Crew On Two

25th July 2018

Brookes Takes First 2018 Win

For the first race of the ‘Big Brands Bash’ weekend, Glenn Irwin started from his first pole position scored in qualifying, with Josh Brookes and Jake Dixon alongside him on the front row of the grid.

However, it was Brookes who took the holeshot ahead of Irwin and Tarran Mackenzie who came through from the second row of the grid to third place.
The next few laps saw a lot of position changes at the front, especially between the top two of Brookes and Irwin, and this helped keep the field together, with a group of about twelve riders all covered by only a couple of seconds.

By half-distance, though, it was clear who the contenders were. Brookes led a breakaway group including Irwin, Mackenzie, Iddon and Haslam with Dixon just off the back.

But it was Brookes who led to the flag. Apart from a few exchanges between himself and Irwin in the first few laps of the race, it was pretty much a lights-to-flag win for the 2015 champion. It was Brookes’ first win of the season, and allowed him back into the top six after a difficult Knockhill round a couple of weeks ago. This race was an important step for Brookes in this season, as he made the step he needed to return to the top step.

Glenn Irwin. Image courtesy of Ducati media

The second place of Irwin was both impressive and slightly disappointing. Glenn was in the mix for the whole race and despite Brookes squeezing out a small advantage in the closing stages, the Irishman was able to erase that on the final lap to come back into contention, but he just couldn’t get close enough into Clearways for a final corner move. Either way, Glenn once again proved that he is capable of stepping into the shoes of the absent Shane Byrne, even if the situation is a far-from-ideal one. Whilst he didn’t manage his first victory, he certainly proved himself capable of achieving that very soon, and considering the team he has behind him, it would be unfair to rule him out of title contention at this stage.

Leon Haslam lucked into third place after Tarran Mackenzie crashed on the penultimate lap at Hawthorn’s. Ultimately, such a result for Leon is a good one, on a track he hasn’t tasted victory at since 2006, and fundamentally struggled at since his BSB return in 2016. Critically, he also beat Jake Dixon, so extended both his points lead in the general standing, and his lead on podium points. A performance like this might prove pretty ominous for the rest of the season, and should stand him in good stead for the final round in October, where he has struggled in the past.

Jake Dixon’s fourth place was a disappointing result for him, no doubt about it. It is possible to say that, like Haslam, Jake doesn’t go so well in Brands Hatch, but this weekend he had been stunningly fast, and finally it was a surprise that he did not take the pole position. But his race looked in jeopardy from that start, where he made a poor start and dropped from third on the grid to about seventh place, leaving himself a lot of work to do for the twenty-lap race. Furthermore, the incidents in the front group seemed to happen at the wrong time for him, costing him time and Mackenzie’s crash cost him a point in the podium points to Haslam. Anyway, when Dixon had clear space he was quite fast, which is important because it shows that Snetterton and Knockhill were not flukes for him, in terms of pace, and that he has some consistency this season which hopefully, for him, will last the entirety of the season in 2018.

Fifth place went to Christian Iddon, who seemed to suffer in the opposite way to usual. Normally, Iddon suffers in the beginning, and comes stronger towards the end of the race when the tyre goes away. However, in this race, it was the opposite, as Christian went extremely well at the start, fighting strongly at the very front of the race but towards the end fell away, presumably with rear tyre issues.

Peter Hickman had his best ride of the year in sixth place, ahead of Richard Cooper who similarly has his best performance of 2018 in seventh place. Danny Buchan came home in eighth place, although he looked better than that over the course of the weekend. Ninth place went to Andrew Irwin, who continues to be incredibly impressive on the Be Wiser PBM Ducati – since he cleaned out half the pack in Snetterton race one he has been sublime and the potential for this kid is immense. The top ten was rounded out by Michael Laverty.

Tommy Bridewell’s replacement at Halsall Suzuki, Chrissy Rouse, had a remarkable ride to eleventh place. Was it not for Andy Irwin’s current form, Rouse would be seeing a lot more attention for this result.

Bridewell himself was twelfth over the line on his Moto Rapido Ducati debut, ahead of round one double winner Bradley Ray. The Buildbase Suzuki rider has been struggling recently because he has to use the hard front – which isn’t giving the grip he wants – because the softer compound front tyres are overheating in the atypically warm British summer. In fourteenth was Jason O’Halloran, presumably still suffering with the ankle injury he picked up replacing Leon Camier in the Red Bull Honda Team for the Imola World Superbike round, and Mason Law rounded out the points for WD40 Kawasaki.

Sixteenth place went to Gino Rea, who was ahead of Dean Harrison, Luke Hedger, Fraser Rogers and Shaun Winfield who was the last of the twenty finishers.

The retirements were Sylvain Barrier – who was out on the sighting lap – Dan Linfoot who broke a scaphoid putting him out until Thruxton; Luke Mossey who bashed an elbow up fairly bad; Martin Jessopp, James Ellison who had brake problems early on but re-joined the race a few laps down; Aaron Zanotti and final Taz Mackenzie who crashed out of a potential first BSB podium on the penultimate lap.

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati media

14th July 2018

Pasini Takes German Moto2 Pole as Oliveira Faces Another Fightback

Before today, no Moto2 bike had lapped the Sachsenring in under 1’24. Now four riders have, led by Mattia Pasini who looks back on form after his post-Mugello depression. The veteran Italian has looked strong all weekend and in a field more closely packed than it is possible to remember, came out on top in qualifying with an early lap to give him pole position.

Mattia Pasini. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Nearly two tenths back of Pasini – yes, two tenths – was Luca Marini, who took his best career qualifying and second consecutive front row with second place. Marini was unable to convert his front row in Assen to anything special, but unlike Assen the Italian has had decent pace all weekend, and could challenge for the podium tomorrow.

Joining Pasini and Marini on the front row tomorrow is Francesco Bagnaia, the World Championship leader, who started off the weekend testing parts for Kalex which left him one second off the pace and down in 26th place. It turned around from there, though, and Bagnaia soon found his rhythm, as was able to make it an all-Italian front row, and tomorrow will be aiming to take consecutive victories for the first time in his career.

