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Category: Crew On Two

  • WorldSBK: Rea Wins, Bautista Third in Torrential Misano

    The sunny conditions of Superpole were replaced with the rain of Saturday morning for race one of the seventh round of the Superbike World Championship in Misano.

    Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made the holeshot from pole position, whilst Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) made good progress from row two and was second as the field hit the back straight out of turn six for the first time.

    Lowes soon took the lead, but one lap later the race was red flagged. This red flag was the second of the day after the start was delayed on the first warm up lap.

    The rain soon cleared and the track dried quickly. Lowes started from pole position but it was once again Rea who made the holeshot. Lowes dropped back to third place behind Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK), but was able to move back up to second place.

    Whilst Lowes was behind Rea, the pair were able to move away from the field quite considerably. No one could get much within one second of their pace. Additionally, the proximity of the two on track gave a good indication of their contrasting riding styles, and the contrasting characteristics of their bikes, as Rea and the Kawasaki were faster in the middle of the lap, which is quite stop-start, whereas Lowes had a significant advantage in the first part of the lap which is all about corner speed and flow.

    Once Lowes got past Rea with a move done at turn seven as the race approached half distance, he was able to stretch the World Champion and pull clear. However, just as the Yamaha rider’s advantage edged out to 1.5 seconds, he crashed at the fastest corner of the year – Curvone – and his chance of a race win was over. After losing Michael van der Mark to injury yesterday, all of the hopes of the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK squad were pinned on Lowes, and now he too was out.

    That left Rea in a fairly comfortable position, with Sykes far behind on the BMW, and no faster than the four-times WSBK champion.

    Sykes, too, was lapping alone, but behind things were getting interesting for the final podium spot.

    Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) held fourth place for much of the race, and this became third when Lowes crashed. The Welshman struggled to match the pace of Sykes, but was able to keep the riders behind him at bay.

    Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was able to pass the #7 rider eventually, though. But the reigning BSB champion’s podium hopes were ended when he crashed in turn eight, allowing Davies back into third.
    Davies gave up the final rostrum position soon after, though, when he let teammate Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) through at turn five.

    This was followed by some significant time loss for Davies, who also dropped behind Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) and into fifth. Davies’ pace picked up again towards the end of the race, but it was not enough to improve from his fifth position.

    At the front, Rea was untouchable after the crash of Lowes, and recorded his third win of the season and cut his deficit in the points standings to Bautista to thirty-two points. It was a remarkable performance from Rea who, although known for his prowess in damp conditions, had not ridden in the morning’s FP3 session, which was the only wet track time of the weekend for the WSBK riders before the race, after a dry Friday and scorching Superpole. To win by such a margin with little experience of the track in those conditions compared to his rivals was both impressive and important, as the Northern Irishman needed to take advantage of his title rival’s lack of pace.

    Alvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Indeed, Bautista was able to take third place, meaning that of the races he has finished in WorldSBK Bautista has visited the podium after each one of them. Bautista had dropped as low as sixth in the race, but took advantage of others’ falls and misfortune to arrive on the podium and complete a quite strong damage limitation job. The Spaniard will be hoping for dry conditions on Sunday, ones in which he will hope to have the potential to take the fight to Rea.

    Between the two title rivals were 7.756 seconds and Tom Sykes, who took his first podium of 2019 and the first for BMW, since their full-time return at the beginning of the year. It was a lonely race for Sykes, who was not strong enough to go with Rea and Lowes at the start, but was faster and more consistent than those behind him. In conditions where the other bikes cannot make use of their power advantage compared to the BMW, the S1000RR’s chassis can negate its motor disadvantage, and Sykes was able to make the most of that for this third place.

    Loris Baz – Ten Kate Yamaha Supported WorldSBK. Image courtesy of Yamaha racing

    Loris Baz was the top ‘independent’ rider for Ten Kate, who were able to finish fourth in their fourth race with Yamaha, and their fourth of the season. Before Bautista got into third place, Baz was closing on the championship leader, but towards the end the Spaniard’s pace picked up. With the retirement of Lowes and the absence of van der Mark, this fourth place was also an important one for Yamaha in the constructor standings.

