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Category: MotoGp

  • Moto3: Sasaki Shatters Sachsenring for Pole

    Moto3: Sasaki Shatters Sachsenring for Pole

    Ayumu Sasaki takes pole position here in Germany shattering the lap record. Not just shattering the lap record,  but demolishing the rest of the field in the process. A clear +1.092 seconds ahead to championship rival Deniz Öncü in second.

    Ayumu Sasaki Pole Setter for the 2023 Moto3 Sachsenring GP. Image courtesy of Intactgp

     

    QUALIFYING 1

    Taiyo Furusato was the first of the riders to post a quick time setting the benchmark for the session. Filippo Farioli shortly followed Furusato, topping the timesheets in the sunshine here at the Sachsenring.

    The Q1 session then came to a halt with yellow flags quickly turning to red in sector 2 with Scott Ogden’s highside at turn 3. A nasty fall for the British rider and good to see Ogden walking away from the incident. However, clearly in pain holding his left leg.

    As the session restarted and with five minutes left of the session, it was Honda Team Asia leading the way with Furusato and Mario Aji at the top of the leader board heading for Q2.  David Salvador crashing at turn 1 forced the yellow flags just as David Muñoz posted the fasted time. Another highside crash in the session, Salvador shaken but walked away from the incident ok.

    A tightly contested Q1 in Moto3 and with a few minutes remaining, only a few tenths of a second separated the top 4 places.

    Muñoz topped the session ahead of Xavier Artigas, Furusato and Farioli the top 4 making it through to the Q2 session.

    QUALIFYING 2

    With the grandstands packed as we headed into Q2, could any of the riders get ahead of Daniel Holgado in qualifying and take the fight to him in the championship. A key Q2 session here in Germany.

    Sasaki set the benchmark time in the first run at pole position, with an impressive time of 1:25.963 seconds, 6 tenths clear of Öncü in second. The usual suspects of Ivan Ortola, Jaume Masia and Moreira rounding off the top 5 with Holgado in 6th.

    Six minutes left of the session and all of the riders made their way out of the pits for their final go at pole position, could any of them get near Sasaki’s time? After a big crash yesterday in practice, Öncü clearly is a rider to never give up, was up on Sasaki half way through his lap only to fall short in sectors 3 and 4. Öncü cementing his second place reducing the gap to Sasaki. Now just +0.259 tenths of a second separating 1st and 2nd place.

    With less than a minute to go in the session, a Moto3 snaking train of riders crossed the line to go for a final flying lap. Yamanaka overtaken by Holgado, the championship leader impatient chasing Sasaki’s time crossing the line only to improve to 5th place.

    Holgado’s 5th place would only last a few seconds as just about every Moto3 rider crossed the finish line together in a flurry of changes in positions on the grid. Every rider in turn 1 glancing up at the screen to see where they would start in tomorrows race.

    Next to cross the line and cross the line in some style was Sasaki. A lap time of 1:25.130 and new all time lap record for the #71 bike. The lap time was that quick from Sasaki that it was only 6 hundredths of a second away from getting into Q2 in Moto2! Incredible from the Husqvarna rider, a clear +1.092 seconds ahead of Öncü in 2nd place.  Öncü and Ortola rounding off the front row with Holgado starting 7th in tomorrow’s race.

    Image credit: MotoGP 

    Feature Image Credit: intactgp

     

     

     

     

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia Tops Off Perfect Weekend in Mugello With A Race Win

    MotoGP: Bagnaia Tops Off Perfect Weekend in Mugello With A Race Win

    After taking pole position and a sprint race win, Pecco Bagnaia has rounded out his home race weekend with a win on Sunday. He took a dominant win, leading every lap of the race after overcoming a short early challenge from Jack Miller. He eventually came over the line 1.067 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

    The Italian rider, celebrating his third race win of the season, made his way to the Bagnaia Fan Club grandstand to enjoy an alfresco hot dog – a very old-school celebration for the reigning champion!

    Bagnaia has been able to extend his lead at the top of the championship standings, after a difficult weekend for Marco Bezzecchi, who wasn’t able to make his way any higher than 8th today.

    Joining him on the podium were both Prima Pramac riders, Jorge Martin in 2nd and Johann Zarco in 3rd. The veteran Frenchman had to fight hard for a podium today, coming through from 9th on the grid and then battling hard with Luca Marini for much of the latter stages of the race.

    After sharing Parc Ferme together, for the first time ever, after qualifying on Saturday, the Marquez brothers faced a far more difficult day today with both Marc and Alex ending up in the gravel. The first crash was from Marc whilst running in 4th. He went down at turn 15 on lap 6 after running a little too wide when chasing down Marini who was running in 3rd. Then, on lap 15, Alex went down at turn 2 whilst running in 3rd and facing a huge amount of pressure from Marini just behind him.