Pasini, Marini and Bagnaia, Sachsenring. Image Courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Sam Lowes was the final rider to dip below 1’24, with a 1’23.971 to give him fourth on the grid. Gearing changes – made for the race at Assen – to give the engine an easier time cost Lowes a better result than ninth, so on a weekend when he has been amongst the top times for its entirety, he will be hoping to maximise his potential tomorrow and take his first podium since Aragon 2016.

Lorenzo Baldassarri has floated about this weekend, sometimes outside the top ten, sometimes challenging the front runners, but in qualifying managed to pull it all together to take fifth on the grid from where he will be aiming to make up for the disappointment of Assen’s puncture.

The final spot on the second row goes to Xavi Vierge, who has also been there or thereabouts all weekend.

Alex Marquez suffered a big crash today in FP3, but still managed to take seventh on the grid for tomorrow’s German Moto2 Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Joan Mir and home hero Marcel Schrotter.

The top ten is rounded out by Brad Binder, who heads up row four and is joined on it by Romano Fenati – who was about the only person to improve their lap time in the final part of the session – and Danny Kent who has been strong this weekend despite the Speed Up historically not suiting Sachsenring.

Row five is fronted by Augusto Fernandez who continues to improve and impress on the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex. He is joined on the fifth row by Isaac Vinales and perennial poor qualifier Miguel Oliveira who will need a first lap sent by some sort of deity if he is to avoid losing more points to Bagnaia in the championship tomorrow.

It’s not easy to pass in Sachsenring and although Oliveira has possessed solid race pace this weekend, it’s difficult to use that if you have fourteen riders in front of you who, in reality, aren’t all that much slower. Furthermore, if there is a first turn on the calendar that invites a lap one pile-up, it’s turn one at Sachsenring – partly because it is so tight and partly because from turn one you have to wait, really until turn twelve to be able to pass again. Whichever way you look at it, Oliveira has a proper job on tomorrow.

Miguel Oliveira. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

The sixth row is headed up by Jorge Navarro who has had a quieter weekend than normal this weekend, and is ahead of Andrea Locatelli who has looked better than seventeenth this weekend, and Fabio Quartararo, the Catalan winner blighted by inconsistency this weekend as his name has become linked to the Petronas Yamaha team for next year.

Simone Corsi will start from the head of the seventh row, ahead of Remy Gardner who will round out the top twenty – a surprise after the Australian’s superb FP3 form – and Bo Bendsneyder.

Row eight will consist of Steven Odendaal, Dominique Aegerter – who started the weekend by topping FP1 – and finally Khairul Idham Pawi.

Iker Lecuona will be disappointed with 25th place, but either way he will be joined on the ninth row by Tetsuta Nagashima and Eric Granado.

Jules Danilo, Joe Roberts and Stefano Manzi make up the tenth row, Manzi incurring a three-place penalty for taking out Federico Fuligni in FP2 yesterday.

The eleventh and final row will only have tow riders on it, and they are the aforementioned Fuligni and the wildcard Xavi Cardelus.

Niki Tuuli has deemed himself unable to continue riding this weekend due to the finger injury he sustained in Assen two weeks ago.

14th July 2018

Martin Extends Moto3 Record with German Pole

Who else but Jorge Martin? Yes, the 2018 Moto3 World Championship leader took yet another pole position, his sixth of the season and fourteenth of his career. That said, it hasn’t been the usual dominance from Martin this weekend, despite admitting that he enjoys the Sachsenring a lot. That said, it is tough to bet against the Spaniard for the race win tomorrow, as he seeks to extend his two-point championship lead.

Jorge Martin. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Lining up alongside the Gresini Honda on tomorrow’s grid are Marcos Ramirez and Enea Bastianini. Ramirez finished on the podium in Germany last year, and so will harbour hopes of enjoying a good result tomorrow. Meanwhile, Bastianini is coming off the back of his second consecutive podium, and, lying just twenty-one points off the championship lead, will be looking to close the deficit he currently suffers to Martin.

Jaume Masia completed what was a very positive day for the Bester Capital Dubai team, by taking fourth on the grid – his best qualifying of the season. Aron Canet, who like Bastianini will be aiming to reduce his gap to the top of the championship tomorrow, starts between Masia and Tony Arbolino on the second row of the grid.

Marco Bezzecchi qualified seventh. His pace has not been anything fantastic this weekend, but Bezzecchi has a tendency to race better than he practices so we will see what he can do tomorrow. John McPhee and Ayumu Sasaki join the Argentine GP winner on the third row of the grid.

Fabio Di Giannantonio rounded out the top ten in qualifying, and will start from the head of the fourth row tomorrow. Alongside him will be Albert Arenas and Gabriel Rodrigo.

Despite being incredibly fast at times, Philipp Oettl could only manage thirteenth place on the grid for his home Grand Prix, and alongside him on the fifth row of the grid will be Darryn Binder’s impressive replacement Raul Fernandez, and Tatsuki Suzuki.

Niccolo Antonelli will start from sixteenth tomorrow, alongside Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Adam Norrodin on the sixth row of the grid.

The wildcard, Ai Ogura, has been severely impressive this weekend, which makes nineteenth sound quite bad, but ultimately he was only eight tenths away from Martin’s pole time; and starting alongside Alonso Lopez and Jakub Kornfeil on row seven means he is in some good company.

Kazuki Masaki starts from twenty-second tomorrow, ahead of a disappointing Nicolo Bulega who has looked faster than row eight this weekend, but with such a difficult qualifying has probably ruined what could be his best chance of getting on the podium this season. Kaito Toba joins Masaki and Bulega on the eighth row.

It has been an awful weekend for Andrea Migno, as it has for Dennis Foggia. They both start from row nine, in 25th and 27th respectively. In between them is the wildcard Luca Grunwald who has not disgraced himself whatsoever this weekend, although being 26th on the grid in his home Grand Prix perhaps says a bit about the quality of the SSP300 field, in the standings of which he lies second.

The final row consists of Livio Loi’s replacement, Vicente Perez, Nakarin Atriatphuvapat and Stefano Nepa.