    Chaz Davies finished fifth in what was a strange race for the Ducati rider, with his pace dropping off strangely in the middle of the race. But, with Haslam crashing out, Davies’ fifth in conjunction with Bautista’s third place means that the ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team extends its lead at the top of the Teams’ Championship over KRT by two points.

    Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) has a six-place grid penalty for the Superpole Race on Sunday morning, so he had to maximise this first race of the weekend. Unfortunately for the Italian, he ran on in turn eight early on, and his recovery only got him as far as sixth place, ahead of teammate Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK). Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) took Honda’s best result of the year in eighth, ahead of Eugene Laverty’s new replacement at Team Goeleven, Lorenzo Zanetti. Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) completed the top ten.

    Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) was in seventh place with five laps to go but ended up eleventh ahead of Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing), wildcard Samuele Cavalieri (Motocorsa Racing), Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) who was the final finisher in fifteenth and took the final point.

    Wildcard Dominic Schmitter (IXS Racing powered by YART) was the first retirement on lap eight, the same lap as Lowes crashed out of the lead. Moments after Lowes went down at turn eleven, wildcard Michele Pirro (BARNI Racing Team) crashed out at the same point. Michael Ruben Rinaldi dropped his BARNI Racing Team Ducati two laps after Lowes, Schmitter and Pirro went down and two laps before Haslam crashed the factory Kawasaki. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) went down on the final lap out of eighth place.

  • WorldSBK: Back to Italy for Round Seven

    WorldSBK: Back to Italy for Round Seven

    Two weeks on from an action-packed sixth round of the Superbike World Championship, the series moves to Misano this weekend for the eighth round of 2019.

    Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) shocked everyone by crashing his Ducati Panigale V4R in a race for the first time in race two back in Jerez, letting Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) off the proverbial hook in a weekend in which it looked certain that Bautista would greatly extend his championship advantage.

    Alvaro Bautista at Jerez WSBK 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Instead, Rea clawed back two points over the course of the Jerez weekend. The gap between the two title rivals stands at forty-one points in Bautista’s favour. On paper, it still seems unlikely that Rea will be able to overcome his deficit, but Misano could prove a positive round for the reigning World Champion. The Adriatic circuit was the scene of Rea’s first ever WorldSBK win back in 2009. In total, Rea has six WorldSBK wins in Misano, as well as four other podium finishes, which compares to Bautista’s solitary Grand Prix victory back in 2008 in the 250cc race, a third place in the 2009 250 race and a third place in the 2012 MotoGP race. In fact, in that 2012 premier class outing, Rea was also present on the second Repsol Honda. The Northern Irishman was replacing the injured Casey Stoner, and finished eighth. So, strictly speaking, for the first time this season we go to a track where Bautista and Rea have faced each other, albeit in particular circumstances which are unrepresentative of those this weekend and were in no way fair to Rea.

    This weekend presents a good opportunity for Yamaha. Their bike has traditionally gone well in Misano – who can forget Michael van der Mark’s tyre letting go on his way to victory for Pata Yamaha WorldSBK back in 2017? Additionally, van der Mark was on the rostrum last season in the second race, ahead of Marco Melandri – then on Ducati, now riding GRT Yamaha WorldSBK’s YZF-R1. Furthermore, Melandri won at Misano in 2017, adding to his double rostrums in 2014, and his third place in the first race in 2011, also on a Yamaha.

    Moreover, the Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha team have already been to Misano with the R1, albeit mostly in wet conditions. This should give them a chance of a good result this weekend, and an improvement over their first outing of the year last time out in Jerez where Loris Baz went 12-9 in the two full-length races, but was unable to start the Superpole race of bike problems.

