Crew On Two

19th April 2018

Haslam Wins at Wet Brands Indy

Leon Haslam. image courtesy of http://jgspeedfitkawasaki.co.uk

After a dry race one, rain arrived for the second BSB race of round two. The clouds began to open up during the supersport race which preceded the second outing of the day for the BSB class, but stopped early enough to allow a dry start to the premier class race.

After setting the fastest lap of race one, Bradley Ray started on pole for the third time in as many races, and just as in race one he arrived at turn one at the head of the pack. However, unlike race one, it was Leon Haslam who slipped into second place, whilst Shane Byrne dropped from his second-place grid slot to fourth as Jake Dixon also found a way through as they made their way into Paddock Hill for the first time. Danny Buchan got caught on some cement dust put down after an oil spillage in the sidecar race, and that dropped him close to the rear of the pack.

The first lap was over, and it had been a good one for James Ellison, who had made up a number of positions after his poor luck in race one meant that he was forced to start further down the grid. Brad Ray had also had a stunner, and was already opening a gap on Leon Haslam. And with Byrne still down in fourth, with Christian Iddon hounding him as well, it looked to be a good opportunity for Ray to take his third win in four races.

Indeed, it was Iddon who demoted Byrne to fifth place at Paddock Hill at the beginning of lap two, and at the same time Haslam started to reel the leader back in. Bringing Dixon with him, Haslam had managed to peg Ray back with the fastest lap of the race as they moved onto lap three.

After a few laps of little-to-no change in the order at the front, Jason O’Halloran moved past Byrne to take fifth place away from the reigning champion on lap five, the Aussie then, set his sights on his second podium of the day, and now it was the second Buildbase Suzuki of Richard Cooper who was having a look at the exhaust layout of the #67 Ducati Panigale.

Lap seven; and Peter Hickman chose that moment to make his move on Glenn Irwin for eighth place – the Smiths BMW rider at this point enjoying his best ride of 2018. As the leaders came to the end of the seventh circulation, the rain had started to worsen, and Jake Dixon was the first rider to put his hand up to signal that conditions were becoming too dangerous to continue, and his move was reflected by Leon Haslam before the red flag came out just as they crossed the line to start lap eight.

The race resumed a few minutes later in wet conditions, shortened to twenty-two laps. Everyone chose a rain tyre at both ends, apart from Jason O’Halloran who took a gamble with an intermediate rear.

Bradley Ray once more went off pole position, but this time he was beaten into turn one, as Leon Haslam assumed the early lead. At Druids, Richard Cooper stormed up the inside on the #47 Buildbase Suzuki to take third place, as Christian Iddon ran wide on corner entry, allowing Jake Dixon up the inside, but Iddon managed to hold the Tyco BMW around the outside, giving him the inside line at Graham Hill Bend with which he managed to reclaim the advantage from Dixon. It was nearly curtains for the pair of them when at the same moment Shane Byrne tried to take advantage of Dixon’s involuntary wider line at turn three, and came close to wiping the three of them out.

Shakey being Shakey, though, he managed to avoid the potential disaster, and despite running a little wide himself, luckily he only lost one position, to Glenn Irwin on the other Be Wiser Ducati ; who went around the outside of Surtees to take the inside at McLaren’s. On the exit of Clearways, Cooper continued his strong start to the race as he moved past Haslam to take the lead. As for Cooper’s teammate, Ray, the first lap had not been so great, as he was passed by Cooperman at Graham Hill Bend, which sent him a little bit wide and thus allowed Christian Iddon and Jake Dixon past.

Onto lap two, and Leon Haslam had a couple of goes at Cooper’s lead at Paddock Hill and then Druids, but ran wide on both occasions, allowing the Suzuki rider to remain in the lead. Meanwhile, Ray was falling further back, as the two Be Wiser Ducatis of, first, Irwin and then Byrne came through at turn two. Peter Hickman also looked for a way through at Surtees but that in fact gave Michael Laverty the chance to move through at Clearways as the Smiths BMW ran wide.

Laverty was then immediately looking for a way past Ray as lap three began, but the championship leader held firm, albeit temporarily as the Northern Irishman came through in the Surtees/McLaren’s/Clearways section.

Meanwhile, Dixon moved past Iddon at Graham Hill Bend for third place, whilst Cooper and Haslam remained out front. But no one looked as though they had a significant advantage with which they could mount an escape from the pack.

On lap four, the charge of the Be Wiser Ducatis continued, as Irwin charged past Christian Iddon for fourth, and Byrne followed him through with an expected immediacy. It is probably a ludicrous suggestion that Shakey does not understand the ability of Irwin in the rain, and so it is probable that the reigning champion was just gauging his race and the grip levels from the behaviour of Irwin, and he wanted to keep him in sight, hence the immediacy.

So, that was Iddon back to sixth place, and then his teammate, Laverty, made his way through at Druids on lap five, and made a better job of it than Haslam ahead, who went for the inside on Cooper at the second turn but ran wide. Cooper cut back underneath, but Haslam had the more flowing line into Graham Hill Bend and took the lead around the outside.

Michael Laverty then performed one of the most outstanding overtakes you are likely to see, as he went around the outside of both Shane Byrne and Glenn Irwin at Druids to go from sixth to fourth in one go. One corner later, Dixon made his move on Cooper for second, Byrne then decided that the time had come to demote his teammate and slid by for fifth. Laverty continued his charge, taking third away from Cooper between McLaren’s and Clearways. Cooper tried to come back at Paddock Hill but was unable to hold his line, and Laverty passed him back on the drive out of the corner.

Cooper fell yet further back when Byrne forced his way underneath him at Graham Hill Bend on lap seven. The lack of drive that Cooper had on the exit was irresistible for Irwin, who proceeded to have a look and make the pass down at Surtees. Richard’s decline was halted, though, thanks to a crash at Clearways just seconds after Irwin had past him.

At the beginning of lap eight, Michael Laverty passed Jake Dixon for second, and then set his sights on the lead of Leon Haslam, which he confiscated at Paddock Hill at the beginning of lap nine. Dixon followed Laverty through at Graham Hill Bend on the same lap. By the end of lap nine, which he began in the lead, Haslam was fifth, and at the back of the front group, whilst Michael Laverty was stretching away.

At Paddock Hill on lap ten, Irwin passed his teammate, and then pointed his crosshairs at Jake Dixon. Irwin seemed impatient to get past, but did so at Paddock Hill a lap after he put a similar move on Byrne, as he could see Laverty escaping at the front. Byrne, sensing the same, passed Dixon for third at Druids on lap 11, and Haslam came through on the youngster too at Surtees.
At the beginning of lap twelve, Brad Ray made his way past Christian Iddon, putting the Tyco BMW in a Suzuki sandwich, with Tommy Bridewell’s Halsall Suzuki at the rear of the trio. There was no change at the front, as they were all aiming at Michael Laverty.

Laverty, meanwhile, was aiming at Jason O’Halloran, who he lapped on lap thirteen, after which the Aussie decided to retire, knowing the tyre choice had rendered his race pointless – literally. On the same lap, Haslam went inside Byrne at Paddock Hill to claim third place for the time being. Byrne was passed by Dixon too, at Graham Hill Bend, and the reigning champion was now dropping off the back of the group.

At the same time, Irwin was closing down Laverty at the front, Haslam and Dixon joined him to make a quartet at the head of the race. Haslam, though, was not content with sitting behind the #2 Ducati, and overtook Irwin on lap fourteen, but only to be repassed at the beginning of lap fifteen.

