. However, now back on the Kalex, for the Petronas SRT squad, the Italian is back on the pace, and qualified fourth. Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) join Pasini on the second row.

Championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) struggled mostly in the wet on qualifying day at Le Mans, in FP3 and qualifying, but he managed to put together a lap in Q2 to take seventh on the grid.

The new KTM chassis has seemed to be a positive step this weekend for Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), although perhaps he was missing some experience with the bike in the wet as he qualified only eighth, ahead of Lukas Tulovic who, after advancing from Q1, took his best qualifying in the World Championship.

Tenth on the grid will be the injured Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP), ahead of Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) who will start eleventh on his GP return thanks to some impressive speed in the wet. The injured Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) will complete the fourth row.

Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) heads up row five, ahead of Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46); whilst row six is comprised of Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) and Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2).

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) continues his devolution since the championship’s return to Europe, and was the first Q1 rider to be eliminated, qualifying nineteenth. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Lightech Speed Up) and Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP) complete the seventh row; whilst Iker Lecuona (American Racing), Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) and Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) make up row eight.

Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) starts from the head of row nine, ahead of Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who was expected to move through to Q2 before a crash limited his chances. Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) completes row nine; whilst Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), Joe Roberts (American Racing) and Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) comprise the tenth row.

Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech3) start from the back row in thirty-first and thirty-second respectively.

The Moto2 World Championship heads to France this weekend, for round five of the 2019 series from Le Mans.

Although famed mostly for cars, Le Mans also has a good history with motorcycles. Indeed, the 24 Heures Motos this year (just a few of weeks ago) was a classic endurance race, and one that people will speak about for a years to come with the battle for the win between SRC Kawasaki and Honda Endurance Racing going down to the last minutes. In comparison to this, though, the Moto2 class has never produced a race with a winning margin of less than one second at Le Mans, but with the Triumph engines of 2019, compared to the Hondas of the past, that could change this year.

Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) has – mostly – dominated the Moto2 World Championship so far this season. Despite a DNF in Texas which was only partly his fault the Italian has not lost the lead of the championship since he claimed it when he won in Qatar at round one and, with his win last time out in Jerez, he has done similarly as Jorge Prado in the MX2 World Championship this season, and won every race which he has finished.

The #7 was fortunate in Jerez, though. Although Baldassarri and his side of the Pons team did well to bounce back from a difficult Friday when he suffered two breakdowns and a couple of crashes, it is no secret that Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) was poised to win his home Grand Prix had it been run to its full length.

A crash at the start involving several riders caused a red flag and cut several laps off the race distance. Navarro was on Baldassarri’s tail on the final lap of the fifteen-lap restarted race and, had he had the full allocation of laps, there is little doubt the Spaniard would have overcome his Italian rival. The biggest lesson, though, for Navarro was that he had to improve his starts. Going from pole position he dropped a lot of positions at the start and, whilst Baldassarri was escaping at the front along with Flexbox HP 40 teammate Augusto Fernandez, Navarro was fighting his way back through the pack. If Navarro can introduce a strong start into his already impressive mix of race pace and qualifying speed, he could be on for a first career Moto2 win this weekend.

Despite still suffering with his wrist in Le Mans after his practice crash in Argentina at round two, Augusto Fernandez was able to secure a first career Moto2 podium in his home GP. This weekend, though, will be the Spaniard’s first time at Le Mans, so the first sessions will be revelatory ones for the #40.

Finishing fourth in Jerez, it is Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) who is second in the championship going into this weekend. Luthi’s history in Le Mans is good, with two wins in the Moto2 class – coming in 2012 and 2015, as well as two wins in the 125cc race back in 2005, on his way to the World Championship that year, and 2006. Additionally, Luthi has podiums at Le Mans in 2016 and 2017, finishing third on both occasions. Perhaps this weekend, the Swiss can add to his COTA win back at round three, and make some in-roads into the lead of Baldassarri to take the momentum of the Italian away two weeks before the Italian GP in Mugello.

When Alex Rins took pole position for the Pons team back in 2015, Sam Lowes set an equal time to the Spaniard when he was riding for Speed Up. Now on the Kalex, and with the Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 squad, the Brit will be hoping to get onto the podium for the first time this season, after a tough start to the season.