    Jerez proved a strong round for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) who took his second podium of the season – and second in two rounds – with third place in race two. The Turkish rider will need more of the same this weekend to edge closer to securing a factory Kawasaki seat for next year, as Moto2’s Xavi Vierge is rumoured to be a possible teammate for Jonathan Rea in 2020.

    Michele Pirro is also in action this weekend, the Ducati stalwart riding the BARNI Panigale V4R this weekend. The Italian has featured inside the top ten in several MotoGP races at Misano in the past for the Italian factory. In 2012, Pirro was tenth in Misano on the Gresini FTR Honda CRT machine, and the year after was tenth once more for Pramac. In 2016, as a wildcard, Pirro finished seventh after qualifying on the second row of the grid, whilst in 2017 he finished fifth in the wet. Pirro’s latest MotoGP appearance was at the Italian GP in Mugello earlier this month where he finished seventh, thirteen seconds off the win. Similarly, his latest WorldSBK appearance at Misano came in 2015, when he was eighth in both races. Additionally, Pirro won both races at the CIV round at Misano earlier this year, so could present a problem for some of the championship regulars.

  • MotoGP: Quartararo from Gravel to Pole in Montmelo

    MotoGP: Quartararo from Gravel to Pole in Montmelo

    Track temperature is often the limiting factor in Barcelona, and it seemed to be the case for qualifying for the seventh round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship.

    Q1 saw Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) recover from his huge high-side in FP3 to top the session from Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who both advanced to Q2.

    In Q2, Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) took his second MotoGP pole position in response to his first crash on a MotoGP machine in FP3. It was a crucial result for Quartararo because he has had a strong race pace all weekend. If he gets to turn one first it could be bad news for the others.

    Marc Marquez at Montmelo Circuito de Montmelo, Cataluña, 2019 MotoGP. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

    Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) has struggled, by his standards, this weekend in Montmelo. Nonetheless, he positioned himself well on the track for his second run in Q2, and with the assistance of a Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) tow he managed to take second place, and put himself in a good position for tomorrow. He might not have the outright pace of Quartararo or Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), but he might not need it, such is the expectation of high tyre wear in the race and the speed of the Honda.

    Franco Morbidelli took third place on the grid, which was quite remarkable considering the size of his crash in the morning. With Valentino Rossi taking his best qualifying since Texas as he took fourth. The circuit is a good one for Yamaha thanks to the long, flowing corners, which allow it to negate its disadvantage in the half-mile straight. Between Quartararo, Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Morbidelli and Rossi, Yamaha has a good chance to take its first victory of the season tomorrow.

    In the middle of the second row is Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati). The #04 has also looked strong this weekend, and seems to be in the frame for the podium fight. The nature of the tyres could see Dovizioso take his favoured strategy to hit the front and control the pace for the first part of the race to save his tyres. If his main rivals are Yamaha riders and the Suzuki of Alex Rins, Dovizioso has a strong chance to do just this in the 2019 Catalan GP, a race he won in a similar way from Marc Marquez in 2017.

    Danilo Petrucci in the Barcelona- Catalunya MotoGP Qualifying 2019. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) will start from the back of row two. For both Petrucci and Dovizioso, the start could be crucial to allow the Ducati’s to control the race in the early part to try and save some tyre for what will surely be a battle at the end.

    Maverick Vinales’ weekend has been a quiet one. The Spaniard was out of Q2 overnight but made a step in the morning. Third place in qualifying would have been his best since Argentina when he was second on the grid, but a three place penalty for blocking Quartararo leaves him in sixth for the start, which will be a crucial one for the #12.

    Alex Rins perhaps has the strongest race pace, and it looked like for once he would be able to qualify well and be able to use that pace to escape at the front on Sunday, but a crash in turn ten on his second run whilst following Maverick Vinales cost him the front row. Instead, Rins will start eighth – not ideal, but better than he has endured in the past. There is still a good chance for Rins in the race to take his second MotoGP victory.

    Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda CASTROL) will go from the back of the third row in ninth place after making a step overnight from a difficult Friday.

    Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) had one of his best days of the season on qualifying day for the Catalan Grand Prix. He qualified directly to Q2 and will start tenth on the grid, joined by Joan Mir and Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).

    Jorge Lorenzo at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

    It has been a good weekend for Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), who was fifth overnight. A crash in FP3 saw him go to Q1, which he was unable to advance from. Instead, Bagnaia qualified thirteenth, ahead of his teammate Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) who crashed in the Q1 session, but was unaffected. The two Pramac riders will be joined by Karel Abraham (Reale Avintia Racing) in what is an all-Ducati fifth row.

    Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda IDEMITSU) is another rider who has looked strong this weekend, but was unable to deliver on his free practice promise come qualifying, when he ended up qualifying sixteenth. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) and Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) join the Japanese rider on row six.

    Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) will head up the seventh row, from the Red Bull KTM Tec3 pairing of Miguel Oliveira and Hafizh Syahrin; whilst the two wildcarding test riders, Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team) and Sylvain Guintoli (Team Suzuki Ecstar), join Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) – who qualified last for the third consecutive race, thanks to mechanical issues with his number one bike – on the last row.

    Featured Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

  • Moto2: Fernandez Takes First GP Pole

    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.

    Iker Lecuona, Moto2, Catalunya MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    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.

  • Moto3: Rodrigo Takes Barcelona Pole

    The qualifying session for the seventh round of the 2019 Moto3 World Championship took place in Montmelo in perfect conditions.

    In Q1, it was Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse) who topped the session to move through to Q2 after a crash in FP3 limited his chances to qualify for the pole position shootout directly. Joining Suzuki in advancing from Q1 were Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai), Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and the returning Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia).

    The action in Q2 started early on, as a crash by the wildcard Carlos Tatay (Fundacion Andreas Perez 77) caught out Niccolo Antonelli (Sic58 Squadra Corse) who was out wide in T3 and had nowhere to go when Tatay lost the front.

    There was a big lull in the middle of the session, before the entire eighteen-rider field headed back out for the final two minutes or so.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/ByvM0KqCMYZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

    Despite missing the flag by one second or so on his final run, Gabriel Rodrigo’s first lap in Q2 was fast enough for the Argentinian to take his first pole position for the Kommerling Gresini Moto3 squad. As a rider who lives in Barcelona and has for some time, pole for the Catalan GP will be a special one for Rodrigo, who will be hoping to take his first Moto3 win, and become the twelfth different winner in as many races in the lightweight class.

    Ai Ogura resumed his form from before his injury in Le Mans, when he crashed out of the front group on the opening lap of the French Grand Prix. Second place for the Japanese represents his best World Championship qualifying result, beating his Le Mans grid slot by one place.

    Mugello pole sitter and winner, Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) completes the front row for the 2019 Catalan Moto3 Grand Prix, after his final lap was beaten by Ogura moments after it was set. If Arbolino were to win tomorrow it would be the first time there has been a back-to-back winner in Moto3 since Jorge Martin won Assen and Sachsenring in succession almost one year ago.

    Tatsuki Suzuki was able to come from Q1 to qualify fourth, which was an important result for the Sic58 Squadra Corse team with the poor session of Antonelli. Championship leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) will start from the middle of the second row, whilst Albert Arenas completes row two.

    Both Estrella Galicia 0,0 riders have looked strong during the weekend, and their tactic of sending both riders out together has mostly worked. However, Alonso Lopez could only manage seventh fastest in Q2. The Spaniard will be joined by Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) who was caught up in Antonelli’s second incident of the session at turn five which limited the #48 to ninth on the grid.

    John McPhee (Petronas SRT) had a better qualifying this time compared to Mugello, with tenth place. Andrea Migno and Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) will join him on row four; whilst the second Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider, Sergio Garcia, will head up row five from Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) who won a Junior World Championship race in Barcelona last year.