14th July 2018

Marquez Takes Ninth Straight Sachsenring Pole

Nine in a row. That is Marc Marquez’s pole record in Sachsenring. It is a stunning statistic that will likely go unmatched by any other rider in any track. But the endlessly left-handed nature of the German Grand Prix track lends itself beautifully to Marquez’s flat tracking background, where turning left is the way of life. But that does not mean that pole position was handed to him on a silver platter, by twenty-three other riders kneeling before him. It was mostly thanks to Marquez’ approach this weekend, which has been entirely focused around race runs. He put almost a full race distance on a tyre in each of the first three free practice session, and didn’t bother to try a time attack.

This, obviously, hampered the reigning champion’s qualifying preparation, and handed a rare Saturday advantage to the rest of the pack. Most notably Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci; the current factory Ducati rider towing his 2019 replacement to provisional pole position with just over one minute left on the clock. But finally it was Marquez who took pole, by 0.025 seconds from Petrucci, with his very final lap, the value of such a result highlighted by the #93’s celebrations.

Second place for Petrucci was probably better than he had expected. Danilo had been around the top times all weekend, and had looked good over one lap. But still, to beat both the factory Ducatis and the Yamahas in qualifying is quite an achievement – especially at a track which historically should not suit Ducati. The problem for Danilo is race pace, which he admits is a different story to qualifying, but if he can get some track position at the beginning of the race, anything is possible.

Jorge Lorenzo might be a little annoyed when he watched qualifying back when he realises he towed Petrucci round for his fastest time, something which Petrucci thanked Jorge for in the parc ferme after qualifying. Even still, at a track which no one expected the Ducati to go well at, Lorenzo is on the front row, less than one tenth off a pole position set by the most prolific pole hound both MotoGP and the Sachsenring has ever seen. But, as for Petrucci, the key to victory lies in the tyre life, an area in which Ducati seem to have regressed this year and in the scorching heat of the Saxony summer, is a big factor this weekend.

Maverick Vinales is off the front of the second row tomorrow after a solid qualifying session. Both he and teammate Valentino Rossi are suffering with wheelspin this weekend, but this time it is Vinales who is making the most of the situation, and has looked to have a little bit of pace over his more experienced teammate. The qualification was an important one for Vinales, too, because from there, even if he makes an average start, he should be in a decent position going into turn one – one from which he can recover. The number 25 is in the hunt for the podium, but like the Ducati riders the key is going to be making the tyre last.

The third and final GP18 on the grid tomorrow is Andrea Dovizioso, who is without a podium since Mugello but has looked strong this weekend, and seems to be the only one who can go with Marquez. With this in mind, it is essential that Dovi makes a good start from the middle of the second row tomorrow so that he doesn’t have too much work to do in the opening laps to be in contention. Of course, the tight layout at Sachsenring which features no real straight is difficult to overtake on, so making positions off the line will be essential for Dovi tomorrow if he wants to have a shot at Marc.

Sixth on the grid for Valentino Rossi looks quite good considering that at the end of yesterday he was seventeenth, 0.8 seconds off the pace. He has had some decent race pace, too, able to lap in the high 1’21s which looks at this stage as though it will be podium pace. There are many riders in that fight, though, including Lorenzo, Vinales and Petrucci, so Rossi will need a good start from the back of the second row if he wants to be in the podium battle. However, of all the riders theoretically in that fight, he looks to be the most fragile with the tyre, perhaps even more than Petrucci.

Cal Crutchlow has had a difficult weekend, but recovered well today to take seventh on the grid. He is another who can be in the podium fight. Andrea Iannone and an impressive Alvaro Bautista join Crutchlow on the third row.

Dani Pedrosa looks back on some kind of form, and has a good race pace with podium potential, but if he wants his first rostrum of the season he will have to recover well at the start as he qualified only tenth.

Alex Rins. Image courtesy of Suzuki Racing

The Suzuki of Alex Rins is on the middle of the third row tomorrow, in the middle of the Honda sandwich, between retiree Pedrosa and rookie Takaaki Nakagami, who had a brilliant qualifying – making his second Q2 of his short MotoGP career.

Johann Zarco qualified fourteenth, but thanks to a six-place penalty for Aleix Espargaro – for blocking Marc Marquez in FP3 – the Frenchman will start thirteenth alongside Jack Miller and Pol Espargaro on row five.

Bradley Smith, Hafizh Syahrin and Tito Rabat make up row six, whilst Espargaro’s penalty dropped him to nineteenth, and will be joined on row seven by Scott Redding and Franco Morbidelli’s replacement, Stefan Bradl who was commentating yesterday morning before he got the shout that Morbidelli could not continue.

Tom Luthi, Karel Abraham and Xavier Simeon make up the back row of the grid, whilst Mika Kallio will not start after his huge FP2 crash yesterday in which he suffered ligament damage in his knee.

Featured Image courtesy of Gold & Goose/Red Bull Content Pool

13th July 2018

Jorge Martin Looks to Defend Championship Lead as Moto3 Arrives in Germany

The 2018 German Moto3 Grand Prix could well be the final lightweight class GP to be held at the Sachsenring, as the tight, eastern German circuit looks set to be replaced by the Nurburgring from 2019 onwards, although how long that will be for is yet to be seen – currently the promoters have a contract with Dorna until 2021. Many issues surround the Sachsenring, not least that part of it is owned privately, and part of it is owned by the ADAC; primarily the circuit is a road safety facility, not a race track. Another is one similar to Brands Hatch, as there are many nearby residents who are not the biggest fans of the noise created in the track, no doubt especially on MotoGP weekend. But this merely begs the question: why, if you like peace and quiet, would you decide to live in close proximity to something which, by definition, creates a lot of noise? Anyway, for the Sachsenring, the end of its time on the MotoGP calendar seems to be coming, and just two years after the circuit was completely resurfaced.

Jorge Martin, winner at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

Moto3 is about the only GP category which actually fits Sachsenring, the tight, twisty layout lending itself handsomely to the lightweight, nimble, 250cc, four stroke, single cylinder machines.

Last year, the German track was best mastered by Joan Mir, who took the victory from Romano Fenati and Marcos Ramirez, all three fighting until the final corner for the victory. Of course, 2018 Moto2 graduates, Fenati and Mir, will not be on the Moto3 podium, and with the current form of Marcos Ramirez, it is unlikely that any of last year’s top three will be returning to the German lightweight class podium.