Irwin came back at Haslam at turn two on lap 16, but had a huge moment at the end of the lap at Clarke Curve, though it didn’t cost him too much time.

Jake Dixon crashed on lap 17 at Graham Hill Bend as he was looking for a way past Leon Haslam. Unfortunately for RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki rider, he opened the throttle a little bit too much on the exit of the corner, and it spat him over the high side. Dixon was clearly okay, as he immediately got up and ran after the bike, before realising he was in the middle of the track, and probably shouldn’t continue to be there. It was a big shame for both Dixon & Cooper, because the pair had tricky rounds at Donington, and also looked really good in this race. Hopefully both will be able to take the positives from their respective outings in race two, and continue to fight at the front in the future.

That left a rather satisfying three-way battle for the win – satisfying in that, as long as they all remained in the saddle until the conclusion of lap 22, all of them would be on the podium. I don’t know if it is just me, but a four-way fight for the top three places always frustrates me, because probably all of the riders deserve to be on the rostrum, but inevitably one of them has to miss out.

But in this (satisfying) scrap for the win, hostilities were paused momentarily after Dixon’s crash, and the two Ulstermen led Haslam as lap nineteen began. And the order remained – Laverty from Irwin from Haslam – until Glenn passed Michael for the lead at Druids with three laps to go. Sensing a possible breakaway for Irwin, Haslam immediately followed him through at Graham Hill Bend.

Haslam and Laverty got close on the entrance to Druids on the penultimate lap, and that sent the Tyco BMW wide, and cost him a few tenths. It might not sound like much, but with 53-second lap times, three tenths is a pretty giant margin. As such, it was at this point that Laverty’s victory hopes ended.
At Surtees on lap 21, Haslam passed Irwin for the lead, but it was only momentary, as the Ducati re-appeared on the inside of the Kawasaki between McLaren’s and Clearways, and led as they entered the final lap.

Haslam obviously knew he had to try somewhere, but was not close enough into turn two or three. He was close enough into Surtees, as on the previous lap, and made the move in almost identical fashion, but this time covered off Irwin, meaning Leon was able to take his first win of the season. After missing the podium in two of the first three races, and knowing that his preferred tyre is at a severe disadvantage in the dry, it was quite a critical win for Leon. Furthermore, with Byrne and Ray missing the podium, he closed the difference in the all-important podium credits.

It was also a stunning ride from Irwin, who took his first podium of the season, and the same can be said for Michael Laverty who returned to the podium for the first time in over a season, which is an extremely positive sign for the future, and especially with respect to his Showdown hopes.

#67 Shane Shakey Byrne Sittingbourne Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team MCE British Superbikes

Byrne will be content with his safe fourth place. He missed out on podium credits, but he did not lose out on points, and didn’t suffer an injury.
Josh Brookes finished fifth, which is his best result of the season so far. It was an awful opening three races for the Australian, and he will hope that he can continue the season more in line with the experiences from Brands Indy race two.

After a promising start to the race, Christian Iddon could only manage sixth place, 13.570 seconds off the win, but with the likes of Dixon crashing, and with riders such as James Ellison down the order it was an okay result for the number 21.

Despite only managing seventh place in the race, Bradley Ray retains his championship lead ahead of round three at Oulton Park in a few weeks’ time. Of course, it was at Oulton that Ray took his first BSB podium last season and will be aiming to achieve a pair of results in a similar vein next time out.

Eighth went to Tommy Bridewell, who was just under half a tenth ahead of Tarran Mackenzie across the line. What a ride it was from Tarran too, in his fourth ever BSB race he took ninth place, and his first race in the wet, too. In fairness, it was a good weekend for Taz, as he scored in both races, and also made Q3 for the first time on Saturday. Also impressing was Carl Phillips on the Gearlink Kawasaki, who took tenth place in just his fourth BSB outing.

Eleventh place went to number eleven, James Ellison, whose race was a disaster as soon as the pit lane closed before the race start; he left he pit lane after it closed, and so had to start from the back of the grid. From that point it was pretty much a situation where he had to take what he could get, and in the end that was eleventh. The whole start to the season has been a bit of a disaster for Ellison. His lack of decent luck has been well documented over the last years, and so far this season there has been no turn around. Since his podium in the first race of the season, he has crashed (admittedly that was his fault), had a bad tyre, and had to start from last. This is presumably not the start to the season Ellison had envisaged for his final BSB year.

Danny Buchan claimed twelfth, which is probably a lot more than he thought he could achieve when he was stuck on the cement dust on the outside of turn one on the first lap before the red flag. He also beat Luke Mossey, who took thirteenth, which actually is probably where he would have ended up had it been a dry race, such was Skywalker’s lack of pace this year at Brands Indy. Peter Hickman was something of a disappointment in 14th place – he normally excels in tricky conditions. The final point was claimed by Taylore Mackenzie for Moto Rapido Ducati.

Jakub Smrz was sixteenth, Gino Rea 17th, Mason Law eighteenth, ahead of Sylvain Barrier and Kyle Ryde who rounded out the top twenty. Shaun Winfield was the final classified rider, in twenty-first.

There were only three retirements, the ones who departed from the front group (Dixon and Cooper), and O’Halloran, who as previously mentioned pulled into pit lane after he was lapped.

After four races in BSB, all six manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Ducati, Kawasaki and BMW) have podiums. That is quite an impressive statistic and is indicative of the incredibly level playing field that has been created by the BSB rules. That makes it even more incredible that two riders appear to have an advantage over the rest of the field. They seem to be Ray and Byrne at the moment, but maybe at Oulton Park it will be a different story.

15th April 2018

Byrne Takes First Win of the Season, as Ray Faulters

Starting from his first pole earned from qualifying, the pressure was on 20-year-old Bradley Ray to convert it to a third race win of the season.
It was a good start from the Buildbase Suzuki rider, and he got into Paddock Hill for the first time in the lead, with Byrne and Haslam in tow, whilst Michael Laverty maintained his grid position of fourth.

But already the race had started to go away from James Ellison. By the end of lap one he had dropped to eleventh. Perhaps a bad start? If so, he should have started to pull himself through the pack immediately, but instead he continued to fall backwards, and by the end was out of the points, blaming the quality of his Pirelli rear tyre for the issues, further worsening the standing of the Italian marque in the paddock after a concerning opening round in Donington. These BSB tyre issues go hand in hand with the issues they have suffered with their World Superbike tyres, and the quality control there. It is essential for Pirelli to deal with these issues because, as has been discussed with Michelin in MotoGP, it is only a matter of time before an anomalous tyre decides the championship.

Back to the race, and Leon Haslam had been dropped by the leading two, and had fallen back to Jason O’Halloran and Christian Iddon behind, who in turn had passed Michael Laverty and streaked away. After a few laps, Haslam made a mistake which allowed O’Halloran past, and it seemed the Australian might be able to escape with the final podium position; the level of threat to Jason’s third place being presumably determined by the speed of Iddon passing the apparently helpless Haslam.

But that was not the case, and Haslam got the magnets out on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki, and stuck with the pace set by O’Halloran, whilst maintaining fourth position ahead of Christian Iddon.

But it was still Bradley Ray leading Shane Byrne out front, and whilst there was a fair amount of change in the order behind, that of the leading pair was left unchanged until a mistake by Brad Ray on lap 29 of 30, when he ran very wide on the entry to Paddock Hill Bend. At the time it looked as though Byrne was becoming ready to make a pass anyway, but Ray but it beyond doubt.