    Dennis Foggia, Moto3, Catalunya MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    Row six will see Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) in front of the two riders with no time: Antonelli and Tatay.

    Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) was the fastest of the riders to not make Q2, and heads up row seven from Can Oncu (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and wildcard Ryusei Yamanaka (Estrella Galicia 0,0) who was blocked, somewhat, by Dennis Foggia (Sky Racing Team VR46) in the final corner on his final lap, for which Foggia could well see a penalty coming his way.

    Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) disappointed, and will start a lowly twenty-second, ahead of Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas SRT) and, provisionally, the aforementioned Foggia.

    Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) was taken out by Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) on his final lap, and could only manage twenty-fifth, ahead of, ironically, Kornfeil and Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) on the ninth row; whilst Riccardo Rossi (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) starts ahead of Vicente Perez (Reale Avintia Arizona 77) and Filip Salac (Redox PruestelGP) on row ten. Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) will line up at the back of the grid in thirty-first.

  • BSB: Redding Beats Brookes to Brands Hatch Pole

    BSB: Redding Beats Brookes to Brands Hatch Pole

    Qualifying for the fourth round of the 2019 British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch saw the riders met with almost ideal conditions on track.

    Scott Redding took pole position by 0.007 seconds from Be Wiser Ducati teammate, Josh Brookes. The Ducati pairing have been the fastest riders all weekend, and quite well-matched. The battle between them in Sunday’s races should be an interesting one, as the winners of the last five races try to take the momentum away from Brands Hatch.

    Jason O’Halloran (McAMS Yamaha) will join the two Be Wiser Ducati’s on the front row after a strong session for the Aussie. In fact, the weekend as a whole has been a good one for O’Halloran who seems to have rediscovered some of the feeling and form that he has missed in the two rounds since Silverstone. He might be the only rider capable of taking the fight to the two Be Wiser Ducati riders tomorrow.

    Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) will hope to be there as well, and put himself in a good position to do so, as he will start from the front of the second row in fourth place. Dan Linfoot (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) and Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW Motorrad) will join Bridewell on the second row.

    Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) came to Brands Hatch fresh from the TT,  in  good form, and qualified seventh. Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) showed his best of the year with an eighth place qualifying, ahead of Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha). Mackenzie crashed at Clearways on his first flying lap in Q3, and so did not set a time. The #95 was knocked unconscious in the crash, and so will be unable to line up tomorrow. Therefore, Danny Buchan (FS-3 Racing Kawasaki) will line up in ninth for race one.

    In turn, Luke Mossey (OMG Racing Suzuki) is promoted to the head of row four, and will be joined by Keith Farmer (Tyco BMW Motorrad) and Andrew Irwin (Honda Racing).

    Glenn Irwin (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) will start thirteenth ahead of Luke Stapleford (Buildbase Suzuki) who crashed in Q1 and prohibited his progress from Q2. Josh Elliott (OMG Racing Suzuki) will start from the back of the fifth row in fifteenth.

    David Allingham (EHA Yamaha) will start sixteenth, and will be joined on row six by James Ellison (Smiths Racing) and Xavi Fores (Honda Racing); whilst Claudio Corti (Team WD-40) is joined on row seven by Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Ducati) and Matt Truelove (Raceways Yamaha); and Hector Barbera (Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) is in front of Joe Francis (Lloyd & Jones Bowker Motorrad) and Shaun Winfield (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) on row eight. Finally, the final row sees Sam Coventry (Team 64 Motorsports) ahead of Dean Hipwell (CDH Racing).

    Featured Image courtesy of Ducati

  • BSB: Can Ducati be Beaten at Brands?

    After the usual break for the Isle of Man TT, the British Superbike Championship is back in action this weekend, three weeks on from a historic round at Donington Park.

    Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) became the fiftieth rider to win a BSB race in the first outing at Donignton three weeks ago, and backed up that debut win with two more on Sunday to take the triple. Redding was able to make winning a BSB race look fairly straightforward in Donington, however that is expected to change this weekend in Brands Hatch, where Redding has never raced. It will be interesting to see how the #45 fares at a track where the whole field, essentially, have infinitely more track knowledge than him. This will be a new experience for Redding, since in Oulton Park he at least had the benefit of eighteen laps at the test day in the run up to the race weekend to learn where he was going.

    Scott Redding at Donnington park. Image courtesy of Ducati

    On the other side of the Be Wiser Ducati garage is the double winner from twelve months ago, Josh Brookes. That double came on the McAMS Yamaha in 2018, and with the Panigale V4R that Brookes is piloting this year having won the last five BSB races – with Brookes doubling up in Oulton Park before Redding’s Donignton treble – and with Brookes’ record in Brands, where he is second only to Shane Byrne for total wins, it is hard to see past the Aussie to at least take an overall this weekend.

    However, the McAMS Yamaha riders, Tarran Mackenzie and Jason O’Halloran, should be able to take the fight to Brookes and the V4R with the YZF-R1 which suits the fast, flowing nature of Brands Hatch quite well. Both McAMS Yamaha riders have arguably disappointed since round one at Silverstone, where they were quite dominant, with only one podium between them since then, courtesy of Mackenzie in the third race at Donington. Perhaps it is important to remember that 2019 is just Mackenzie’s second season in BSB, and the first year for O’Halloran in BSB outside of Honda. Either way, the expectation will be there for the two riders this weekend, one in which they will both be expecting top results.

    Tommy Bridewell at Donnington Park.Image courtesy of Ducati

    Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing) has enjoyed a fantastic start to the BSB year, and that earned him a place on the WSBK grid for the previous two rounds at Imola and Jerez in place of the injured Eugene Laverty at Team Goeleven. With Laverty expected to be back on the World Championship grid from the next round in Misano, Bridewell can now return his entire focus to BSB, a championship which is distinctly within the possibilities of the #46 – one that he can win. However, Bridewell is yet to win in 2019, and that monkey must be removed from his back quickly if he is to seriously contend for the title.

    In addition to Redding’s success in Donington, the triple podium of Xavi Fores (Honda Racing) and the impressive performances of Hector Barbera (replacing Ben Currie at Quattro Plant JG Speedfit Kawasaki) meant it was a weekend for the international riders three weeks ago. With Currie out injured, Barbera is back this weekend for his first taste of Brands Hatch, whilst Fores – fresh from the announcement of his participation with the HARC-PRO Honda squad at the Suzuka 8 Hours in July – returns to Brands Hatch for the first time this decade in search of more top threes.

    Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing) has had a slow start to the BSB year, scoring just forty-one points in the opening three rounds. However, despite missing out on the Senior TT on the Isle of Man, it was quite a successful week for Hickman, so it will be interesting to see if he can bring that form to the short circuit.

  • Moto2: Can Baldassarri Respond to Marquez Pressure in Barcelona?

    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.

    Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS boys Alex and Xavi Vierge at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Image courtesy of Marc VDS

    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.

    Tom Luthi at Barcelona-Catalunya. Image courtesy of KF GLAENZEL /Dynavolt Intact 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.

  • Moto3: The Championship Remains Open Ahead of Round 7

    Two weeks on from the Italian Grand Prix, the Moto3 World Championship heads to Montmelo for round seven of the 2019 season.

    In Italy it was Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) who emerged victorious for the first time in his career, defeating Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) in a drag to the line by 0.029 seconds. Arbolino’s first win had been coming for a while, so now it will be interesting to see how the Italian reacts this weekend, whether he follows similar patterns to the past where he has been quite inconsistent, or whether his win will give him more belief that he can go out and win again. Additionally, it is not too late for a title challenge from Arbolino, who is only thirty-two points behind championship leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team).