    It was also a tricky day for Miller who, despite flying off the start line and leading the race into the first corner, was eventually shuffled back and had to settle for 7th. Fabio Quartararo has really been nowhere this weekend, failing to make it out of Q1, settling for 10th in the sprint race and then, today, finishing the race in 11th.

    As It Happened

    As the riders went out for their warm-up lap, one of the grandstands could be seen holding red and white cards that spelt “Ducati”. There was certainly a lot of expectation in the air and the crowd were hoping to see their first home-grown winner of the day.

    As the lights went out and the race got started, Jack Miller was the rider to get the best start and before the grid had even passed the pit lane exit, he was leading the field. The glory was short-lived as Pecco Bagnaia was back ahead by the following corner.

    Jorge Martin was also quick to make moves in the field, flying from his starting place of 6th up to 3rd.

    As the first lap ended, with had Bagnaia in the lead, followed by Miller in 2nd, Martin in 3rd, Luca Marini in 4th, Marc Marquez in 5th and Alex Marquez in 6th.

    Although things were quickly changing up and down the pack – the most significant move came when Martin took 2nd place away from Miller. Marini tried to follow the Prima Pramac rider through, and Miller and Marini then battling hard for 3rd. This battle let Martin break away ahead of them and he quickly built a 1 second lead over the fighting pair.

    By this point in the race, the end of the second lap, Bagnaia already had a 0.4s lead over the rest of the field – he was exactly where he wanted to be, out in clear air and controlling the field with ease.

    On the third lap, Marc Marquez seemingly came out of nowhere to make a stunning move that saw him overtake three other bikes. In the same move, his brother Alex Marquez lost control of his bike and in an attempt to stay upright, nearly took Miller out of the race. Miller was quick to show his frustrations and the pair were soon locked in to a tough battle, swapping and changing positions at almost every corner.

    At lap 5, Johann Zarco was behind Brad Binder with the pair fighting hard for 7th place. He eventually bested the South African and, on the start-finish straight at the start of lap 6, the pair flew past Miller and shuffled him back down to 8th.

    It was shortly after this move, at turn 15 of lap 6, that Marc Marquez ended up in the gravel thanks to going a little wide when trying to take 3rd away from Marini. He was clearly pushing hard on a seemingly mediocre bike and his frustrations were clear for everyone to see.

    This gave Marini some breathing room as Marc Marquez was very hot on his tail. However, he was then being followed by the younger Alex Marquez who is an equally ferocious competitor.

    It was at this point that everything seemed to settle down across the grid with the only moves coming from Fabio Quartararo, who moved up to 12th on lap 9, and Alex Marquez tussling with Marini for 3rd as well as Zarco starting to close in on Marini for 4th.

    At lap 15, the second Marquez brother ended up in the kitty litter with Alex Marquez going down at at turn 2 – it seemed that the pressure he was put under by Marini just became too much for him.

    Everyone’s attention then turned to Zarco who was trying hard to claim the final podium spot away from Marini. He made the slip stream work perfectly, getting close behind the VR46 machine, but couldn’t seem to make a move work. That was until lap 18 when a tough battle between the pair ended with Zarco finally on top.

    All this battling allowed Martin and Bagnaia to pull away from the field, with Martin 1.9 seconds ahead and Bagnaia a further 1.3 seconds ahead of him.

    Full Results
    1st Pecco Bagnaia Lenovo Ducati
    2nd Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    3rd Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
    4th Luca Marini Mooney VR46
    5th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
    6th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    7th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    8th Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
    9th Enea Bastianini Lenovo Ducati
    10th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
    11th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
    12th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
    13th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
    14th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
    15th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech 3
    16th Michele Pirro Aruba.it
    17th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
    18th Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
    19th Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech 3

    DNFs: Miguel Oliveira (CrypotDATA RNF), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini)

    Championship Standings
    1st Pecco Bagnaia 131 points
    2nd Marco Bezzecchi 110 points
    3rd Jorge Martin 107 points
    4th Brad Binder 92 points
    5th Johann Zarco 88 points

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Home Win at Mugello Sprint Race

    MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Home Win at Mugello Sprint Race

    As we are becoming accustomed to in MotoGP this season, the sprint race was full of drama from start to finish, with multiple overtakes and lots of drama happening on every lap.

    After taking a stunning pole position earlier in the day, and smashing the qualifying lap record, Pecco Bagnaia has taken a dominant win in the Mugello sprint race.

    He was joined on the podium by fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, who fought hard to keep his teammate at bay.

    It was a difficult race for Alex Marquez who, after putting in a brilliant qualifying lap and starting the race in 3rd, sadly crash at the first corner, bringing his day to a sudden and unexpected halt.