It’s also predictable – on the surface, before a wheel has turned in the weekend – that no KTM will be able to match the leading Hondas this weekend. This is because of the characteristics of the KTM compared to the Honda – the Austrian bike having a strong engine but suffering quite significantly in the corners and the NSF250 having a seemingly far superior cornering performance and with little deficiency in the motor department. Theoretically, the Japanese machine should excel on such an awkward circuit with such a small percentage on the lap with full throttle. That said, Marco Bezzecchi has not been averse to a surprise or two this season.

In his first year at the front – his second in Grand Prix racing – Bezzecchi has been superbly consistent (he has finished on the podium in each of the races he has finished) and infectiously calm, and those two qualities pulled him a nineteen-point championship lead going into the previous round at Assen. However, a crash on the final lap for the Italian, and a win for the fastest man on a Moto3 bike in 2018, Jorge Martin, saw Bezzecchi’s championship advantage transform into a deficit and he now lies two points behind the Spaniard. A response will be important for Bezzecchi this weekend, and the unpredictable German weather could bring him into victory contention, like it did in Argentina.

As for Martin, his points lead comes as little surprise. His speed this year has been rarely matched, bad luck being the largest factor in preventing the number 88 from steaming away with this championship. Of course, a crash out of the lead in Barcelona did little for his championship too, but had he taken the fifty points he likely would have from the two races he was taken out of earlier in the season – Jerez and Le Mans – his position would be a lot more secure. Maybe the recapturing of the title lead will lead to greater consistency from the Spaniard, although for the sake of his rivals, and the championship battle, hopefully that will not be the case.

Nicolo Bulega enjoyed his strongest race of 2017 in Sachsenring last year, and in 2016 it was the first race where he showed his ability in the wet, when he was one of the fastest riders on the track before he made a common mistake in the monsoon conditions that day. The recent form of Bulega has been promising; fighting for the win in Montmelo before being taken out, and scoring his first front row and first points of the season in Assen last time out. After a shocking start to the season, it seems like Nicolo Bulega is back, and this weekend could provide a good opportunity for him to score a second career podium.

The recent form of

Enea Bastianini third, at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro Racing

and Aron Canet has also been promising. Both still within reach of the championship lead, and coming back into podium-contending/race-winning form their title chances are not over. You might have expected them to be further back in the championship considering their respectively inconsistent starts to the season, but the similar inconsistency of Martin and Bezzecchi have kept them within reach.

Last year this race was a difficult one for Canet, dropping through the pack after qualifying on the front row, before crashing out of the race at turn twelve. In the case of Bastianini, he was sixth, over thirteen seconds off the win.

In wildcard/replacement news, Darryn Binder has been ruled out of this weekend after a training crash last week. He will be replaced by Moto3 Junior World Championship points leader, Raul Fernandez, who will be racing his second GP of 2018 after wildcarding in Barcelona earlier in the season.

Additionally, Livio Loi has been dropped by the Reale Avintia Academy team, and will be replaced until the end of the season by Avintia’s CEV rider, Vicente Perez.

Also, Ai Ogura will make his third wildcard appearance of the season, again in the Asia Talent Team, after riding in Jerez and Assen already, and acquitting himself rather well, scoring a point in Jerez and taking 23rd on his first visit to Assen.

Finally, World Supersport 300 rider, Luca Grunwald, will be making a return to Grand Prix racing. The German rider has a total of 23 GP starts between 2011 and 2014, scoring all eight of his points in 2012 when he rode a Kalex KTM. He has scored one win this season in the SSP300 World Championship, which is also his only podium. Despite this, he is second in the championship and only sixteen points off Ana Carrasco at the top of the championship.

13th July 2018

Bagnaia Leads the Moto2 Pack to Germany

A win and a second place is apparently all it has taken for Fabio Quartararo to gain the interest of a MotoGP team. Supposedly, foetal Petronas Yamaha team are in talks with the French youngster with the aim of acquiring the double CEV Repsol Moto3 champion to pilot one of their YZR-M1s for the 2019 season. The past two races have been very impressive from Quartararo, and he does have one more Moto2 win than Ecstar Suzuki’s 2019 rookie, Joan Mir. However, should two races grant you a pathway to MotoGP? You would say probably not, but there is no doubting Quartararo’s talent and, if he gets the ride, there is every possibility that he can make it work for him.

Another Moto2 rider in the frame for a Petronas Yamaha ride for next year is Lorenzo Baldassarri. Since his win in Jerez, the tall Italian has been quite inconsistent, but saw a return to form two weeks ago in Assen, where he fought back from thirteenth on the grid to second place, and was closing down race leader and eventual winner Pecco Bagnaia before the rear Dunlop on the back of the Stihl HP40 Pons Kalex let go with just a few laps remaining. Balda re-joined after pitting for a tyre but was one lap down and didn’t score any points. It was a big shame for the number 7, and it probably took him out of championship contention. However, the season is long, and Lorenzo will be keeping that in mind this weekend as he looks to return to the podium to prove that he is capable of fighting for this title, as well as being a solid pick for the satellite Yamaha team for next season.

Francesco Bagnaia at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing.

Last year’s Moto2 German GP was won by Franco Morbidelli, but only narrowly. It didn’t look as though it would be that way; when Tom Luthi crashed out of second place early in the race in turn twelve it seemed that Morbidelli would enjoy another comfortable win, but Miguel Oliveira saw to that. The Portuguese rider closed the Italian within a few laps and pressured the eventual 2017 Moto2 World Champion until the final corner, although was unable to make a move stick.

This is positive for Oliveira in respect to this weekend, when he will look to recover from his worst weekend of 2018 in Assen, where he finished sixth, five seconds from winner Bagnaia. At the heart of the issues in Assen was the KTM chassis’ lack of ability to make a fresh soft tyre work on low fuel, which severely compromised both Oliveira’s and Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Brad Binder’s respective races. In Assen, Oliveira qualified seventeenth, whilst Binder was twenty-first, and for the first time this season he was unable to make a full recovery in the first lap. Furthermore, Oliveira did not have the race pace of Bagnaia for the first time since Le Mans.

This weekend, it will be even more critical for Oliveira to qualify well than in Assen, because the high percentage of time at the Sachsenring that is spent on full lean angle makes it incredibly tough to overtake. If he is not there at the start it could be beyond him to recover and get to the front.