    Aron Canet, at the Italian Moto3 2019 race. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    Of course, it is a home round for Canet, although strictly speaking he is a Valencian. Mugello gave a disappointing result for Canet, as he finished seventh and, although he maintained his championship advantage, the #44 will be looking to return to the rostrum this weekend, especially with circuits on the horizon which may not suit his KTM as well as his rivals Hondas.

    Perhaps the strongest rider of all in Mugello was Lorenzo Dalla Porta. Arbolino won but Dalla Porta’s pace in the twisty part of the lap was very strong. The Italian has quite a smooth riding style, you can see visibly that he does not bully the bike into doing what he wants it to, and perhaps that is a sign of how comfortable he is with his NSF250R. In Barcelona he will be looking for his third consecutive podium, and his first win of the season to try and overhaul the three-point deficit he currently suffers to Canet in the championship.

    Although Tatsuki Suzuki (Sic58 Squadra Corse) finished only eighth in Mugello, he was also only 0.595 seconds off the win. In fact, Suzuki looked like the only rider who could get near Dalla Porta’s pace in the corners of Mugello. Last year’s Catalan Grand Prix was a tale of two halves for the Japanese rider, having broken away with Jorge Martin in a front pairing at the start, he was left by himself when Martin just a few laps into the race at turn nine. He was then swamped by the group, but managed to stay standing when others around him fell, and finished fifth in the end. Suzuki was on the podium in the last Spanish round at Jerez, so will be hoping to double up on his Spanish trophies this weekend.

    Like Suzuki, Niccolo Antonelli (Sic58 Squadra Corse) has only been on the podium once this year, and that was also in Jerez when he won. Since that win, Antonelli crashed in France and was fourth in Mugello after being penalised in qualifying. Despite that, the championship is still well within reach for Antonelli, who is only twelve points behind Canet.

    Jaume Masia, third place at the Moto3 race, Italian MotoGP 2019. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose/KTM

    Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) returned to the podium in Mugello after missing it since Texas. After two disappointing results in Spain and France, Masia’s Italian rostrum was enough to fire him back into championship contention, as he now sits eighteen points behind Canet in the standings. However, it will be important for the #5 to once again take to the podium in Barcelona this weekend to confirm that Jerez and Le Mans were blips.

    Finally, after missing the Italian GP, Ai Ogura is back this weekend for Honda Team Asia following successful surgery for the Japanese rider after his accident on the opening lap of the race in Le Mans.

  • MotoGP: Can Petrucci Match Dovizioso & Lorenzo?

    MotoGP: Can Petrucci Match Dovizioso & Lorenzo?

    Two weeks on from a magnificent race in Mugello at the Italian Grand Prix, the MotoGP World Championship heads to Barcelona for round seven of the 2019 season.

    This weekend will be an important one for MotoGP, as it marks the seventieth anniversary of the motorcycle world championship, the first of course taking place on the Isle of Man back in 1949. Much has changed since day one, of course. The Ducati Desmosedici GP19 that Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducat) rode to victory in Mugello two weeks ago almost unrecognisable in comparison to the Norton which won the 1949 Senior TT in the hands of Harold Daniell, and the story is the same when it comes to the tracks, the people involved, the culture of world championship motorcycle racing and politics involved. MotoGP is now a sport for complete professionals. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has said on many occasions how the sport of today misses some of the “romance” of that of his early career in the 1990s and 2000s. You would suspect that Daniell’s reaction to 1996, the year of Rossi’s World Championship debut, would be quite similar.

    But, whilst MotoGP in its current form may be missing “romance”, it is certainly not missing entertainment or excitement. Mugello was a prime example of that, with four riders and three different bikes separated by only half a second over the line. Petrucci’s winning margin over Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was just 0.043 seconds for his first ever MotoGP victory, and that is the MotoGP we see today: closer, more competitive than ever before.