    Similarly, Jack Miller and Marc Marquez will have been disappointed to finish in 6th and 7th respectively after enjoying some dramatic battles in the podium places at the early stages of the race.

    We have two returning riders this weekend – Aleix Espargaro is back from a bicycle accident and finished in 8th, whilst Enea Bastianini, who has returned from injuries sustained earlier in the season, ended the day in 9th.

    As It Happened

    As the lights went out, the rain began to fall – however, it was only light rain which didn’t affect the grip on the tarmac.

    Off the line, Bagnaia managed to hold on to the lead despite Marc Marquez appearing alongside him into turn 1. Bagnaia was able to strategically place his Ducati to block this attack and keep the lead. In doing this, he also hampered Jack Miller’s approach as he left the Aussie nowhere to go.

    Further back, we had Johann Zarco flying off the line but he sadly goes wide in turn 1, which hampers his amazing start slightly.

    In the middle of turn 1 of the first lap, Alex Marquez sadly found himself in the kitty litter after Brad Binder bumped into him on the inside. After reviewing the incident, Binder was deemed to be at fault and was later handed a long lap penalty. That did nothing to soothe Alex Marquez though, who was forced to watch the rest of the sprint race from the garage.

    As the grid crosses the line to start lap 2, Jorge Martin stole 2nd from Marquez. He was clearly the real winner at the start, working his way up from 6th. Miller was also on the climb and, with the drama hotting up, Marquez found himself squeezed in to the middle of a Miller-Marini sandwich, which pushed him down the order and promoted Miller to 3rd.

    There were aggressive moves happening up and down the field, including the front where Martin stole the lead from Bagnaia on lap 2.

    It was at this point that Miguel Oliveira, the wet weather specialist who was running down in 13th, laid down the fast lap of the race so far proving his mastery of these tricky and changeable conditions.

    With 4 of 11 laps completed, Bagnaia made his way back into the lead with Martin settling for 2nd. Just behind them were the two Mooney VR46 riders, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, who were putting in a brilliant performance for a race where their boss, Valentino Rossi, was watching from the garage.

    By lap 6, the action started to settle down and there were a few gaps forming throughout the grid. Bezzecchi was now the rider setting fastest laps, with a lap so fast that is smashed the previous race lap record by 0.3 seconds! Shortly after that, Binder clocked the fastest ever speed recorded at Mugello, as he topped out at 366km/h.

    As the lap counter ticked down, and we reached the final stages of the race, we had Bagnaia leading, but being chased down by Bezzecchi in 2nd, and Martin in 3rd with his teammate, Johann Zarco in 4th and hot on his tail. It continued this way until the checkered flag fell, with neither Bezzecchi nor Zarco able to manufacture a move on their competitors.

    Full Results
    1st Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
    2nd Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
    3rd Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    4th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
    5th Luca Marini Mooney VR46
    6th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    7th Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
    8th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    9th Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo
    10th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
    11th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
    12th Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
    13th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
    14th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
    15th Michele Pirro Aruba. it
    16th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
    17th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
    18th Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
    19th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
    20th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
    21st Jonas Folder GASGAS Tech3

    DNFs: Alex Rins (LCR Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini)

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia on Pole in Mugello, Just Ahead of Marquez Brothers

    MotoGP: Bagnaia on Pole in Mugello, Just Ahead of Marquez Brothers

    The jewel in the crown of the MotoGP season has delivered us a tantalising qualifying session, building the excitement ahead of the two races this weekend.

    Championship leader and home hero, Pecco Baganai has set the first ever 1:44 lap at Mugello to take pole in the Tuscan hills. He tackled the pressure of being an Italian rider, on an Italian bike, at an Italian track in spectacular style to the delight of the grandstands.

    He will be joined on the front row by both Marc and Alex Marquez, in 2nd and 3rd respectively. This is the first time the brothers have been in parc ferme together.

    It was a truly difficult day for Fabio Quatararo who wasn’t able to get out of Q1 and will line up in 15th for the sprint and main races.

    Qualifying 1

    There were some big names in the first qualifying session, including both Monster Yamaha riders, Fabi Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Alex Marquez, Maverick Vinales and rookie-on-the-rise, Augusto Fernandez.

    In the early stages of the session, it was Alex Marquez who set the first fastest lap – so fast, he was just shy of the overall lap record. Slotting in behind him, in the second promotion spot, was Morbidelli.

    As normal, the riders made their way back to the garages to change tires before their second run. Vinales first improved up in to the promotion spots, followed by Miller who leap-frogged him to second.

    This pushed Morbidelli down to 4th, who stayed one place ahead of teammate Quartararo who was having a day to forget.

