Franco Morbidelli took a scintillating victory in front of a capacity Aragon crowd during the Moto2 race, beating Mattia Pasini in one of the closest races of the season. Portuguese rider and pole-sitter, Miguel Oliveira completed the podium and had there been another lap, he may have even gone better. 2nd place man in the championship, Tom Luthi, took 4th ahead of a courageous Brad Binder, to keep his championship hopes alive.
The race got underway and initially, Oliveira took the lead but Morbidelli wasted no time in making his way to the front. Tom Luthi, who started 7th, was up to third by turn 5, whilst Mattia Pasini headed a returning Alex Marquez.
Morbidelli escaped as Oliveira and Pasini battled, with the Italian getting the upper-hand on this occasion. Alex Marquez also made his way passed the KTM rider, whilst Tom Luthi was only 5th, as he dropped back despite challenging early on. Luthi hadn’t looked like a serious front-runner all weekend.
Talking of dropping back, Alex Marquez was now in 8th place and involved in a tight scrap with German, Sandro Cortese and Japanese rider, Takaaki Nakagami. After Cortese negotiated his way passed the fading Marc VDS rider, Nakagami had a go. Takaaki and Alex clashed at the final corner, both very lucky to stay aboard their Kalex bikes.
Jorge Navarro was having a mega ride, as he duelled with Moto2 hard-man, Simone Corsi. On the ninth lap, he was promoted to top Spanish rider, as Marquez faded back. Alex retired a lap later, complaining of hip pains, stemming from his monster crash during Misano FP1.
At the front, the lead that Morbidelli had built up was being whittled away and soon, Pasini had savaged the 1.9s he had to make up. An audacious move at the end of the straight on lap 13 – after a two failed attempts previously – saw Morbidelli cut back under him but the elder statesman couldn’t fend off the young pretender, who gapped him within the first few corners.
Despite Pasini briefly getting away, Morbidelli reeled him back in and before long, the two Italians were scrapping once more. Championship leader Morbidelli retook the lead on lap 17 and led across the line for the remainder of the race – although Mattia Pasini made it a lot harder than it sounds!
On the final lap, Pasini dived up the inside at turn 5, holding onto the position as Morbidelli tried to cut back and get the drive up the short straight, through turn 6 and into the tight turn 7. Morbidelli set up a pass at the Corkscrew. He set the move up in turn 8 and executed it at turn 9, sitting Pasini up in the process. Despite Pasini’s best efforts, he couldn’t topple Morbidelli, who took his 8th victory of the season. Pasini was a sporting 2nd as the two shook hands – it was Pasini’s third podium of the year.
Miguel Oliveira closed in rapidly on the final lap but couldn’t quite reach the leading two, finishing third to take his sixth podium of the season. Luthi’s race was more damage limitation, as he took 4th ahead of a sensational Brad Binder, who came from 20th on the grid to finish 5th. This was the first time that KTM had both of their Moto2 bikes inside the top 5.
Jorge Navarro remained top Spaniard, taking his joint best finish of the season in 6th, ahead of Simone Corsi, who was again, top Speed Up. Nakagami finished 8th, with Sandro Cortese finishing 9th. Francesco Bagnaia completed the top 10 – the first time that he has finished inside the top 10 across all classes at Aragon.
Quartararo beat Aegerter and Baldassarri, with Vierge and Manzi completing the point scorers. Stefano Manzi finished in a point-scoring placing for a 3rd race in 2017. The Italian has started to come good, as he was 10th when he crashed out at Misano – although he won’t be riding at the VR46 outfit in 2018. Aegerter and Baldassarri could be considered disappointments of the day, as the Swiss won the previous race in Misano and Baldassarri was 7th in the event last year.
The championship now heads to Japan in the Far East and the Motegi circuit. Tom Luthi won the Moto2 race at Motegi in 2014 and 2016, so he has good form at the track, whereas Morbidelli has just the one podium from last season. Alex Marquez also won at the circuit – twice in Moto2, firstly in 2013 but also a year later, in 2014.
Marc Marquez took victory at Aragon for the MotoGP race, ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa and Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo, in an action packed race – which also saw the return of Valentino Rossi from injury.
The race got underway and immediately, Jorge Lorenzo took the lead, with Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi in behind. Quickly, Rossi got passed his teammate and set off after the Ducati rider, who had an 0.8s lead by the end of the first lap. Marc Marquez had a difficult start and was in 5th place, behind the second factory Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso.
Maverick Vinales dropped back in the early stages, becoming mired in a battle for 5th with Dani Pedrosa, Aleix Espargaro, Mika Kallio, Cal Crutchlow, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaro and Andrea Iannone. The front four escaped and were all within a second of each other.