Francesco Bagnaia had no such problems in Assen. In fact, he had no problems at all in Assen. He took his second ever Moto2 pole, from which he took a lights-to-flag win with relative ease. Whilst it was Oliveira who finished second in Sachsenring last season, Bagnaia completed the podium with his third career Moto2 podium. Pecco towed up fellow Italians Simone Corsi and Mattia Pasini to the podium battle with him, but he stood his ground against his more experienced compatriots, and the pace he showed in last year’s race will fill the current championship leader with confidence as he looks to head into the pretty much non-existent summer break on a high.

Alex Marquez, teammate Joan Mir, Marcel Schrotter and Xavi Vierge should be up there this weekend too; the former two just because you’d expect it and the latter two because their recent pace has been quite electric, although a series three mistakes in five corners in Assen led to a crash for Vierge.

Especially Schrotter should be entertaining this weekend, as he looks to make up for a couple of missed opportunities for his maiden Moto2 podium in the last two races. Perhaps he will do as Pasini, and make his first Moto2 podium with a win in his home Grand Prix.

There is only one wildcard; Xavi Cardelus who, considering the action taken by Dorna over Jesko Raffin prior to this season, is perhaps quite lucky that he is still able to compete as a wildcard.

12th July 2018

Bagnaia Dominates Moto2 Dutch TT

Francesco Bagnaia winner at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing

From his second Moto2 pole position, Francesco Bagnaia dominated the 2018 Moto2 Dutch TT, taking a lights-to-flag win to reassure his position at the top of the championship standings.

Early on, it did not look like Bagnaia would be able to break away as had looked likely in free practice – Marcel Schrotter, Alex Marquez and Joan Mir were capable of keeping the Italian in sight. Or, at least they were for the first five or so laps. From that point, Bagnaia began to stretch his advantage, tenth by tenth, meter by meter, until he appeared out of reach. And so it proved, Bagnaia went unchallenged for 24 laps of the TT Assen circuit, and won without seeing so much as a wheel on his inside. It was a great way for Bagnaia to bounce back from his tyre-woe-induced eighth place in Barcelona, and it extended his championship lead over Miguel Oliveira to sixteen points. We knew Pecco loved Assen anyway, hence his tattoo of the circuit map, but with this result his adoration for the Dutch circuit is surely only increasing.

Francesco Bagnaia leading the moto2 race at Assen. Image courtesy of Honda pro racing

A win in Barcelona did little to prove the return of Fabio Quartararo to the front-running pace, but with a stunning second place in Assen, the affirmation of his rediscovered pace is assured. After a grid penalty for riding too slowly in qualifying dropped him back to tenth on the grid. There was something of a fight on for Quartararo who hadn’t been slow in Holland but equally hadn’t enjoyed the field-blitzing pace he had in Barcelona. And, for most of the race, Fabio looked like a top six rider, but in the last five laps he turned up the wick and rose from sixth place to second, cutting the gap to leader Bagnaia from over six seconds to 1.7 in those laps to take his fourth Grand Prix podium, his second in Moto2 and second in succession. This is impressive form from the Frenchman, who is beginning to remind people why he was twice CEV Repsol Moto3 Champion, and equally impressive from Speed Up who suddenly seem to have the chassis which is kindest on tyres – an important quality in such a tightly controlled class.

Alex Marquez got lucky. He would have missed the podium had Lorenzo Baldassarri’s rear tyre not let go. That was a tough blow for Balda, who had come from thirteenth place on the grid to second in supreme style, scything through the pack sideways-on, and by the end he was even closing Bagnaia and looked like he could potentially win his third Grand Prix. However, a puncture with three laps to go cruelly ended his chances.

But, as aforementioned, Baldassarri’s loss was Marquez’ gain, as he took his second consecutive podium, following on from his trophy at home in Barcelona. Whilst you cannot deny Alex’s consistency this season, you also cannot deny that third places are not enough. Eight races into 2018 and Marquez is still without a win, and that needs to change if he is to get back into the championship frame.

Alex Marquez takes a 3rd place at Assen TT. Image courtesy of Honda Pro racing

Just like in Barcelona, Marcel Schrotter was unable to convert what looked like pace for the podium into a top three in the race. This was quite a surprise, especially as early on it was Schrotter who was keeping Bagnaia in check. Equally, probably not many people, myself included, counted on the brilliant pace of Quartararo. However, the scene is set quite well for Schrotter to take his first Moto2 podium finish at home in the Sachsenring and considering his pace over the last few weekends it is definitely a possibility.

Joan Mir disappointed. He finished fifth. This is good, though, for the Spanish rookie – not many Moto2 first-years are able to say they disappointed with a fifth place. Still, he looked very strong early on, so far as to say it looked like Bagnaia should have worried about the #36 Marc VDS Kalex, but as the race went on his pace slowly slipped. Two races without a podium almost feels like a dramatic form dip for the reigning Moto3 World Champion, and he will hope to return to the box in Germany.

If the race was a little disappointing for Joan Mir, it was deeply so for Miguel Oliveira. Normally, going from seventeenth to sixth in one race is quite good – superb, in fact. However, this is not the case when you are fighting for the World Championship. Oliveira’s poor qualifying is ruining his hopes of taking a first world title, and KTM have to work hard now in the next races to ensure that he can actually use his strong race pace by allowing him to be able to make the most of a fresh tyre in qualifying.

The same can be said for Brad Binder, about the necessity for KTM to support him in qualifying. It was 20th on the grid for Binder, who could only manage to recover to seventh place. Since Binder is not fighting for the title this year it is not such a big deal, but the point remains: KTM have to improve in qualifying.

Brad Binder at Assen. Image courtesy of Philip Platzer /KTM

From his first front row start in Grand Prix racing, Luca Marini could only manage eighth. On paper this does not seem like such a good result, but the Italian will be contented by his ability to hold the pace of the leaders in the early laps. Marini is not used to fighting at the front and, as his half-brother proved in 2013, it is not easy to run at the front just because you have a strong bike and a strong team, the rider has to adapt and get used to fighting with the front runners, who do not make mistakes. But make no mistakes, Marini is improving, and by the end of the season it shouldn’t be such a surprise to see him at the front more consistently, as long as he stays fit.