    As the checkered flag fell for Q1, it was Alex Marquez (1:45.231) and Jack Miller (1:45.559, +0.328) who progressed to the next session for their shot at pole.

    Qualifying 2

    As rain threatened to add some drama to qualifying, every rider was quickly out on track and eager to set themselves a banker lap.

    With Valentino Rossi watching from the sidelines, his VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi set the first flying lap with a 1:45.372. Marc Marquez and Jack Miller were close on his tail, taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.

    With 11 minutes left on the clock, and without having yet set a lap time, Enea Bastianini crashed at turn 11 to give himself a huge amount of hard work on his return to MotoGP after recovering from an injury.

    Jorge Martin then takes provisional pole away from Bezzecchi just before the riders came back to the garages for a tire change.

    Instead of waiting to rejoin the track with everyone else, Pecco Bagnaia came out early to enjoy a complete empty track. However, he was soon joined by Marc Marquez and Bagnaia didn’t hide his frustrations at this, waving to the Spaniard and angrily gesturing to him.

    Despite being forced to tow the Spaniard round the track, Bagnaia’s pace was blistering and he crossed the line to set the first ever 1:44 lap at Mugello, smashing the previous lap record. Marc Marquez, however, had to settle for 2nd as he was 0.078s behind the reigning championship

    Luca Marini had his previously-cancelled lap time reinstated after the session, gifting 4th place back to him. Aleix Espargaro faced opposite luck – he looked set for a front row start but as the other riders set flying laps, he was eventually shuffled down to 8th.

    Full Starting Grid
    1st Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
    2nd Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
    3rd Alex Marquez Gresini
    4th Luca Marini Mooney VR46
    5th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    6th Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    7th Marco Bezzzecchi Mooney VR46
    8th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    9th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
    10th Alex Rins LCR Honda
    11th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
    12th Enea Bastianini Ducati Lenovo
    13th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
    14th Franco Morbidelli Monster Yamaha
    15th Fabio Quartararo Monster Yamaha
    16th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
    17th Michele Pirro Aruba.it
    18th Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
    19th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
    20th Raul Fernandez CryptoDATA RNF
    21st Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
    22nd Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia
    23rd Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • Holgado holds off Sasaki’s pressure to take Moto3 victory in France

    Daniel Holgado took victory in the Moto3 French Grand Prix with a well-executed ride and handed Tech3 Racing their first ever victory on home soil.

    With that, the Spaniard increased his lead in the championship to 21 points and added a second victory to his tally for 2023.

    Ayumu Sasaki put in a very strong qualifying performance to start from pole position, with Diogo Moreira and Holgado completing the front row.

    But Sasaki couldn’t hold onto his lead at the start, quickly losing out to Holgado who made a nice move down the inside at the first braking zone of the Le Mans track.

    The Japanese rider tried to conjure up a reaction as the first lap went on but couldn’t make anything stick for the time being.

    Credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull

    Meanwhile behind the top two it was Deniz Oncu who settled into third as he got the better of Moreira on the opening lap.

    Moreira then lost another position on lap seven as Ivan Ortola moved his way into fourth with a nice move at Turn 3.

    The battle at the front then stabilised for the following few laps as the riders settled into the race.

    But it all began to unfold at the halfway point however, as Moreira crashed out at Turn 12 – the Brazilian had continued to drop back as the race progressed and was in seventh at the time of the incident.

    Sasaki then pulled the pin and made his move back into the lead with a pass on Holgado along the pit straight, but Holgado quickly responded at Turn 3 to hang on to first place.

    Elsewhere Jaume Masia moved up into third with six laps to go after taking advantage of Oncu running slightly wide at Turn 8.

    The Spaniard then attacked Sasaki for second place and the pair were engaged in a back-and-forth battle – which allowed Holgado to sit comfortably out in front as those behind him jostled for position.

    Sasaki was able to retake second at Turn 3 with three laps remaining, and quickly tried to shake off Masia in an attempt to chase down the leader ahead.

    But ultimately it was to no avail – despite closing the gap to just 0.150 seconds Sasaki had to settle for second as Holgado took victory after a very strong race to hold off the pressure.

    Speaking after the race, Holgado said it was a good ending to an event where he’d showed strong pace throughout the three days.

    “The feeling is amazing. I am so happy because this Grand Prix was very important for my team as it was their home race, and winning it for them is just incredible,” he said.

    “I was fast all weekend, and today we were just really strong and confident. What a weekend, thank you to my team.”

    Masia ended the race in third but had to fight for it as Ortola piled on the pressure in the final two laps.

    Oncu went from being third to ending up sixth in the final few laps of the race, finishing behind Ryusei Yamanaka.

    Credit: Gold & Goose/Red Bull

    Xavier Artigas finished in seventh, with David Alonso and Jose Rueda some distance behind in eighth and ninth.