On lap nine, Marquez tried an outrageous manoeuvre on Valentino Rossi at the turn 12 bus-stop, however, he narrowly missed colliding with the Italian and had to let the brakes off, running up the inside of Jorge Lorenzo before going off track and rejoining back in fourth. It was a very close call!
Karel Abraham was the first crasher of the race, at turn eight – similar to his teammate Alvaro Bautista yesterday. Karel was up and OK. This marked the Czech’s first retirement since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in May. It also highlighted that Karel and Aragon don’t get on, as he only has one points-scoring finish to his name, with 9th in 2012.
Marquez hit 2nd place on the 12th lap, taking Rossi in the final bend, keeping a tight inside line whereas Valentino opted for a fast, sweeping run up over the hill and down the start/finish straight. Marquez held on. It was at this point where we realised two things: Marquez’ pace wasn’t an issue after his 2nd row qualifying and that Valentino Rossi’s valiant effort was coming to an end, as he start to fatigue, now that the second half of the race was underway.
Cal Crutchlow crashed on lap 16, seven laps from home. He had just been passed by a struggling Johann Zarco. Crutchlow started fourth on the grid and was 10th when he crashed out of proceedings. It was Crutchlow’s fourth retirement of the year and also meant that he didn’t capitalise on taking Danilo Petrucci’s 7th in the championship, as the Italian failed to score a point.
On the same lap, we saw our first change of leader. Marquez dive-bombed Lorenzo into the turn 12 bus-stop, going wide initially but cutting back to retain the advantage. Going into turn 16, Lorenzo used the power of the Ducati and took the lead back momentarily, before Marquez cut underneath him and got the inside line through turn 17 and across the line. The cheers of the Spanish fans told us that Aragon really is Marc Marquez territory.
Also on the 16th lap, Dani Pedrosa passed Valentino Rossi, after passing Dovizioso and Vinales in previous laps. Pedrosa now had around a second of clear track ahead of him before he would be able to mount a challenge on 5-time champion, Jorge Lorenzo. Pedrosa had preserved his tyre and whilst Marquez was too far ahead he did catch Jorge, setting the fastest lap in the process.
Pedrosa passed Lorenzo at the bus-stop, replicating his teammate’s move on the Ducati ace a few laps previous. Pedrosa held his line and romped away from Lorenzo. It was now a Repsol Honda 1-2. That is how it remained until the end, with Marquez holding off Pedrosa’s late surge and Jorge Lorenzo’s Ducati. It was the first 1-2 for Honda at the Aragon Grand Prix since Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in 2011, as well as Ducati’s first podium at Aragon since Cal Crutchlow in 2014.
Valentino Rossi, despite his most determined efforts, was pipped by teammate Maverick Vinales, as the two factory Yamahas finished 4th and 5th. Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia took 6th, highlighting once more that the Aprilia’s is very user-friendly with tyres. Andrea Dovizioso was pummelled back to 7th and now trails Marquez by 16 points in the championship going to Japan, whilst Alvaro Bautista was the best privateer Ducati, finishing in 8th. Johann Zarco salvaged 9th and Pol Espargaro emerged from the shadow of test-rider and wildcard, Mika Kallio, to complete the top 10.
Kallio in turn finished 11th, whilst Iannone struggled to 12th – although he finished as top Suzuki. Jack Miller was 13th and top independent Honda, with Britain’s Scott Redding behind him in 14th. Esteve Rabat made it a double point-scoring finish for the Marc VDS squad, taking 15th and the final point of the day.
The championship now takes a two weekend sabbatical before returning to the Land of the Rising Sun – Japan. Motegi beckons next on the calendar but unlike last year, Marc Marquez can’t wrap the series up at this meeting. The top five are the only riders that have a mathematical chance of the championship going into the closing stages of a phenomenal season of Grand Prix racing.
Moto2 arrives in Spain for the third time this season, at the MotorLand Aragon circuit for the 14th round of 18 in the championship. Franco Morbidelli had his lead in the championship well and truly savaged by Tom Luthi last time at Misano, after he crashed and the former 125cc champion finished 2nd. We head into Aragon – a circuit that neither rider has won at before – full of expectation of a fiery dual in the middle of the Spanish desert.
Franco Morbidelli looked like he was starting to inch closer to Italy’s first intermediate class championship win since Marco Simoncelli in 2008 before throwing it all away early on at Misano. The rider with seven victories so far in the championship now only leads Tom Luthi by nine points. Morbidelli was on the podium at Aragon in 2016 – the result kickstarted a run of form that would see the 22-year-old feature on the podium in every race up until Jerez this season. Another win for Morbidelli would see him go just one away from Marco Melandri’s nine intermediate class victories achieved, back in 2002. Will Morbidelli become the first Italian to win at Aragon in Moto2 since Andrea Iannone, in 2010?