In similar situations to Lowes are Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). Like Lowes, both Binder and Marini came into this season with expectations of winning the championship, but none of the three have so far lived up to these expectations. Whilst Lowes has struggled thus far to translate what has often been decent pace in practice into race results, Binder has been let down by his KTM machinery. Whilst the Austrian manufacturer are no doubt working hard to fix the issues with their Moto2 chassis, it would be a surprise to see Binder find a magic bullet this weekend, especially at a circuit which has been so tough for the KTM Moto2 frame in the past. In comparison, Luca Marini’s problem has so far been his recovery from shoulder surgery in the winter. He was improving his results round-on-round in the opening three races, but clearly struggled in Jerez and managed only eighth place. Although it seems unlikely that any of these three riders will be able to fight at the very front this weekend, it will be important for each of them to score good points in France to keep themselves alive in the championship.

Returning from injury this weekend is Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), but that doesn’t mean Mattia Pasini is lost from the grid, as the Italian veteran is now in at Petronas SRT to replace the injured Khairul Idham Pawi. Back on a Kalex, as he was in Texas when he fought for the podium and finished fourth for Sito Pons’ team, it will be interesting to see what impact Pasini can have on the 2019 French Moto2 Grand Prix.

Moto2 qualifying for the fourth round of the 2019 World Championship got underway in cooler conditions than might have been expected, as clouds lay above the track.

Q1 saw Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) top the session from Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), with those four riders advancing to Q2.

Brad Binder used the extra track time he had courtesy of his Q1 participation to his advantage to lead early on. However, after a couple of laps it was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who went to the top. The Spaniard, though, was then replaced by a compatriot, Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) who was not bested before the end of the session, and took his first Moto2 pole.

Alex Marquez and the returning Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) will join Navarro on the front row tomorrow in an all-Spanish affair at the front of the Moto2 grid. The Spanish crowd will no doubt be hoping for minimal change at the front of the Moto2 race.

However, there are plenty of riders starting further behind who would like to upset that, including Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) who qualified fourth for Sunday’s race, and is still in search of his first grand prix victory.

Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) impressed with his best Moto2 qualifying to date, as he made a strong return from arm pump surgery, which kept him out of the Americas round of the series three weeks ago.

Bulega’s fellow VR46 Academy rider, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) completes the second row. The championship leader has not had an easy weekend, with two breakdowns in FP1, followed by a crash, and then another crash in FP2. A further fall on Saturday left the Italian even further on the back foot, but using teammate Fernandez as a marker he was able to lift himself onto the second row of the grid.

Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) looked at one point as though he was on for a front row start on his final lap. The time went away from him in the final sector, but the Italian was nonetheless able to secure seventh on the grid. Austin winner, Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP), and Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) will join last year’s Moto3 runner-up on the third row of the grid.

Despite topping the early stages of the session, Brad Binder was only able to qualify tenth has KTM’s Moto2 woes continue. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Xavi Vierge will join Binder on row four for Sunday’s race.

Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) could only manage the thirteenth-fastest time in Q2, and will start alongside Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) – whose Q2 was interrupted by a stop at the end of his first lap, from which he did not re-emerge until well into the final ten minutes – and Andrea Locatelli on the fifth row of the grid.

Iker Lecuona, Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) and Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) were the slowest of the Q2 runners, and will start tomorrow’s race from the sixth row.

Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) was the fastest of the riders to not make Q2, and will start the Spanish Grand Prix from nineteenth, with Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) and Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) joining him on the seventh row.

Dominique Aegerter (MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) will start directly behind his teammate, Manzi, as the Swiss heads up row eight. Jake Dixon’s replacement at the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team, Mattia Pasini, along with Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM Tech3) will complete the eighth row.

Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP) makes his first appearance of the season this weekend having been replaced by Jesko Raffin for the first three races of the year. The South African rider will start the race from the head of the ninth row, in twenty-fifth. Joe Roberts (American Racing KTM) and Lukas Tulovic (Kiefer Racing) complete row nine.

Dimas Ekky (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) will start twenty-eighth, with Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Xavi Cardelus (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) – who is clearly still in pain after his crash in Texas three weeks ago – joining the Indonesian on the back row of the grid.