After the race, Ray explained that he decided to let Byrne go after the mistake, and safely take the points for second place. Duly, Byrne took his first win of the season, and beating Brad Ray in a battle, especially after studying the Suzuki, will have eased any small doubts in Byrne’s mind about beating the youngster, and answered some questions about where the GSXR-1000 is strong and where it has weak points compared to the Ducati.
Perhaps it is worth considering that the two riders who fought at the front today might be the ones who fight for the championship until the end, maybe today was a sign of things to come.

Jason O’Halloran managed to hold Haslam off until the end, and so the Aussie took his first podium of the season, and an important one for the team after Dan Linfoot’s neck injury on Friday which ruled him out of the rest of the weekend. On that point, it was good to see Dan speaking to the Eurosport guys at the end of the race; it’s good to know he’s out of hospital and on the mend.

Christian Iddon seemed to be held up by back markers, a common thing at Brands Indy thanks to the shortness of the layout. Maybe he just lost the time in a more normal way, maybe a tyre drop, but either way the time he lost in the last five or so laps cost him a chance to pass Haslam for fourth and have a shot at the final shot at the podium, and so it was fifth for the ex-supermoto champion.

Jake Dixon took a while to get past Michael Laverty in the first half of the race, and that limited heavily his potential for the race, and could only manage sixth in the end. Glenn Irwin also managed to come through on Laverty, and finished seventh in the end, to continue his promising start to the season.

That left Laverty in eighth, ahead of Bridewell and Hickman who rounded out the top ten. It was promising to see Bridewell up there, considering his tricky preseason, and the assumption that the Halsall Suzuki will improve as the season goes on.

Tarran Mackenzie took eleventh place, which he might be disappointed with after qualifying ninth yesterday, but he showed good pace at the end of the race to come back through from fourteenth, and that is a good sign for the future. Danny Buchan was unable to repeat his race two heroics from two weeks ago, and finished twelfth on the FS-3 Kawasaki. Josh Brookes continued his dismal start to the season with a thirteenth place, but there is still the assumption that the Aussie will eventually find the sweet spot once more with the Yamaha, but there is only so long he can continue to finish outside the top ten before the Showdown becomes out of reach.

Jakub Smrz finished fourteenth whilst the double winner at Brands Indy from last year, in stark contrast to his decent pace in Donington, was only fifteenth, and that was Luke Mossey – a lot of work for Mossey to do before race two.
Thanks to his tyre issues, James Ellison was only able to manage 16th, ahead of Taylor Mackenzie, Mason Law, Gino Rea, Sylvain Barrier, Carl Phillips and Shaun Winfield. The only retirements were Kyle Ryde, who broke down on the first of the warm-up laps, and Richard Cooper who crashed at Graham Hill Bend.

So, an important win for Shane Byrne after a race-long dual with Bradley Ray set up the second BSB race sublimely, where we wait to see whether someone can intervene in the two home riders’ private battle.

Image curtesy of ducati.com

15th April 2018

Ray Takes First Pole, Brookes Only 20th

Bradley Ray took pole position at Brands Hatch for Buildbase Suzuki, with a stunning 44.997 second lap. It is the perfect way for Ray to continue after his debut double in Donington Park two weeks ago. The race tomorrow could be a different story, however, as almost all riders will be looking to run the soft compound Pirelli P Zero rear tyre, and Ray steamed to his success in Donington on a hard rear. Of course, we will not find out whether Ray will suffer with the soft rear until tomorrow, but for now it is safe to say that his performance in qualifying today was superb, and the pole position well deserved.

2018 British Superbike Championship, BSB Round 01 Donington Park, Derby, UK. 2nd April 2018.
Bradley Ray, Lydd, Buildbase Suzuki wins his 2nd race of the weekend.

Shane Byrne lines up second for tomorrow’s first race. As he eluded in his post-qualifying interviews, it will be crucial for Shakey to avoid a repeat of his race one start, especially with overtaking points at a premium at the 1.2-mile Indy circuit at Brands. It was an uneventful session for the reigning champion, but in the final stages of Q3 he seemed to lack the rear grip to be able to mount a challenge for pole position.

A final lap from James Ellison sprung the number 11 Anvil Hire Tag Racing Yamaha onto the back of the front row for Sunday’s opening race, and he will be aiming to claim the win he should have had in race one last season before a crash at Druids. But once again today, Ellison claims the title of top Yamaha, one he will no doubt smugly enjoy after the doubts cast over his potential for this season thanks to moving to a privateer Yamaha team from the factory supported team.

Michael Laverty made a welcome return to the top positions as he claimed fourth in the Datatag Qualifying session today. There was a lot of questioning about whether Laverty deserved another shot in the Tyco BMW team this year, and so it is good to see him silence the critics with this performance, and hopefully for him he can make a good race tomorrow, which would build on the solid start to the season he had in Donington.

Leon Haslam is fifth for tomorrow, and is one who might be expected to struggle if he cannot make the soft tyre go the distance. This has been the case in the past two seasons, with Haslam regularly preferring the harder option Pirelli rear tyre for the race. Unfortunately for Haslam, the harder compound does not seem to be an option at the moment because the 2018 version has no grip. It seems Leon has a choice: suffer for grip all race long on a hard rear, or struggle to make a soft rear last the full thirty laps.

Tommy Bridewell will be the second Suzuki on the grid for race one tomorrow after he set the sixth fastest time in Q3 for Halsall Suzuki. This presents a good opportunity for Bridewell to make up for a difficult weekend in Donington.

Jake Dixon will line up seventh tomorrow and, as Bridewell, is looking to recover from a difficult opening round. Jason O’Halloran was eighth fastest in Q3, but was lucky to get out at all after a fall at Druids at the end of Q2 having already set a time sufficient for Q3 qualification. Nonetheless, the Honda Racing mechanics did a fantastic job to put the #22 CBR1000RR back together so that the Australian could get out with enough time to set a lap time. The pressure is on O’Halloran tomorrow – with teammate Linfoot out thanks to a cracked C6 vertebra all the team’s hopes lie with Jason. Tarran Mackenzie was extremely impressive in qualifying, and finally took ninth place for tomorrow’s first race grid.

Christian Iddon will be at the head of row four tomorrow, sharing it with Richard Cooper and Glenn Irwin. Meanwhile, row five consists of Luke Mossey’s Kawasaki, Peter Hickman’s BMW and the S1000RR of Jakub Smrz, whilst Taylor Mackenzie heads up row six from Danny Buchan and Kyle Ryde. Gino Rea was only 19th, but still ahead of Josh Brookes who had a nightmarish qualifying, and Mason law was 21st. 22nd went to Sylvain Barrier, whilst Shaun Winfield took 23rd from Carl Phillips who rounds out the grid for race one at Brands Hatch Indy.

Images curtesy of suzuki-racing.com

13th April 2018

BSB: Ray Looks to Continue Form as Favourites Aim to Fight Back

Having just about thawed out from Donington Park two weeks ago for the opening round of the 2018 British Superbike Championship, the paddock now heads to Kent, and the Brands Hatch circuit, specifically the Indy layout, for round two.

After a stunning double at Donington, Bradley Ray will be hoping to continue his stunning start to the season, and keep up his 100% podium record on a circuit which represents something more like home territory for the championship leader than the Midlands. Last season, in his rookie year, Ray managed to take a twelfth place in race one and an eighth in race two, meaning the shortest track on the calendar yielded one of Ray’s best weekends until his podium in Oulton Park in late September. Naturally, for a rider in just his second season in BSB, there is caution regarding his championship chances, but if the twenty-year-old leaves Brands this weekend with a couple more podiums then surely there will be no doubt?