    Stefano Nepa managed to get the better of Joel Kelso, Kaito Toba and Tatsuki Suzuki in what was a close fought battle for 10th.

    David Salvador and Collin Veijer rounded out the points finishers.

    Among the other fallers, Syarifuddin Azman was the first victim to crash in the race on the third lap at Turn 12 – a disappointing end to what was a strong weekend for the Malaysian where he qualified 10th.

    Andrea Migno also fell at Turn 12 a few laps later and was shortly followed by Scott Ogden at Turn 7, as well as Taiyo Furusato who fell on the last lap at Turn 9.

  • MotoGP: Bezzecchi Wins 1000th MotoGP Race at Le Mans

    MotoGP: Bezzecchi Wins 1000th MotoGP Race at Le Mans

    A crash-filled French GP saw only 13 riders meet the chequered flag. There were hard-fought battles up and down the field and plenty of podium celebrations for our top three riders.

    Marco Bezzecchi has taken his second race win of the season, celebrating MotoGP’s 1,000th race from the top step of the podium. He was in a class of his own today, starting from 7th before hitting the front at the mid-point of the race and eventually coming home over 4 seconds ahead of his nearest rival.

    He was joined on the podium by both Prima Pramac riders, with Jorge Martin 2nd and Johann Zarco in 3rd, much to the delight of his home crowd.

    Martin had to fight hard to earn that 2nd place today, fighting with Marc Marquez for much of the race. The pair were jostling and fighting at every corner with Marquez often coming out on top. It was a magnificent defence considering he has been out of action for the last three races due to an injury. However, on lap 26, with just two and a half laps remaining, Marquez could no longer keep the bike upright and he slid out as Museum Corner whilst trying to make the cut back on Martin.

    Zarco was able to capitalise on the drama and the crashes around him, keeping his nose clean and quietly making his way up the field to 3rd. The moment he stepped on to the podium, the French crowd erupted as they showed support for their home hero.

    It was a harder race for the other home hero, Fabio Quatararo, who started 13th and eventually finished the day in 7th. He was able to keep his nose clean but didn’t make significant enough strides to truly battle with those ahead of him.

    The race was full of drama, from start to finish, with nail-biting battles taking place for most of the race. None more so than lap 5 which gave us two enormous crashes between four riders running in the top 10.

    Firstly, it was pole-sitter Pecco Bagnaia and Maverick Vinales who found themselves in the gravel. The pair were fighting for the same piece of tarmac and, as Vinales returned to the racing line, the pair bumped into each other. This caused Vinales to lose control of the bike and as his machine was wobbling, he clattered into the side of Bagnaia again and the pair went down. Both were able to walk away from the crash but, in the heat of the moment, they began scrapping and fighting in the gravel.

    Then, moments later, Luca Marini lost the front of the bike when he hit a kerb. Alex Marquez then ran into the back of the VR46 machine and they both went down dramatically. This incident left Marquez in the middle of the track but he was thankfully able to move and avoid the on-coming traffic.

    It was an equally difficult day for Jack Miller. He started the race in 4th and, in typical Miller style, he flew off the line past pole-sitter Bagnaia and was quickly fighting with Marquez for the lead. He made a brave, aggressive move around the outside of Museum Corner – the same corner where he crashed out of Saturday’s sprint race – and was able to claim the lead on the second lap of the race.

    Miller enjoyed the clean air for much of the race, until lap 11 when he began to slide backwards down the field. He eventually ended up back in 9th before sliding out of the race at turn 4 of lap 25. It appeared that he was struggling with a bike issue but this is yet to be confirmed.

    It was a dream day for rookie Augusto Fernandez who enjoyed his best result of his MotoGP career so far. He was battling hard with the likes of Aleix Espargaro and Brad Binder before crossing the line in 4th. He received a hero’s welcome in the pit lane, his team clearly delighted with his mature and impressive performance today.

    Espgararo ended the day in 5th, just ahead of Binder in 6th. The South African would have been hoping for more today after his exceptional 2nd place finish in yesterday’s sprint race. However, he was forced out wide by Alex Marquez at the start of the race. This shuffled him down to 16th and ultimately ruined his chance of a podium or win.

    The top 10 was rounded out by Quatararo in 7th, Fabio Di Giannantonio in 8th followed by Takaaki Nakagami and Franco Morbidelli in 9th and 10th respectively.

    We now have a 3-week break before the grid is back in action in Mugello. That’s 3 weeks for today’s winners to revel in their success and our losers to dwell on their difficult weekend.