Sam Lowes, after such a strong ride in Barcelona which took him from last to ninth, will be disappointed with the same finishing position from a second row start. He was the only KTM to qualify in the top 16, but failed to do anything with it. In Barcelona it looked like he had found something, but after Assen it seems like his search for the right feeling in the races continues.

The top ten was rounded out by the incredibly impressive Andrea Locatelli who, with the rise of Quartararo, has gone quite under the radar with his sudden improvement, but his first top ten in a Moto2 race shows a big step for the Italian, and something to build on for future races.

It was Locatelli’s teammate, Mattia Pasini, who was eleventh. Since his crash in Mugello, Pasini has fallen away, and must bounce back. It seems a long time ago that he was pushing his hopes of the championship. Augusto Fernandez had a good showing in twelfth place, ahead of Jorge Navarro, Domi Aegerter and Simone Corsi who came from last to round out the points scorers.

Sixteenth went to Iker Lecuona, ahead of Bo Bendsneyder, Remy Gardner, Khairul Idham Pawi, Steven Odendaal, Joe Roberts, Isaac Vinales, Jules Danilo, Eric Granado, Federico Fuligni and Lorenzo Baldassarri who pit for a new tyre after his puncture but came out a lap down.

Danny Kent was the first retirement on lap one at turn three, then Stefano Manzi fell, and they were joined on the side lines by Xavi Vierge and Romano Fenati.

12th July 201812th July 2018

Martin Takes Championship Lead With Fourth 2018 Win

Jorge Martin is a special rider. He began the 2018 Dutch TT weekend with a big crash in FP2 on Friday, which saw him have to use an altered right boot for the rest of the weekend. But that did not prevent him from taking his fifteenth pole position in Grand Prix racing, and from that pole (a Moto3 record breaker) he went on to take his fourth win of 2018. Not only that, but once again he displayed pace in the early part of the race which was enough to split the pack.

Finally, it was a five-rider group which fought for the win, with Martin, Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi, Aron Canet and John McPhee. All riders showed strength at some point in the race, they all looked like they could win at some point, but it was Martin who timed his bolt to perfection in the final stages to put himself out of reach of the chasing riders. It is possible to say that we have never seen in Moto3, a pace advantage of one rider like the one Martin has over the rest of the 2018 crop and his speed warrants a title, but he needs to match it with consistency if he wants to make that a reality.

Moto3 2018: Round Eight – Assen, Netherlands. Image courtesy of HondaNews.eu

Aron Canet took second place from Enea Bastianini in the final chicane, which represented the end to a podium drought stretching back to Argentina for the Spaniard. He lies now twenty four points behind the top of the championship, which is now occupied by Jorge Martin, but if he can continue this podium form there is still a championship opportunity for the number 44.

Enea Bastianini took the final podium position, to move himself twenty-one points away from the lead of the championship. It was the first time Bastianini has taken consecutive podiums since Misano and Aragon 2016 and finally it looks like he has found the form most people expected him to have from the word go. I guess you could say the same thing about Canet but in last year’s championship winning team and in his fifth season in the World Championship it is perhaps more expected of Bastianini to perform at the front week in, week out.

Fourth place went to Jaume Masia, his best result of the season, who led the chasing pack across the line ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Darryn Binder who also enjoyed his best 2018 finish with the KTM Ajo team. Eighth place went to Gabriel Rodrigo, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio who did his championship hopes few favours with such a result. The top ten was rounded out by Marcos Ramirez.

Nicolo Bulega has transformed his first front row start since Sachsenring last season, to a typically poor start and first lap, and finally ended up in eleventh place, although at least he finally has some points on the board. It has to be said that the ability of Martin to split the pack did Bulega no favours in this race, but you would have thought that after nearly two-and-a-half seasons of starting badly he and the Sky Racing Team VR46 would have been able to rectify the problem. As it is, work still needs to be done, but anyway it is good to see Bulega back on the pace. Sachsenring was his best race last season, so hopefully the Italian can continue this form at the circuit on 15th of july.

It was Bulega’s teammate, Dennis Foggia, who took twelfth place. It was perhaps Foggia’s best weekend of the season, and at some points in the race he was one of the fastest riders on track. Unfortunately for Foggia, the twelve place grid penalty he got for riding slowly cost him any chance of a top ten, but the signs are positive for the Italian with a view to the future.

Tatstuki Suzuki was thirteenth, ahead of Le Mans winner, Albert Arenas, and Niccolo Antonelli, who had a tough time all weekend, rounded out the points.

Sixteenth place went to Kaito Toba, ahead of Tony Arbolino, Philipp Oettl, Ayumu Sasaki and Kazuki Masaki who completed to top twenty. Twenty first went to Adam Norrodin, ahead of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat, wildcard Ai Ogura, Livio Loi, Alonso Lopez, Andrea Migno, Makar Yurchenko’s replacement Stefano Nepa, and finally Ryan van der Lagemaat who was the only rider to finish a lap down.

Marco Bezzecchi and John McPhee both crashed out in the final stages of the race. They were the only retirements and the only KTM riders in the front group, which perhaps says something about the motorcycle, most notably that it wears the tyres and especially the front tyre, at least from observation, as both riders seemed to be struggling in the twisty sections of Assen, the Austrian motor keeping them in contention. The crash for Bezzecchi was a particularly important one, as it ensured he gave up the championship lead to Jorge Martin. A slightly twisted positive for Bezzecchi, though, is that he has still not finished a race outside of the top three. Furthermore, Bezzecchi has proven in the first races this year that he can fight for the title, his consistency proving his biggest strength. With that in mind, Marco has to ensure that this is his final unforced error of this season, otherwise he has no chance to beat Martin’s outright speed.

Featured image courtesy of HondaNews.eu

11th July 2018

Rea Seals Misano Double

Fourth place in race one gave Michael van der Mark pole position for World Superbike’s second race of the weekend in Misano, and with the pace he displayed in Saturday’s race one the Dutchman had a prime opportunity to take his third World Superbike win.