2018 British Superbike Championship, BSB Round 01 Donington Park, Derby, UK. 1st April 2018.
Richard Cooper, Nottingham, Buildbase Suzuki

But perhaps Ray does not feature among the main favourites for this weekend. For sure, the expectation is that he will once more fight in the front group, and the circuit’s nature should lend itself to the Suzuki’s “1000cc supersport” characteristic that most people seem to be claiming it has. But over the past years, many riders have shown themselves to be particularly dominant at the short Brands layout.

One of those is of course Shane Byrne. The home favourite is accustomed to winning at Brands Hatch but perhaps not so much on the Indy circuit, especially in the last few years, but the reigning champion left Donington Park in good form, despite missing the podium in the second race. The first race was a different story for the PBM Ducati rider, who made an awful start, but closed down a fairly large gap in the last five laps or so to arrive on the back of the leading duo of James Ellison and Brad Ray, and after passing Ellison in the Melbourne Hairpin on the final lap, he was nearly able to take the win away from Ray in Goddard’s, but thought better of it. For certain, the pace shown by Byrne in the final phases of race one should have the rest of the field concerned.

Another rider who has proven handy at the original layout of Brands Hatch is James Ellison. The Kendal rider could have had a double win last season, but a crash in race one that caused damage which was beyond repair for race two meant he went home pointless. He was, however, able to complete the double back in 2015 on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki. After a crash in race two in Donington, a big points haul would help Ellison’s Showdown hopes a lot, especially if other rider who are expected to challenge for the Showdown, and the title, struggle once more this weekend.

One of the riders in question is Leon Haslam, who had tyre woes in both races two weeks ago. In race one, Haslam could only manage ninth thanks to tyre issues relating to the 2018 hard rear tyre. In race two, he suffered similar problems, and insisted that it was only the narrowness of the racing line that allowed him to get onto the podium in the mixed conditions, as it was difficult for riders to pass. These issues are particularly worrying for Leon, as almost every weekend he favours the harder rear tyre as he struggles to make the soft last. The problem in Donington was that some riders, like the double winner Brad Ray, had 2017 spec hard rears, which allowed them to make a consistent pace all race long. Meanwhile Haslam on the 2018 spec tyre lapped two or three seconds off the times he was able to do in testing with the 2017 tyre. On paper, the tyres are the same, meaning there is likely a problem with the manufacturing process on the 2018 tyre. If this is not sorted for this weekend’s tyres, Haslam could be one rider who struggles the most when it comes to Sunday.

Luke Mossey also had similar issues to those of Haslam in Donington, and will likely suffer again this weekend if the situation is not resolved. But the positive for Mossey is that he scored his first win, and first double in this round last season, meaning he should go to Brands in high hopes of claiming his first podium, and important points in the race for the showdown.

Josh Brookes is another rider who had a disappointing round in Donington. The Australian could only manage twelfth in race one thanks to rear vibration problems, and despite a night to try and fix the issues he could only manage one place better in race two. This leaves Brookes in perhaps the most vulnerable position of all the Showdown favourites, and he kind of needs a response this weekend to rediscover some confidence if nothing else. Of course, panic stations have not yet been manned in the McAMS Yamaha squad, who will be safe in the notion that Brookes’ 2015 campaign did not get off to a stunning start, but the Aussie went on to dominate the second half of that season and took the championship as a result. And, of course, last season Shane Byrne failed to even make the start in either of the Donington races thanks to a warm up crash, and crashed out of one of the Brands Indy races, but still went on to win the title. Brookes’ season did not begin as he would have likes two weeks ago, but all of that could be forgotten with a pair of good results this weekend.

Dan Linfoot made a brave call in race two at the season opener to run an intermediate front, when most of the grid went with a slick, and it worked for him to put him third, and on the podium at the chequered flag. This was enough for Dan to leave Donington in third place overall, thanks also to a fourth place he registered in race one. It has been a while since Linfoot started a season so well, and considering the way he ended last year, this could be ominous for the competition, and the Honda Racing rider will hope to continue that into this weekend.

On the other hand, Jason O’Halloran will be looking to right the wrongs of the Donington Park round this weekend, as the Aussie could only manage a seventh in race one and a ninth in race two. In a similar situation is Jake Dixon, who took an eleventh in race one two weeks ago, and only a twelfth in the second outing. Other riders looking to bounce back from difficult season openers include Peter Hickman who only managed an eighth and a penultimate lap crash; Chrstian Iddon who took a fourteenth and a sixth; Michael Laverty who claimed a pair of tenth places; and Richard Cooper, a sixteenth and a thirteenth whilst his teammate took the double.

Of course, there are plenty of other riders who could find themselves in contention this weekend, such as Glenn Irwin, who had a solid start to the season with a sixth and a seventh despite a fractured neck (although, that never held him back last season), Gino Rea, Danny Buchan, who beat Shane Byrne to fourth at the last round, and Tommy Bridewell.

The good thing about Brands Indy is that the shortness of the track allows for some incredibly tight times, and this can lead to very tight racing, where one mistake can make the difference between being on the podium and being outside the top eight, and this means that we should be in for a scintillating pair of races this Sunday.

images curtsey of suzuki-racing.com

6th April 2018

Moto3 Argentina Preview

The Argentinian Termas de Rio Hondo circuit plays host to the second round of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, after an opener in Qatar which was far from your average lightweight class race.

Moto3 2018: Round 01: Losail, Qatar curtsey of hondanews.eu

One of the main reasons for this was the gap between the leading pair and the chasing pack, which grew from the start and reached nearly seven seconds by the end of the race.

The duo who led the race, and ultimately took the top two spots on the podium, were Jorge Martin and Aron Canet, the Spaniards engaging in the first battle of what could well prove to be another Spanish civil war in the lightweight category. Finally it was Jorge Martin who took the victory, with Canet failing in his attempts to slipstream his compatriot to the line. It was Martin’s second consecutive victory, after coming out on top in the final round of the 2017 season in Valencia, and that put him level with Canet on two career victories. The pair will no doubt be fighting it out at the front again this weekend, but it would be a surprise if they weren’t joined by some other riders.

The prime candidate for a rider who will interrupt Martin and Canet’s private battle is Enea Bastianini, who has looked sharp and confident ever since he left Estrella Galicia for Leopard, and also should have been in the fight for the win three weeks ago but for a crash early in the race whilst sitting in third spot. La Bestia has failed to make the podium in the four times he has previously visited Termas, but that fact fits well with his tradition for subpar beginnings to seasons. Of course, so far this season has not started any better than his previous efforts but the signs are there that Bastianini can fight for victories this season, and after the Qatar result a win might be something of a necessity.

The Beast’s teammate at Leopard, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, took what should have been Enea’s spot on the podium in Qatar with third place, coming out on top in a battle between ten riders. The 2016 Moto3 Junior World Champion will be looking to make it two out of two podiums this weekend, and has the potential to do so. Would such a result paint the Italian out as an outsider for the title?

John McPhee joined Jorge Martin and eventual World Champion Joan Mir on the 2017 Argentinian podium, and in the build up to this weekend’s race has set out his ambitions to take his second Grand Prix victory. Fighting talk is not something we are used to from the Scot, but he seems to have gotten on quite well with the KTM – he certainly made a better switch to it from the Honda than Niccolo Antonelli managed twelve months ago. McPhee will be looking to make up for his crash in Losail at round one where he crashed on the final lap, and so is rightly fired up for the second round of the championship.