    Full Results
    1st Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 –
    2nd Jorge Martin Prima Pramac +4.256s
    3rd Johann Zarco Prima Pramac +4.795s
    4th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3 +6.281s
    5th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia +6.726s
    6th Brad Binder Red bull KTM +13.638s
    7th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha +15.023s
    8th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini +15.826s
    9th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda +16.370s
    10th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha +17.828s
    11th Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo +29.735s
    12th Lorenzo Savadori CrytoDATA RNF +36.135s
    13th Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3 +49.808s

    DNFs = Marc Marquez, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Alex Marquez, Luca Marini, Maverick Vinales, Pecco Bagnaia

    Championship Standings
    1st Pecco Bagnaia 94 points
    2nd Marco Bezzecchi 93 points
    3rd Brad Binder 81 points
    4th Jorge Martin 80 points
    5th Johann Zarco 66 points

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Magnificent Martin Dominates Sprint Race in Le Mans

    MotoGP: Magnificent Martin Dominates Sprint Race in Le Mans

    Le Mans has given us another action-packed sprint race, with breathtaking battles from start to finish. Our winner, Jorge Martin was simply peerless today, whilst Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, who is back to his old ways after 3 races away, jostled for the majority of the race.

    Jorge Martin was in a league of his own on his way to win the sprint race at the French GP in Le Mans. Having started the race in 5th, he enjoyed a brilliant start and was up to 2nd before the exit of turn 1. It was then lap 4 when he finally took the lead and he never looked back, quickly building a gap between himself and his nearest competitors. As the chequered flag fell, he wheelied across the line to take a dominant victory.

    Brad Binder took a well-deserved 2nd place today, taking advantage of a race-long battle between Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia. As the pair were fighting, he snuck up the inside to claim second place and, much like our race winner, was able to quickly put clear air behind him. However, that gap ahead was always just slightly too big and he couldn’t find a way to take the fight to Martin.

    Championship leader and today’s pole sitter, Bagnaia, came home in 3rd after that race-long battle with Marquez. The pair were jostling for most of the race, closely on each other’s tail and making aggressive moves to try and best each other. It looked as though it might end in disaster multiple times but, eventually, it was the Italian who eventually came out on top.

    After 7 breathtaking laps of fighting and overtaking, it was on lap 10 of 13 that he finally made his way past Marquez and made sure to quickly shut the door to avoid any counter-attacks. The nail-biting fight was then quickly over as Bagnaia pulled ahead of Marquez to put clean air between the pair.

    Marquez, who is back on the grid after missing the previous 3 races, eventually ended the day in 5th. It seemed that he may have started to fatigue at the same time as Bagnaia’s tyres came into their sweet spot – a bad combination but he will have plenty of positives to take away from his performance today, ahead of tomorrow’s main race.

    It looked like this potential fatiguing then made Marquez a bit of a sitting duck for Luca Marini, who was able to make his way up to 4th on lap 11. Marini has enjoyed a fantastic day, progressing from Q1 to then secure 3rd in Q2. He lost a few places at the start of the spring race but more than made up for this with his performance towards the end of the race.

    It was a tougher day for Jack Miller and home hero Fabio Quatararo, who both failed to meet the chequered flag.

    Miller enjoyed a brilliant start, flying off the line to steal 3rd from Marini early on. The Aussie, who has previously enjoyed a lot of success in sprint races, couldn’t emulate that success today as he went down in the middle of Museum Corner on the second lap. He was visibly frustrated to make an error that ended his race so prematurely.

    Then, on lap 10, Quartararo went down at the same corner. The bike just folded underneath him as he helplessly slid into the gravel. The home crowd were clearly disappointed as a stunned silence fell over the grandstands. Today has been a difficult day for the Frenchman – a day that has gone from bad to worse after his inability to progress out of Q1.

    The final points-scoring positions were filled by Johann Zarco, Marco Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales in 6th to 9th respectively. Vinales had a terrible qualifying session where a bike issue hampered his second run whilst he was sat in provisional pole – it is certainly a day of “what if’s” for the Spaniard.

    The main race will take place at 2pm local time on Sunday. If the sprint race is anything to go by, it should be a race filled with action and drama!

    Full Results
    1st Jorge Martin Prima Prama –
    2nd Brad Binder Red Bull KTM +1.840s
    3rd Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo +2.632s
    4th Luca Marini Monney VR46 +3.418s
    5th Marc Marquez Repsol Honda +3.541s
    6th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac +4.483s
    7th Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 +5.224s
    8th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia +6.359s
    9th Maverick Vinales Aprilia +8.336s
    10th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda +9.439s
    11th Alex Rins LCR Honda +12.388s
    12th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini +14.125s
    13th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha +15.121
    14th Joan Mir Repsol Honda +15.383
    15th Alex Marquez Gresini +15.591
    16th Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo +19.415
    17th Lorenzo Savadori CryptoDATA RNF +26.992
    DNF Fabio Quatararo Monster Energy Yamaha –
    DNF Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3 –
    DNF Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3 –
    DNF Jack Miller Red Bull KTM –

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia On Pole for FrenchGP; Disaster For Home Hero Quartararo

    MotoGP: Bagnaia On Pole for FrenchGP; Disaster For Home Hero Quartararo

    It was a session full of surprises today that included highs for our leading championing as well as a returning favourite but also heartache and disaster for a home hero.