But it was Xavi Fores, from third on the grid, who made the holeshot, and took the early lead in race two, and in the early stages he led well, until his Barni Racing Ducati expired on the second lap of the race. It was a tough blow for Fores, who returned to the front in Rimini after a few difficult races since Donington, and a podium – which was on the cards, it would have been the perfect way for the Spaniard to go into the eternal summer break.

The retirement of Fores let Van der Mark into the lead, a position which he relished. Battling behind between Jonathan Rea, Tom Sykes, Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies – especially between Rea and Melandri when the Northern Irishman was trying to take second place from the Italian – allowed the Donington double winner to create an advantage, and before too long the #60 Pata Yamaha was over one second up the street.

It was about at this point that Rea finally dispatched Melandri and with nine laps to go set on after the 2014 World Supersport Champion. It took the reigning champion all of about three laps to catch Van der Mark, but unlike the other seven riders he had fought past in the race to this point, Magic Michael put up a defence strong enough to keep Rea behind. Rea had been making moves in turn three, turn six and turn fourteen almost with ease to this point in the race, but Van der Mark rode superbly to keep him at bay for a number of laps.

The battling at the front allowed Marco Melandri to catch the two leaders, at which point Rea dealt with Van der Mark. Melandri then had the opportunity to take second place from Van der Mark and challenge Rea for the win, but was unable to set something up. It was a tense ending to the race, but with each of the three riders in the front group having just enough to keep them out of range of the rider behind, it was a stalemate from the beginning of lap nineteen to the flag; Jonathan Rea leading over the line from Michael van der Mark and Marco Melandri.

WSBK 2018 Misano race 2 Podium. Image courtesy of Ducati

Rea’s victory was an important one, as it was his third double in the last five rounds and took him 92 points clear at the top of the championship – out of range. It’s difficult to find words for Jonathan Rea anymore. He controlled the first race of the weekend from lights to flag, and then made a perfect start in the second race which was followed by some tough battling and sublime overtaking. Once again, he showed his knowledge of the Pirelli tyres and how to get the maximum out of them, hauling the bike up on the exit of every corner like no other to minimise spin without too much electronic intervention. This has been a common trait of Rea’s riding since he arrived at Kawasaki in 2015 and realised that, whilst the overall package of the ZX10-R was an improvement over his previous machine, he wouldn’t be able to run the corner speed of the Honda with the Kawasaki. Instead, Rea changed his style to break hard and late, trail braking deeper into the corner than any other rider – somehow without ever losing the front – and then using the power of the Kawasaki to fire him out of the corner. This style has only been exaggerated this year with the rev limits which have been placed on the Kawasaki limiting both its top speed and, more importantly, its acceleration. These limitations which have been placed on the Kawasaki this year have basically made it essential for their riders to make all their lap time on the brakes, and this is where the difference is between Rea and teammate Tom Sykes, because Rea is more confident braking late and on angle than Sykes, and even when the reigning champion gets out of shape in the braking zone, he can still make the apex. This is in part because Rea has tremendous front feel, but also because the bike is quite clearly set up in a way to suit this style perfectly. Rea’s advantage in this area has been visible all season, especially on Sunday in the second Misano race, and for the most part it is why he is able to win so many races.

Michael van der Mark’s second place was an important one after a tough Laguna Seca round, and being hampered by a poor Superpole for the first race. It could have been a win had it not been for the mastery of Rea, but then, without Rea, the championship fight would actually be, well, a fight. Either way, Van der Mark rode beautifully and in the laps where he was being challenged by Rea his replies were superb, his answers to Rea’s probes were ones which no other rider could imitate. He adapted his lines to match Rea’s attacks, and whilst he was overcome in the end, his performance was perhaps the best of any pilot in the field in this race.

Marco Melandri at Misano. Image courtesy of Ducati

Third place for Marco Melandri was partly disappointing, but also very positive for the Italian. Firstly, it was disappointing for Melandri because he could have won. This was not only because he was there in the front trio, but also because he suffered a lot on Friday, and losing both FP3 and FP4 was critical for his weekend, as it cost him time to adapt for the new front tyre which Pirelli took to Misano, and was the popular choice amongst the riders for both races. The first race turned into a test for Marco, trying to work out what he needed to make the new tyre work, and the warm up was in the same vein. In the end, it worked for Melandri, as he was able to fight for the win, but the point is that had he not lost the third and fourth sessions of the weekend he may well have been able to challenge harder for the win. But, this is racing. Unfortunately for Melandri, he has to hold onto the positivity of the progress made between Saturday and Sunday in Misano for 9 weeks before World Superbike returns in September at Portimao.

Chaz Davies ended the race over two seconds off the win, which will be a disappointment after he made such a positive start, making moves on many riders and looking like he had the pace. However, the longer the race went on, the longer it became clear that Davies would be without a second trophy from Misano. Being 92 points back in the championship, it’s pretty much rostrum or hospital now for Davies, not because he can still win the title if he does that but because no one goes racing to not come home with a cup.

It was a second fifth place of the weekend for Tom Sykes. After the Kawasaki garage exploded in Brno, and the scything words from Sykes aimed towards both Rea and his crew chief, it was to be expected that the 2013 World Champion might have put up a bit of a fight against Jonathan Rea, but that never came. It looks like Sykes has lost a bit of motivation, and to me it seems like the best thing that can happen for Tom right now is for him to get this season over with, get out of Kawasaki, to a new manufacturer where he feels more comfortable and then perhaps we can see him back at his unbeatable best.

Sixth place went to Alex Lowes, who was looking for pretty much anything after two crashes in the first race. Finishing six seconds off his teammate won’t have pleased him too much, but coming from twelfth was always going to be difficult, as he noted himself both before and after the race. Now Lowes goes to Japan, and the Suzuka 8 Hour along with his Pata Yamaha teammate, Michael van der Mark and many other World Superbike riders, as well as about half the British Superbike grid, to try to win for the fourth successive time in the biggest single race of the year.