    Fresh from continuing Ducati’s reign in Mugello, which stretches now for three years, Petrucci arrives In Barcelona looking to continue a trend of the last two years, which has seen Ducati pilots take victory in Mugello, and then Barcelona, back-to-back, first with Andrea Dovizioso in 2017 and then with Jorge Lorenzo in 2018. Perhaps it seems less likely for Petrucci to continue this, especially considering his declarations in Mugello where he stated that from now on his primary focus is to help his teammate, Dovizioso, win the World Championship. However, it remains to be seen how Petrucci reacts to winning his first race, whether it will trigger him to continue winning, and to go on to win a lot more races as we have seen with other riders in the past – Dovizioso himself being a prime example.

    Losing points to Marquez in Mugello was a disappointment for Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati) who will have seen the Italian round of the series as a chance to claim points back on the Spaniard. Instead, the #04 arrives in Montmelo in the knowledge that he must win, or at least beat Marquez, if he is to keep his championship hopes alive. The gap at the moment is twelve points, which may not seem like much, but with Assen and Sachsnering on the horizon, taking points in Spain this weekend will be vital for Dovizioso.

    Marc Marquez at Montmelo,2019. Image courtesy of Box Repsol

    Strangely, Marquez has only won in Barcelona once in the premier class, back in 2014 when his then teammate Dani Pedrosa ran into the back of him in what was turn eleven, costing himself the win despite arguably being faster at the end of the race than the #93. Despite his low frequency of top step visits in Montmelo, Marquez has missed the podium only once in MotoGP at the Circuit Barcelona-Catalunya, and that came in his troubled 2015 season, when he was pushing over the limit to try and go with Jorge Lorenzo on the Yamaha M1, who eventually won. Marquez has finished second in each of the three Catalan Grands Prix since then, to Valentino Rossi in 2016, to Dovizioso in 2017 and to Lorenzo last year. The reigning champion is, though, on great form, and will be a strong favourite going into this weekend.

    The fourth rider in the group at Mugello was Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who had yet another strong comeback from a poor qualifying. What Mugello exposed was Suzuki’s continuing lack of top speed. Fortunately for Suzuki, whilst they miss top end they have a bike which can punch off corners well from low speed, which is what Yamaha miss. Rins was able to use this to stay with the group, although had he managed to establish a gap of half a second or more, he could have gotten away such was his speed in the corners. The straight in Montmelo could also prove a problem for the GSX-RR this weekend, but in his home race Rins could be the only rider with a strong shot at challenging Marquez – but he needs to qualify well.

    Valentino Rossi has won ten times in Montmelo, the most recent of those being that 2016 triumph over Marquez. The last two years have been contrasting for the Italian, though, with Barcelona proving one of Yamaha’s weakest tracks in 2017 when he finished only eighth, although it was a return to the Catalan podium last year as he finished third behind Marquez and Lorenzo. After a disastrous home round in Mugello, and with questions being asked about his commitment to his Yamaha contract in the current, disappointing, moment in the Iwata marque’s history, Rossi will be eager to put the voices considering a close retirement for The Doctor on hold this weekend, especially with Assen next up on the calendar, which could prove his last opportunity to win in 2019.

    Valentino Rossi at Montmelo 2019. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    For Rossi’s teammate at Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP, Maverick Vinales, Mugello was little better. Vinales came home as top Yamaha in Italy, but that meant only sixth place. In fact, Mugello was a catastrophe for Yamaha. At a track where they had been on the podium for fifteen consecutive years, the top Yamaha was almost seven seconds from the rostrum. Anyway, like Rossi, Vinales will be aiming for redemption this weekend, at his home race.

    It should be noted that Barcelona is the circuit at which, twelve months ago, Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) took his first GP victory. One year one, he could be Yamaha’s best bet of a win in Barcelona and is looking in fine form, having nearly taken pole in Mugello before finishing tenth in the race as top rookie.

    Finally, the grid will have twenty-four bikes this weekend, as Suzuki test rider Sylvain Guintoli and Aprilia test rider Bradley Smith will be in action for their respective factories.