    After a challenging weekend in which he hasn’t shown a huge amount of pace, reigning champion Pecco Bagnaia came from nowhere to steal pole position in the dying moments of the session. He crossed the line and instantly punched the air, showing he knew just how good his lap time of 1:30.705.

    He will be joined on the front row by Marc Marquez, who is returning to the action after missing the last 3 races thanks to breaking a metacarpal at the Portuguese GP. He took provisional pole with 1 minute remaining on the clock, setting, at that time, the fastest lap of the weekend so far. He clearly gave this lap everything he had as he ran out of fuel shortly after, delaying his return to the paddock to meet the media!

    Having fought his way through from Q1, Luca Marini was able to snatch 3rd place away from Jack Miller shortly after the chequered flag fell, bumping the Australian down to 4th. On his final lap, Miller was following Augusto Fernandez as a marker but was sadly too close to him and this ended up slowing him down. He was unable to improve on his time and was forced to settle for 4th – a disappointing result given his impressive ride in Friday’s P1 and P2.

    Maverick Vinales was an early leader in Q2 and spent time in provisional pole. This was until he left the garage for his second run, with 6 minutes remaining on the clock. He faced issues on the pit exit – the onboard shot seemed to suggest the bike was stuck on the pit limiter. He was twisting the throttle but nothing happened. He was met in the pit lane by Moto3 rider, Riccardo Rossi, who gave him a helpful push back to the garage whilst the team rushed to prepare the spare bike for him. He will line up in 7th for the sprint and main races.

    As Vinales waited for his second bike to be readied, his teammate Aleix Espargaro had a huge off at the high-speed turn 1. He lost the front of the bike and slid, which some speed, out into the gravel trap. Thankfully, he was able to walk away and he will line up 11th on the grid.

    Home hero, Fabio Quartararo had a disastrous session as he was unable to progress up from Q1. This means he will line up in gut-wrenching 13th place for his home sprint race later today and the main race tomorrow. The record-breaking crowds will undoubtedly be willing him on as the lights go out later today.

    Full Starting Grid:
    1st Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
    2nd Marc Marquez Repsol Honda
    3rd Luca Marini Mooney VR46
    4th Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    5th Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    6th Maverick Vinales Aprilia
    7th Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46
    8th Alex Marquez Gresini
    9th Johann Zarco Prima Pramac
    10th Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
    11th Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    12th Augusto Fernandez GASGAS Tech3
    13th Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha
    14th Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda
    15th Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini
    16th Joan Mir Repsol Honda
    17th Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha
    18th Alex Rins LCR Honda
    19th Danilo Petrucci Ducati Lenovo
    20th Lorenzo Savadori CryptoDATA RNF
    21st Jonas Folger GASGAS Tech3

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Dominant Win at Americas GP Sprint Race

    MotoGP: Bagnaia Takes Dominant Win at Americas GP Sprint Race

    After claiming pole position earlier in the day, Pecco Bagnaia has taken a truly dominant win for the Americas Grand Prix sprint race in Texas. Just behind him was Alex Rins in 2nd and Jorge Martin who held on to 3rd despite a tough fight with Aleix Espargaro in 4th.

    Pecco Bagnaia gave a faultless performance at the Circuit of the Americas to win the Americas GP sprint race. Having started on pole, he was able to hold off an early attack from Alex Rins at the start and quickly pulled out a large lead to win very comfortably. He also smashed the race lap record at the halfway point of the race.

    As the lights went out, the race started surprisingly cleanly and everyone completed the first lap safely. The winners off the line were Jorge Martin, who flew from 12th up to 5th, and Miguel Oliveira, leaping from 15th up to 9th. Others faced more of a struggle with the likes of Luca Marini going wide and dropping from 3rd down to 13th and Maverick Vinales struggling at the start and falling back from 8th to 17th.

    On the second lap, Rins went wide at turn 12 and gets shuffled back to 3rd. This dropping in right in to a battle with Fabio Quartararo who was trying desperate moves to try and get something out of his Yamaha. As the pair fought, Quartararo clatters in to the side of Rins, leaving rubber marks on his leather.

    As the riders settled in to the race, and Bagnaia was enjoy some clear air, Quartararo was still fighting against his Yamaha at every corner. It eventually ended in tears as he went down at turn 1 of lap 5. He was able to rejoin the race and eventually ended the day in 19th.