Lorenzo Savadori took seventh place, beating teammate and Saturday’s third place man, Eugene Laverty, over the line. Laverty put his downturn in both pace and result between Saturday and Sunday down to the rear tyre, which he claimed had no grip in the second race. It has been the target of Aprilia and SMR all season to give Laverty a bike which has some rear grip. They finally arrived at that point in Laguna, and continued that in Misano, at least until the end of the first race, and the podiums that arrived when they found him some rear grip served as proof that Laverty is still a top runner when he has what he wants, so to lose that on Sunday to what seems like a tyre problem was a big shame for Laverty. But Portimao is next for the Northern Irishman, and his target there is to win – he has nine weeks to think about how to do that.

Ninth place went to Loris Baz, and he finished ahead of Leon Camier who rounded out the top ten. Camier is another of the riders heading out to Suzuka. Leon is riding the first full factory HRC Honda there has been in a long time, as they look to end Yamaha’s winning streak at Honda’s home circuit.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi at Misanso 2018. Image courtesy of Ducati

Michael Ruben Rinaldi showed a big improvement in race two compared to the rest of the weekend, but could still only manage eleventh place, whilst the injured Toprak Razgatlioglu was twelfth. Nicolo Canepa scored thirteenth in his third wildcard race of the season, as he beat Jake Gagne home, whilst Roman Ramos rounded out the points.

Yonny Hernandez was sixteenth, and Leandro Mercado re-mounted his Orelac Racing Kawasaki after a crash early on to be the last of the seventeen finishers.

Jordi Torres retired at the end of lap one when his MV expired, and half a lap later Fores’ Panigale blew. Karel Hanika’s replacement, Alessandro Andreozzi, retired with six laps to go and PJ Jacobsen went out with two to go.

Now the Superbike World Championship heads for its nine-week-long summer break, after which it heads to the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao.

11th July 2018

Rea Takes Ninth 2018 Win in Misano

It was Tom Sykes who qualified on pole position, his seventh consecutive Misano pole position, for the Rimini Riviera round of the 2018 Superbike World Championship. However, it was Jonathan Rea who, believe it or not, looked fastest on the race pace. Sykes had to make a start to try to hold Rea in the early stages of the race to try to keep the Northern Irishman in reach, but the reigning champion got a great jump from the middle of the front row, and got to turn one first.

From there, Rea edged out his lead and, whilst there was a reasonable amount of battling behind, none of it was any trouble for Rea, who did not see another rider’s front tyre for the whole race. It was vintage Jonathan Rea, and a perfect illustration of a few things, notably what can happen when bike and rider are working perfectly in unison, that the combination of Rea and ZX10-RR is the best one on the grid, and also that Jonathan Rea is the best rider of the current crop. Of course, many times in the last three years, these things have been displayed by Rea and Kawasaki, but this one was particularly worrying for everyone else thanks to Rea’s admission that, in reality, he was nowhere near the limit.

Chaz Davis at Misano 2018. Image courtesy Ducati media

Closer to his limit was Chaz Davies. He only qualified seventh and, throughout the weekend, had been struggling with pace on the fresh tyres. However, he made a brilliant start, almost passing Eugene Laverty for third into turn two, but going round the outside in the middle of the Variante del Parco was never going to work for the Ducati rider, so it was fourth place after lap one for Chaz. However, after five or six laps, when Tom Sykes started to struggle, he was passed by Laverty and once this happened, Davies was right on the rear wheel of the number 66. It didn’t take much longer for Davies to pass Sykes, taking third place away from the Kawasaki rider in turn eight with a beautiful, sideways-on move. He then struggled to catch Laverty, but with a drop in pace and ultimately a mistake from the Northern Irishman at the final corner, Davies was through. From there, it was a fairly comfortable five or so laps for the Welshman, and second place it was in the end at the second home round for Ducati. A win would be the goal for Chaz and Ducati, but with the searing pace of Rea, even when he isn’t pushing, the struggles of Ducati and with both of them coming from row three. After the 1^st race it is hard to imagine that the Fratelli d’Italia will be aired on the 2^nd race’s podium.

Despite a broken sensor, which caused the drop in pace and the mistake which let Davies through, Eugene Laverty managed to bring the Aprilia home for a second consecutive podium finish. It was another brilliant ride from Laverty, and at a circuit which he was concerned about ahead of the weekend due to the number of heavy braking zones and the difficulty in getting the RSV4 stopped. However, his fears were clearly unnecessary, as his pace was good enough for second. Thus, he will be disappointed with third, but a podium seemed a long way away a few weeks ago and all of a sudden he has two in two races. Coming from row three will be a tough task for Eugene in Race two, especially considering who is on pole, but his pace means you cannot rule him out of yet another podium fight.

The rider on pole position in race 2 is Michael van der Mark, who made a brilliant recovery from a difficult Friday and a difficult SP2 session, in which he qualified P11 only, to finish fourth. He nearly had a podium, but he just needed a little bit more time to catch Laverty. But, anyway, Magic Michael, from pole position in Race Two, has a great opportunity to take a podium, or maybe even a victory.

Tom Sykes could only manage fifth place from pole position in Race One. After five laps his pace dropped and, although he could keep pace with Davies for a couple of laps after the Welshman passed him, he was unable to stay there for long, and once Van der Mark was in range, Sykes had nothing left to fight with. It seems the situation inside Kawasaki is having a very negative effect on Sykes.

Sixth place went to Xavi Fores who has had a good weekend in Misano. The Spaniard, riding for the Italian Barni Racing Team, was sporting a special Tricolore livery and with it he beat the factory Panigale of Marco Melandri, who was seventh, and a disappointing seventh at that. However, Melandri did put a stunning move on Lorenzo Savadori between turns twelve and thirteen for that seventh place, although it was a shame that the move was for P7, and not, say, the lead. That left Savadori in eighth place, having shot his tyre by the end, and just ahead of Leon Camier in ninth place. Leandro Mercado rounded out the top ten.

PJ Jacobsen. Image courtesy of Honda ProRacing

Toprak Razgatlioglu was eleventh place – impressive considering his discomfort – ahead of Nicolo Canepa the Yamaha wildcard; Roman Ramos, Jake Gagne who raced much better than he qualified, Alessandro Andreozzi, PJ Jacobsen, Michael Ruben Rinaldi who had many problems during Race One and ended up pitting and re-joining the race three laps down; and finally Jordi Torres who was four laps down after a crash and a trip to the pits.

Loris Baz, Yonny Hernandez and Alex Lowes (with two crashes) were the only retirements.