It was well covered by many after Qatar that one of the biggest trends from 2018 appears to have transferred itself into 2018, and that is the dominance of Honda over KTM. It is perhaps no surprise, considering the relative size of HRC compared to KTM and also the fact that a lot of KTM’s old Moto3 people who engineered them to so much success in the lightweight class have moved onto the MotoGP or Moto2 projects. Either way, they will not be looking to repeat the baron season they had in 2017, and there are a few riders who will be anticipating an opportunity to take a win this weekend aboard an Austrian bike – the aforementioned McPhee being one of them.

Marco Bezzecchi chasing the pack. copyright hondanews.eu

One of these riders will be one of the standouts from Qatar and he is Marco Bezzecchi. The VR46 Academy rider was in the battle for the podium all race long until a crash at turn six on the final lap ended his charge. He was still able to pick up fourteenth place, but would have been disappointed nonetheless. With that in mind, perhaps Bezzecchi is one to watch for this weekend, especially if it rains (which looks possible), as last year on the Mahindra the tall Italian expressed his prowess on many occasions when the conditions became difficult.

Bezzecchi’s teammate, Jakub Kornfeil, also shone in the race three weeks ago, remaining with Marco in the podium battle until the final lap. It’s certainly fair to say that the Czech rider is getting on better with the KTM than he ever did with the Honda which he rode in the last two seasons, and so could again be one to keep an eye out for this weekend.

Niccolo Antonelli could be another rider to watch out for this weekend. The Italian took pole position in Qatar and seems at home in the SIC58 Squadra Corse. He took fourth position in Losail, but is without a win since the opening round of 2016, and will be keen to change that this weekend considering his good form at the moment. Also, his teammate, Tatsuki Suzuki remains injued from his free practice one crash three weeks ago, so the hopes of the team rest very much with Niccolo this weekend once more.

Nicolo Bulega had a disappointing Qatar which was hampered by his ongoing recovery from the ankle injury he sustained in the Valencia race weekend at the end of last year, which was limiting the mobility of his foot, and was no doubt also still quite painful. Since Qatar, though, Bulega has been to Valentino Rossi’s MotoRanch for the first time in five months, and also went with the rest of the VR46 Riders Academy to Mugello for some training at the home of the Italian Grand Prix. With this in mind, and also considering that the Italian took second on the grid in Termas last year, he could be worth keeping an eye on over the course of the weekend.

If Bulega’s pace is a significant improvement over Qatar, and he is able to run a pace similar to the front runners, that could also benefit Dennis Foggia who, arguably, suffered in Losail due to a lack of track knowledge; and the lack of meaningful data that his more experienced teammate was able to provide perhaps meant that the reigning Moto3 Junior World Champion found himself in a bit of a hole – it is notable that when around other riders in the race he was able to make up positions and finished sixteenth after qualifying twenty-sixth. If Bulega is fast, expect Foggia to become fast too.

Of course, this being Moto3, there are about twenty riders who could be in contention come the final lap on Sunday and the likes of Kaito Toba, who experienced his best weekend of 2017 at Termas and also scored his best finish of his short Grand Prix career three weeks ago; Ayumu Sasaki, who was battling in the top five in Qatar; and Fabio Di Giannantonio are also worth recognising ahead of this weekend. And, of course, the weather is typically South American and therefore very subject to change over the course of the next three days, so whilst there are definitely some favourites ahead of this weekend, the result will remain very much undecided until the chequered flag on Sunday afternoon.

6th April 20186th April 2018

Moto2 Argentina Preview: KTM duo look to avenge Qatar disappointment

The 2018 Moto2 World Championship heads to Argentina and the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit for round two of the season, after what was a bit of a chess dual between Sky Racing Team VR46’s Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia and Pons HP40’s Lorenzo Baldassarri three weeks ago for the season opener.

It was an interesting dynamic in the battle for the win in Qatar, not just because both riders were Italian, or even that they both ride for the same academy, but because they used to share a flat together (and they may still do). It would have been an interesting Monday dinner if Baldassarri overcooked his last minute move at the penultimate corner, but as it was the race stayed clean and it was Bagnaia who came out on top.

Perhaps that was not a surprise. Everyone’s preseason favourite was Bagnaia, and all of the other agreed championship contenders picked Bagnaia as the main threat. But it was certainly somewhat of a surprise to see Balda as his main threat in the race. The pick of the bunch outside of Pecco was Miguel Oliveira (KTM Ajo Motorsport), mostly because of the form of both him and teammate Brad Binder in the last three races of last season, all of which were won by the Portuguese.

For Oliveira though, only fifth place was possible in Qatar. The start was not ideal and perhaps that was what cost him the race, but it was still surprising to see him fail to cut through the pack to arrive on the podium. This weekend the riders will be dealing with a new track surface in Argentina, and maybe it will be that which plays into the hands of the KTM Moto2 chassis, which is known for being generous to the rear tyre. Of course, it was at Termas last season that the Portuguese rider claimed KTM’s first podium in Moto2 in just their second intermediate class race, even then showing strong pace at the end of the race to being to close down the leading pair of Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez who crashed on the last lap. Miguel might be the favourite for this one.

If Oliveira is the favourite, then surely Brad Binder will not be too far away – if his qualifying doesn’t let him down. Throughout the 2017 season Binder was hampered compared to his teammate, not just by his broken arm, but by average-at-best qualifying performances which left him a way down the order in the initial part of the race. Sure, he would fight through, and after re-breaking his arm at Termas last year Binder fought through from 17th to 9th in the race, but the time loss at the beginning of the race meant that his podium pace could only get him a top eight at best. That changed in the last three races, where he made the podium on each occasion, but in Qatar the poor qualifying returned and it limited him to P6. If he can make the front two rows on Saturday then he can be in contention for the victory just as much as his teammate. A first Moto2 win for the South African?

Of course, after second place in Losail it would be foolish to discount Baldassarri from victory contention this weekend, and in conjunction with current form, Lorenzo made his best result of the season in 2017 at Termas de Rio Hondo with a fourth place. Another podium could ease the one-time Moto2 winner into the championship picture, and of course if there is a team with Kalex bikes who can make the rear tyre last, it is the Pons team.

The final rider on the podium in Qatar was the aforementioned Alex Marquez. It was not a straightforward race for the Spaniard, who began to suffer with a severely overheating rear brake towards the end of the race. He managed it well, though, and hung onto third from Mattia Pasini to get his season off to a good start, which could be crucial come the end of the season. Marquez had a very nearly fantastic race at Argentina last season, but high sided whilst fighting for the win on the final lap. For certain, Marquez will hope to repeat a lot of last season’s race this Sunday but for sure he will hope to change the final lap, and maybe that change will have him atop the podium.

As mentioned, it was Pasini who was chasing Marquez down at the end of the race in Losail but had to settle for fourth in the end. It was a positive start to the season for the Italian, who came into this year once again with the ItalTrans team as a slight dark horse for a title shot this season, and he will be aiming to continue that for this weekend.

As is the state of the Moto2 field this season, there are plenty of riders who could be in with a shout this weekend who have not been mentioned thus far, such as Sam Lowes, Xavi Vierge, Luca Marini, Joan Mir and a variety of others, but ultimately Bagnaia and Oliveira would be where the smart money goes. The fifth Moto2 Grand Prix in Argentina is looking about as unpredictable as you would expect, and the weather forecast only adds to that, with the weather being far from stable. Rain in the air and many potential winners are setting this up to be a pretty spectacular Argentinian Moto2 Grand Prix.