    On lap 7, Rins makes an aggressive move on Aleix Espargaro to steal 2nd from him. However, a few corners later, he goes wide and takes Espargaro with him. Whilst Rins holds on to 2nd, this error gifts 3rd place to Jorge Martin and shuffles Espargaro back down to 4th.

    On the same lap, at turn 12, Alex Marquez goes down on the slipper track surface. This promotes Bezzecchi to 6th and allows him to keep the lead of the championship for another day.

    In the final laps of the race, Espargaro is trying everything he can to get past Martin and in to 3rd but he simply can’t find a way through.

    Lights will go out for the feature race in less than 24 hours time so make sure you follow Crew On Two for all the action.

    Top Ten:
    1 Pecco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo
    2 Alex Rins LCR Honda
    3 Jorge Martin Prima Pramac
    4 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia
    5 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM
    6 Marco Bezzecchi VR46 Racing
    7 Luca Marini VR46 Racing
    8 Miguel Oliveira CryptoDATA RNF
    9 Jack Miller Red Bull KTM
    10 Maverick Vinales Aprilia
    Championship Standings:
    1 Marco Bezzecchi 54 points
    2 Pecco Bagnaia 53 points
    3 Johann Zarco 35 points
    4 Alex Marquez 33 points

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

  • MotoGP: Alex Marquez Claims Maiden Pole in Argentina

    MotoGP: Alex Marquez Claims Maiden Pole in Argentina

    Alex Marquez battled his way through a rainy Q1 session, a crash and a burning bike to claim his maiden MotoGP pole at the Argentinian GP. He will be joined on the front row by Marco Bezzecchi and Pecco Bagnaia – it was the riders who made the brave move to use slicks tires on a drying track that came out on top.

    Alex Marquez has made his way through all the barriers that Saturday could throw at him to secure himself pole position for the Sprint and Feature race at this weekend’s Argentinian GP. He came through a wet qualifying session, in which he crashed in the final minutes and then pulled off the track with a bike in flames, to lay down a stunning time of 1:43.881.

    Just 0.172s behind him was last weekend’s podium sitter, Marco Bezzecchi on the Mooney VR46 machine. He has clearly capitalised on the momentum he found in the first race of the season.

    Just behind them was reigning champion and championship leader, Pecco Bagnaia. He took his time warming up in the session but seemed to come alive during his final flying lap. He was also the first of a series of brave riders to try slick tires on the drying track.

    It was a good day for Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales who will line up on the grid in 4th and 5th respectively. Just behind them with be Johann Zarco in 6th, who many tipped for a pole position today, and Luca Marini in 7th. Rounding out the top 10 are Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo.

    Image Credit: MotoGP

    QUALIFYING 1

    There were some big names in Qualifying 1 today – a session that saw rain falling for most of the 15 minutes. Those names included Fabio Quatararo, Jack Miller, Brad Binder and Alex Marquez. The first sessions started with a mistake from Quartararo as he went too deep in to turn 5 and ploughed into the kitty litter at quite some speed. Despite the mistake, Quartararo spent most of the session at the top of the timing sheets, having laid down a time of 1:47.397 with 9 minutes remaining on the clock.

    Marquez then took over at the top with 3 and a half minutes remaining. With lots of other riders improving in the dying minutes of the session, including Fabio Di Giannantonio and Joan Mir, Quartararo’s progression to Q2 was looking uncertain. Miller took a riskier approach, only giving him one opportunity for a flying lap. That approach didn’t seem to work for the Aussie who was stuck in 5th, only to be demoted to 6th after Binder took 5th from him.

    As the session ended, it was Alex Marquez and Quartararo in 1st and 2nd respectively and both were promoted to the Q2 session.

    QUALIFYING 2

    As Q2 started, the conditions were improving and the track was drying quickly. Despite that, the pack started on wet tires and all were quickly on the track to try and test out the conditions. As everyone completed their first flying laps, Johann Zarco was the first to take provisional pole, just ahead of the two Yamaha riders with Franco Morbidelli in 2nd and Quartararo in 3rd. Championship leader, Bagnaia, had a slow start to the session with his first flying lap leaving him in 8th.

    With 6 minutes left on the clock, all the riders headed back to the pits with a few brave riders then opting that the track was ready slick tires. Of these riders was Bagnaia who was the first to explore the track conditions on slick tires – the bike kept twitching and wobbling underneath him and it looked like he had made the leap just a little too soon.

    But the lap times started to tumble as the conditions improved and, as the chequered flag fell, it was those on slick tires who topped the timing sheets. Bravery paid off!

    Feature Image Credit: MotoGP