Tom Luthi will be trying to stop him. The Swiss rider has just one DNF to his name and is proving that consistently finishing in the top four pays dividends. Luthi was 4th at Aragon last season, his best result at the circuit. Luthi’s last win in Spain was at Valencia in 2014 but he has never scored a podium in the race straight after the San Marino GP. Will Aragon break that chain? Luthi won at two of the remaining races last season so it may not be essential for him to take victory this weekend. Will a cool head be best in this high-pressure situation?
Alex Marquez missed the San Marino GP after a huge crash on the Friday free practice day. The Spaniard will be making a return to action this weekend and although a shot at the championship seems to have faded away, he now needs to keep hold of this place. Marquez was 2nd at Aragon last season and also 2nd in 2014 on a Moto3 bike. Along with that, the former Moto3 champion has won both races that have already been held in Spain this year and will be hoping to become the first Spanish rider since Dani Pedrosa in 2005 to win three Spanish races in an intermediate class year.
Miguel Oliveria has been nothing short of outstanding in 2017 onboard a brand new KTM. Five podiums place him 4th in the championship, just 14 points behind Alex Marquez. A first win in the intermediate class still eludes him however. Oliveira missed the race last year due to injury but he won the Moto3 race at the track in 2015. A win for Oliveira would see him become the fourth rider to win in two classes at the circuit – Pol Espargaro, Nicolas Terol and Marc Marquez are the current three.
Francesco Bagnaia has the luxury of being top rookie in the Moto2 class this year. He is the only rider to finish every race since Catalunya in the points, an impressive achievement for the Italian. Unfortunately for Pecco, Aragon has proven not to be his most favoured circuit, as he is yet to break into the top 10 in a race there. Bagnaia is only 17 points behind Oliveira in the championship, meaning he is keeping the pressure on as we near the season’s end. Could the VR46 rider crack the top 10 at Aragon for the first time this weekend?
Takaaki Nakagami completes the all-important top six. 15 points behind a rookie is not what we would’ve expected from Taka but he isn’t a million miles away from the top five. Nakagami has scored points in every Moto2 outing at the circuit since 2013 and achieved his best finish last year of 5th. The former Suzuka 8 Hour winner will be desperate to take his second win of the season, which would make him the first Japanese rider since Hiroshi Aoyama to win more than one race in the intermediate class in a season.
Round 14 of the MotoGP championship beckons this weekend and the venue for the occasion is the MotorLand Aragon circuit, in Alcaniz, Spain. The third of four Spanish rounds, Aragon has become a Marc Marquez heartland since he stepped up to the premier class in 2013 and the capacity crowd will want to witness their man take victory, for what would be a fourth time. Keeping the Spaniard honest is Andrea Dovizioso – joint championship leader, Maverick Vinales – just 16 points back and also Dani Pedrosa, who is a distant fifth in the championship.
Marc Marquez is at the head of the championship, courtesy of having more 2nd places than Andrea Dovizioso, as both have four wins. The Spaniard has taken three wins at Aragon – two in the premier class and one in Moto2. The five-time champion won at the circuit last season and in 2013 but when Marc hasn’t been winner, he’s been a crasher. The 24-year-old has never won back to back races at same Spanish circuit in consecutive seasons so that will be yet another record he will want to smash. Honda have won at Aragon a total of four times and will also hope to become the first manufacturer to make it five at the track.
Andrea Dovizioso took a steady 3rd at Misano, his sixth podium of the season. The last time Dovizioso took six podiums in a season was 2012 on the Tech 3 Yamaha and if he manages to make the podium this weekend, it’ll be the first time since 2011 that he has had seven in a year. Dovi has just one podium to his name at Aragon, back in 2012 and his best result for Ducati at the track is a 5th in 2015. Ducati in turn haven’t won at Aragon since 2010 and their last podium at the circuit was with Cal Crutchlow in 2014. 31-year-old Dovizioso has shattered records this year for Ducati and will hope to continue doing so into the forthcoming weekend.
Maverick Vinales has had a slightly subdued season since his wins in Qatar and Argentina. Vinales was off the podium yet again at Misano, where he finished 4th, limiting the damage that Marquez and Dovizioso have done to him. Vinales was fourth at Aragon on the Suzuki last year and won at the circuit in 2014 for the Pons Kalex team in Moto2. He has two other podiums in Moto3 too. Yamaha have won at the circuit twice – in 2014 and 2015. Vinales needs points and must take some off either Marquez or Dovizioso this weekend. If he is behind them for another meeting, one would have to think it’d take a monumental effort to get to the head of the championship again. Having said that, as hard as it may be, it is far from impossible.