2nd April 2018

Ray Takes First Win as Haslam Spins to Ninth

Firstly, before we get into the opening race of BSB 2018, some housekeeping. To start, the race took place on qualifying day due to the unfavourable weather forecast for race day at Donington, with snow expected. Second, despite a crash and a discovered broken neck vertebra, Glenn Irwin qualified and raced aboard the Be Wiser Ducati.

The drama started before the race, though, as Sylvain Barrier failed to make the warm up lap because he didn’t have his gloves on, which is quite an embarrassing mistake to make on your debut with a new team, and so it was a pit lane start for the Frenchman.

But it was Leon Haslam off pole position on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki with his teammate Luke Mossey and PBM’s Shane Byrne joining him at the head of the grid.

Haslam made a good start, and Mossey’s was okay too, but Byrne had a nightmare, as the front wheel leapt in the air, meaning he had to shut the throttle before he could get going. This cost him many positions, and he ended the first lap back in tenth after both the Tyco BMWs of Michael Laverty and Christian Iddon made it past the reigning champion.

But it was Haslam leading them out of turn one, with Jason O’Halloran also making a great start from row two to move into second place, with James Ellison and Bradley Ray slotting into third and fourth initially, but a poor exit from turn one left the number 22 Honda reversing back to fourth place, and under pressure from the impressive returnee, Danny Buchan. Ellison passed Haslam at Starky’s to assume the lead, and the rest of the lap was pretty processional amongst the front runners, apart from Mossey passing Buchan for fifth, and then O’Halloran for fourth in Goddard’s. However, Mossey got a poor exit from the final corner, and allowed O’Halloran, Linfoot and Buchan back through, only to make a huge lunge up the inside of the number 4 Honda at Redgate.

By the start of lap two, Ellison had started to pull away from Haslam and Ray behind, with the Buildbase Suzuki rider apparently being held up by the ex-World Championship man. Mossey had cut past O’Halloran once more, but this time away from the glare of the cameras and down at the Old Hairpin. It must have been another tough move from the JG Speedfit Kawasaki rider as Linfoot also found himself ahead of his teammate.

Fourth placed Buchan got out of shape on the exit of Goddard’s to complete the second lap, which allowed Mossey up the inside at Redgate at the start of lap three. Meanwhile up ahead Brad Ray made the same pass on Leon Haslam for second.

Halfway round the third lap of eighteen and Tommy Bridewell had somehow managed to find himself crashed on the inside of McLean’s along with Kyle Ryde. The assumption is that the pair came together through the Schwantz curve and went straight on to end up where they did. A seemingly apologetic hand wave from Bridewell as he was getting up after the crash would seem to suggest that it was the Halsall Racing rider who was at fault.

By the start of lap 5, Linfoot had joined Mossey in moving past Buchan, and taken fifth place with it, meanwhile Byrne had started to make some progress, and was in seventh in front of O’Halloran.

The start of lap six saw Ray take the lead from Ellison with a sublime out-braking move once again at Redgate. On the same lap at the Foggy Esses, Byrne moved past Buchan, who by this point had developed tyre woes. Like everyone else apart from Gino Rea, Buchan picked the harder option rear tyre, but by lap six he ran out of grip.

By lap eight the gap between Ellison in second and Haslam in third had started to grow – not significantly, but enough for questions to be asked about the Kawasaki rider’s winning potential. The same could also be said for his teammate, Mossey, who, after a flamboyant start, had begun to look as though he was struggling too. Later in the lap, down at the Melbourne Hairpin, and Ray made his first mistake of the race, allowing Ellison an opportunity as he ran wide, but managed to regain control by making an inside move at Goddard’s. Although no positions were lost for the youngster, the mistake allowed the rest of the pack to close up, and it was now affirmatively a twelve-wheeler which led the opening race of the 2018 British Superbike Championship.

Haslam then had a go at taking Ellison’s second place at Redgate, sensing his opportunity after the minor squabble between the leading two, but Ellison had the grip to hold the Anvil Hire Tag Yamaha around the outside of turn one to hold his position, whilst Linfoot displaced Mossey at the same turn to snatch fourth momentarily before they returned to their previous positions when Luke stuffed the ZX10-RR down the inside of Linfoot’s Fireblade at the Old Hairpin.

At the beginning of lap ten there was now a real gap forming between second and third place, as Haslam’s rear grip diminished. It was visible how little corner speed he was carrying compared to his rivals, and also how much he was standing the bike up to get it driving – but even then it just sat down and span. Leon’s race was over at this point. This point was compounded when Mossey passed him at Starky’s and swiftly began to steam away, leaving Linfoot to pass his teammate at the Melbourne Hairpin, and Byrne made his move at Redgate when Haslam missed the corner completely. Then O’Halloran and Irwin were through, and the existence of an issue was beyond doubt. After the race, Leon explained that he had no grip from lap one, and that it was strange because he had completed a long run on the same spec tyre as he ran in the race, with all the laps in the 1’29s – the pace of the leaders. The number 91 was quick to avoid blaming Pirelli as he warned that there could have been an issue with the rear of the bike. But, for sure, something was not correct with the number 91 Kawasaki.

Onto lap twelve and Byrne briefly passed Linfoot, before the Honda rider responded at the top of Craner Curve. But, with a certain inevitability, Byrne was back through, and this time for good, at Goddard’s at the end of lap 12, as Brad Ray set a new race fastest lap, opening the gap out front to 0.775 seconds.

Things got worse for Linfoot on lap thirteen when his teammate passed him at the Foggy Esses, as Byrne was eyeing up a move on Mossey for third. Such a move came at the Melbourne Hairpin, and it forced Mossey wide, meaning he couldn’t respond.

Lap fourteen began, and it saw Linfoot pass O’Halloran back at turn one, as the Honda pair chased after Mossey, whilst swapping positions once more down at the Old Hairpin, which gave O’Halloran the prime opportunity to pass the number twelve at the Foggy Esses, before Linfoot also moved through on the JG Speedfit Kawasaki at the Melbourne Hairpin. It is probably worth pointing out at this point that Mossey was suffering a similar issue to Haslam, but not as severe, and it saw him haemorrhage positions through the remaining four laps of the race.

By now, lap fifteen, Ray had opened a 1.3 second advantage over Ellison, with Byrne a similar amount behind the number 11 Yamaha. Also, Linfoot passed O’Halloran back, but it was clear at this point that the Honda battle was going to the end.

The 1.3 second lead of Brad Ray was beginning to diminish by lap 16, and Byrne was coming along with Ellison, to build up to a last lap battle for the win.
And, sure enough, as the final lap began, Ellison was with Ray, and Byrne was close too, and lapping one second faster than the leader. A moment for Ray on the exit of the Foggy Esses perhaps gave Ellison a chance to attack, but it was in fact Byrne who put a move on Ellison for second. Shakey then tried to move past Ray at the final corner, but was too far away, leaving 20-year-old Bradley Ray to take a stunning debut victory from Shane Byrne and James Ellison.

Dan Linfoot won the Honda civil war, and his teammate ran on at the Melbourne Hairpin to gift fifth place back to Luke Mossey, and sixth to Glenn Irwin, who had a solid ride full stop, let alone with consideration to his injuries from Saturday. That left the second factory Honda in seventh, ahead of Peter Hickman in eighth, the grip-less Leon Haslam in ninth and Michael Laverty to round out the top ten.

Eleventh place was taken by Jake Dixon, twelfth by Josh Brookes who was suffering with rear vibrations of unknown cause; thirteenth was taken by Danny Buchan, 14th by Christian Iddon, and the final point was claimed by Moto Rapido Ducati’s Taylor Mackenzie. Richard Cooper finished his return to BSB in 16th, Gino Rea completed his class debut in 17th (perhaps down to his choice of a soft rear tyre, but he was also sore after a qualifying crash), Taz Mackenzie took eighteenth, Sylvain Barrier finally put his gloves on for nineteenth and Mason Law completed the top twenty on his BSB debut.

A fantastic, if cold, way to start the 2018 British Superbike season, and there is more to come tomorrow, providing the precipitation remains unfrozen.

29th March 2018

BSB 2018: Six To Watch

The 2018 British Superbike Championship promises to be one of the best yet, with a line-up of established stars mixed with young talent which have accrued the experience necessary to warrant serious consideration for this year. But still, there can only be six riders who make the Showdown for the final three races, and here we will be discussing who they might be.

For this list there is only really one option when choosing where to start, and that is with the reigning champion: Shane Byrne. The six-times British Superbike Champion is, as ever, the benchmark for this season, the target. Last season he finally defended a title successfully, beating Leon Haslam against the odds in the Brands Hatch finale. In the build up to this season, Byrne has targeted Niall Mackenzie’s record of three championships back-to-back. Since his return to BSB back in 2011 after a two-year stint in the World Superbike Championship, Byrne has failed to finish outside the top three in the standings, and claiming the title on four occasions: 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2017. Those four add to his titles in 2003 and 2008, to make him by far the most successful rider in British Superbike history, and with the PBM Be Wiser Ducati underneath him, the number 67 has to be the favourite for the title this season.

However, that is not to say that Byrne has the championship in the bag, not by any means. The list of riders wishing to dethrone the reigning champion in 2018 is pretty extensive. Still, there can only be five to make the list.

It makes sense to start with Leon Haslam. The ex-500 GP and World Superbike rider is still yet to win a championship since he won the National Scooter Championship back in 1997. He came agonisingly close to the BSB crown last season, with a comfortable margin in the championship heading into the last round at Brands Hatch. But a weekend of discomfort with the bike and finally a catastrophic brake failure in the final race of the season, ejecting himself from the bike at over 170mph at Hawthorn Bend. The crash gifted the 2017 title to Byrne, but Haslam is certain that escaping it without serious (by motorcycle racing standards) injuries has given him the motivation to build another title challenge in 2018, in which he will compete once again with the JG Speedfit Kawasaki squad. With the continuation in the team from the last two seasons, the familiarity with the bike and the added motivation of the way last season ended for Haslam, it would be remarkable to see him not make the Showdown, or fight for the championship. Will 2018 finally be his year?

A third rider who is considered a shoe-in for a title shot is 2015 champion Josh Brookes. That title came after six seasons of failed attempts, and was partly the result of the then-brand-new Yamaha R1, which he rode for Shaun Muir. Back then he had about as much factory support as you might expect in a national championship. Last year, though, was not the same. After he came back from a disappointing year aboard BMWs for the same SMR outfit he won the BSB title with, he teamed up with Anvil Hire Tag Racing to pilot one of their R1s for 2017, notably without the factory status he perhaps enjoyed in 2015. Even still, he managed to take second in the championship, partly as a result of Haslam’s final race crash, and three wins through the season at Thruxton, Silverstone and Brands Hatch. This year Brookes joins the team who now have the official support of Yamaha: McAms Yamaha, and the expectation will be a repeat of the results of 2015, or at least the final result of the championship.

It is fair to say that the three riders mentioned so far have been fairly safe choices. Of course, it is motorcycle racing, so as we all well know anything can happen, but nonetheless there would be a lot of surprised people if the aforementioned three do not make the top six. However, the remaining three spots in the Showdown are less straightforward to predict.

We will start with Jake Dixon. The RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki rider made a huge breakthrough last year, as he took his first win in BSB at Knockhill, went on to convert it to a maiden double, went on to make the showdown and finish the championship in sixth place – all in his first full-time campaign in the category. Dixon also made his Grand Prix debut last season at Silverstone, where he replaced Marcel Schrotter at the Dynavolt Intact GP squad in the Moto2 class. For 2018 Dixon will be remaining aboard the RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki that propelled him to the front of the pack last year, with the hope that this season it can take him all the way to the top.

The other two prime candidates for this season’s Showdown are the Honda Racing pair of Jason O’Halloran and Dan Linfoot. 2017 proved a tricky campaign for the official Honda squad, with the 2017 Fireblade taking a while to bed in, but nonetheless it eventually powered Linfoot to his first BSB victory in the pouring rain at Silverstone, and then again at Oulton Park a few weeks later. But whilst Linfoot failed to make the Showdown in 2017, O’Halloran did, and finished the championship in fifth place. The dynamic between the pair has been an interesting one since their battle for the win at Snetterton in 2016, and perhaps this year we will see that dynamic go to new levels, perhaps with them fighting each other for the British Championship thanks to the development of the 2017 CBR1000RR SP2.

Of course, these are not the only riders to watch this season, and will not be the only ones to fight at the front. There is plenty of young talent on the grid this year, such Taz Mackenzie, Taylor Mackenzie, Brad Ray and Kyle Ryde, plus newcomers like Gino Rea and others such as Luke Mossey and James Ellison who have just as much of a chance of making the Showdown as any of the riders mentioned. 2018 is going to be a great season for BSB, and it would be a surprise if the six riders mentioned here were the ones who made the Showdown such is the unpredictability, and that is why each and every round, starting with Donington this weekend, is going to be critical to making the cut.

22nd March 2018

WSBK Thailand: The ‘Destination Of Speed’ Awaits

Four weeks after the sensational opening round at Philip Island, the World Superbike paddock sets up shop this weekend at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand.

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Ducati) scored a brilliant double last time out in Australia, and will be looking to increase his lead at the top of the championship. History has not been kind to the factory-supported Ducati team. In the previous three years that World Superbikes has been visiting the Buriram track, no rider aboard a Panigale machine has stood on the top step of the podium. The best result by any Ducati rider here is second place, achieved by Melandri’s teammate, Chaz Davies, in 2017. Davies will be looking to bounce back after a disappointing round in Australia, and reassert himself as the team’s number one. Davies has a good record here. Despite never having yet claimed victory, the 31-year old has finished on the podium twice here (second place in 2015 and third place in 2016).

Aruba.it Ducati will also be facing competition from their privateer counterparts. Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Ducati) was the standout independent rider from the opening round last month. The Spaniard threw the form book out of the proverbial window during the second race, to claim a remarkable third place finish just behind Melandri and Jonathan Rea (KRT) . At the Thai circuit we could see Fores feature prominently again, as the track suits the strengths of the Panigale 1199 as well as the ‘no holds barred’ style of its rider.

By their own admission the all-conquering Kawasaki Racing Team were disappointed to leave Phillip Island with two second place finishes. Despite starting the opening race from pole position, tyre trouble denied Tom Sykes. Jonathan Rea was beaten to the line in the thrilling drag race in race two. KRT have every reason to expect success this weekend. Since the World Superbike Championship first visited Thailand in 2015, the green and black machines have held an exclusive monopoly at the track with victory in all six previous races. Rea standing on the top step of the podium a staggering five times, with Sykes securing his victory in 2016.

Red Bull Honda looking to back up their strong performance from Australia. Leon Camier returned from the opening round with a solid haul of points for the team – underlining how far the team has improved since last season. The British rider defied all expectation, taking a brace of sixth place finishes. Most notably, in race 2 the Honda rider finished under 3 seconds shy of the winner. It was a challenging weekend for his teammate, Jake Gagne. The American had never before ridden the Phillip Island circuit, and the objectives were to simply learn the course, not crash and fight for points if possible. The rookie ticked all three boxes. It will be the case of “same again” this weekend as, having arrived from MotoAmerica, the 26-year old has never raced at the Buriram venue before.

Gagne is one of five riders who will be racing a superbike around the Buriram circuit for the first time this weekend. The other four being: Loris Baz (Gulf Althea BMW), Yonny Hernandez (Team Pedercini Racing), PJ Jacobsen (TripleM Honda World Superbike Team) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Puccetti Kawasaki).

The Pata Yamaha team will be looking to improve upon their solid, if unspectacular, showing in round one. In the build up to the season much had been made of the growing rivalry between the two Yamaha riders, Alex Lowes (Great Britain) and Michael Van der Mark (Netherlands). If you include qualifying performances into consideration, Lowes arrives in Thailand with a 3-0 lead over his team-mate, having out scored his teammate in both races last time out. The Buriram circuit has not been a happy hunting ground for the team, with a best result of fourth last year for Lowes, being the highlight. Straight line speed is critical at this track, something the team spent a considerable amount of time working on during the winter tests.

Qualifying: Saturday, March 24th, 1330 Local Time (0630 GMT)

Race 1: Saturday, March 24th, 1600 Local Time (0900 GMT)

Race 2: Sunday, March 25th, 1600 Local Time (1000 BST)

21st March 2018

Martin Triumphs as Bastianini Falls – Moto3 GP of Qatar

For the first race of the 2018 Moto3 World Championship, there was an air of familiarity about the first six laps. The 2013 season saw three in a league of their own: Luis Salom, Alex Rins and eventual series champion, Maverick Vinales. That season all three were on KTMs, the dominant package at the time, and shared all bar one of the wins of 2013 between them (Alex Marquez won the Japanese Grand Prix when both Rins and Salom crashed). This year, the three riders who have shown themselves to be a step ahead of the rest of the field are Jorge Martin, Aron Canet and Enea Bastianini, all on Honda machines.

This weekend, Martin looked almost in a class of his own, with only Bastianini regularly challenging him, but The Beast qualified down in tenth, and with Canet down in seventh on the grid, it looked like Gresini Racing’s Martin would have a chance to break from the group early on in Sunday’s eighteen lap race. This is what he tried to do – by the time Bastianini arrived at the head of the chasing group, in second place, Martin was already 1.5 seconds in the lead, and to make things more difficult, Bastianini would have to negotiate Canet at the same time as closing the race leader. Nonetheless, within two laps, the chasing pair had caught Jorge, and Bastianini hit the front at the beginning of lap five, breaking Martin’s leadership for the first time in the race. Entering lap six, though, and the two Spaniards re-passed Enea, and in his ambition to stick with Martin, the Italian crashed out of the race at turn six, losing the rear initially, which sent him a little offline, and then folding the front. La Bestia was unable to re-join, and so leaves the first race of the season already way off the pace in the championship.

Canet and Martin continued their private battle for the lead, and throughout the race made it increasingly more exclusive, stretching out a gap of nearly seven seconds to the chasing pack by the end of the race.

The younger of the two, Canet, made a very curious race, almost never leading, despite failing to detach himself from his compatriot’s rear tyre from the moment he gained contact. Canet would sit up at the end of the straight every lap, roll off the throttle so as to not pass Martin, and not show his hand. The one time when Aron did take over the leadership of the race, it was due to a mistake from Jorge, who ran wide at turn one, but after one lap the Gresini Honda had re-passed the Estrella Galicia Marc VDS version.

Canet was clearly waiting for the final lap, to slipstream Martin to the line, and there is a question mark over whether Canet was failing to pass his fellow Spaniard by the line on purpose to try to trick last year’s Valencia race winner into a false sense of security. Either way, the plan for Canet did not work, as Martin edged the victory by 0.023 seconds to deny Canet’s slipstream attempts. Perhaps Canet’s race was ruined by the Honda, which seems to give very little slipstream to the rider behind – this seemed visible in the race, and also through practice.

It was not just the battle for the front that was very unusual for Moto3 – the battle for the final spot on the podium was distinctly unpopulated, with only six riders fighting for third for most of the race. The six were Lorenzo Dalla Porta, polesitter Niccolo Antonelli, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jakub Kornfeil, Ayumu Sasaki and Marco Bezzecchi, but were then joined by John McPhee, Kaito Toba and Fabio Di Giannantonio in the final laps. The fight was fierce, and it was inevitable that at least one of the riders would unfortunately not make the finish. John McPhee was the victim, clipping Sasaki’s Honda in the penultimate corner, taking him out of the race.

Marco Bezzecchi also had an undeserved crash earlier in the lap at the dreaded turn six, where he folded the front. Fortunately for the big Italian, though, he was able to remount and took two points for fourteenth on his debut for the Pruestl GP team.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta won out in the battle for the podium, beating home compatriot Nicco Antonelli in the run to the line by 0.045 seconds on the 2016 Moto3 Junior World Champion’s debut for the Leopard Racing Honda team, a welcome gift after the disaster of Bastianini.

As implied it was Niccolo Antonelli who was the first of the non-podium finishers to cross the line – a positive result on his SIC58 Squadra Corse debut, and one he will hope to build from in the future.

Gabriel Rodrigo was the first KTM home in fifth, which shows the continuation of 2017’s trend of Honda dominating the lightweight class.

Fabio Di Giannantonio fought back well from a poor qualifying and underwhelming start to take sixth place, 0.030 seconds ahead of Honda Team Asia’s Kaito Toba, who sort of arrived in the battle for the podium from nowhere, but nonetheless fought well to take what is by far his career best finish.

Toba beat home fellow Japanese Ayumu Sasaki who finished seventh, ahead of the KTM of Jakub Kornfeil, who made a return to the top ten after a couple of difficult seasons with the Sepang International Circuit team.

The top ten was rounded out by another KTM (although that is still only three Austrian bikes inside the top 10 compared to seven Hondas), this time belonging to Andrea Migno, who made a decent debut for the Angel Nieto Team, finishing under one second away from the podium. He was followed sensation Jaume Masia.

2017 Red Bull Rookies Champion Kazuki Masaki took home three points on his Grand Prix debut and finished only 8.829 seconds off the win. As previously mentioned, Bezzecchi finished fourteenth, with Marcos Ramirez taking the final point in fifteenth place.

Dennis Foggia ended his full time Grand Prix debut 0.069 seconds off the final point, but will be disappointed to be 26 seconds off the win, nonetheless. Tony Arbolino was a further 6.5 seconds back of Foggia, with Nakarin Atiratphuvapat and Makar Yurchenko rounding out the nineteen finishers.

That leaves seven riders unclassified: John McPhee, rookie Alonso Lopez, Livio Loi, Nicolo Bulega who is still struggling with his ankle injury from last season, the aforementioned Bastianini, Philipp Oettl and Darryn Binder, who made contact with the German.

Whilst the opening round of the 2018 Moto3 season was by no means a classic, it perhaps did show the pattern the season will follow: three riders a step ahead of the rest of the field fighting for the championship. For sure, the other riders will be fighting also at the front of the races, but it will be Jorge Martin, Aron Canet and Enea Bastianini who will fight for the world title, and their battle will continue in Argentina in three weeks’ time.