The man stealing all the headlines into Aragon is 4th placed Valentino Rossi, who announced that he will attempt to ride during FP1 on Friday morning this weekend. That will make it just 22 days after initially breaking his leg. The Doctor has made the decision to come back at a circuit where he has struggled at in the past. He has been third on three occasions – 2013, 2015 and 2016 – but they are his best finish. Rossi has never qualified on the front row at Aragon either so in a normal, healthy condition, this circuit was never going to be his favourite. If we dare talk about a win for Valentino, then he would be the second oldest rider to win two GPs in a premier class season, after Leslie Graham. Will Valentino show one his most determined rides ever to salvage something out of this weekend?
Dani Pedrosa occupies 5th in the championship, seven points behind the Italian veteran. Pedrosa won at the circuit back in 2012 and had a strong ride to 2nd at the circuit in 2015, battling with Valentino Rossi on the final lap. A podium for Dani would see it be his seventh of the season, the first time since 2014 that he has achieved that many. Pedrosa has taken pole at the previous two Spanish rounds this season and won at Jerez so he clearly has no issues about performing in front of a home crowd. With five races to go, Pedrosa needs to slash the 49-point gap to the leaders to be in with a chance of the championship and that must start at Aragon. Like Vinales, it is far from over but it’s going to be tough.
Sixth place in the championship belongs to top rookie, Johann Zarco. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider has been a revelation this season but he has never won at Aragon – one of the few circuits he looked despondent with in his Moto2 championship years. His only podiums at the circuit come from 2011 in Moto3 when he finished 2nd and in 2014 on the Caterham-Suter in Moto2, where he finished 3rd. There has never been a French winner at Aragon across all three classes and in dodgy weather, I wouldn’t put it passed Zarco to atleast threaten that particular statistic. Tech 3’s best premier class result at Aragon is a third place by Andrea Dovizioso in 2012.
Danilo Petrucci in 7th will be looking for his first ever back-to-back podiums and Pramac Ducati’s first back-to-back podiums since 2008, with Toni Elias at Brno and Misano. Petrucci has only had one point scoring ride at Aragon, with 11th place back in 2014. He is 15 points behind Johann Zarco.
Cal Crutchlow is top Brit in 8th. The double GP winner has one podium to his name in GP racing at the circuit, on a Ducati in 2014. His best result for Honda was 5th last year. Crutchlow will be looking to finish his 8th consecutive race this season in the points.
9th place is Jorge Lorenzo, who still seeks his first win for Ducati after crashing out in Misano. Having led his first laps, Jorge can now progress further with the bike at a circuit he loves. He is the only rider to win at Aragon from outside of the front row in 2014 and dominated proceedings in 2015 too. A 2nd last year fires him up for what should be a successful weekend.
Jonas Folger is 10th in the championship, making Yamaha the only manufacturer with four bikes in the top 10. Folger never achieved a Moto2 podium at Aragon but he did manage a third place back in 2012 in Moto3. He will be looking to become the first ever German to win at the Aragon venue.
Leon Haslam was the major beneficiary in the opening British Superbike Showdown round at Oulton Park in Cheshire. Last year’s runner-up took his first win since Cadwell Park in the opening race before finishing a close 2nd in race two, just 0.060 behind the race winner, Dan Linfoot. This moves him and his JG Speedfit Bournemouth Kawasaki Team back to the top of the standings.
In contrast to the earlier meeting at Oulton Park in May, Haslam scored the most points out of the Showdown contenders, with 45 points marked up over the weekend. This was 18 more than Josh Brookes, 29 more than Shane Byrne, 22 more than Jake Dixon, 24 more than Peter Hickman and 31 more than Jason O’Halloran.
“I had to keep telling myself to keep pushing, especially when Brad Ray was nipping at my heels for the last few laps!”, said Leon Haslam, the new series leader.
“Even though the conditions weren’t great in race one or race two because of the wet patches, I felt like I rode really well”.
Haslam turned his attentions to Assen, a circuit which he achieved a double victory at last season. “I’m looking forward to Assen; it can be very weather dependent and it’s cold this time of year but we managed a double win there last year so we know that the potential of the bike is good”.
“However, there are so many people in the Showdown challenging for a place on the podium that anything can happen, but that’s what makes it so exciting this year!”
An announcement on the rider line-up at the team is expected in under ten days, as Pete Extance revealed in an interview on Saturday evening. You can read the full interview tomorrow (Wednesday 20th September).
As the Moto3 youngsters descend on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, two Spaniards head the top of the championship looking to carry on their fine 2017 form.
Leopard Racing’s Joan Mir is top of the tree and enjoys a very healthy 64 point advantage, consolidating his position as the title front runner with an important fifth at the British Grand Prix last time out. Despite the huge gap to the chasing pack, the margin is less than what Brad Binder had at this point last year (86 points) and what Danny Kent had in 2015 (70). No room for error then for the 20 year old, who is the only rider to have finished in the points at every round this season across all categories. Consistency is key for the champion elect.
Second place man in the championship and fellow Spaniard, Aron Canet, took his third victory of the season under the sunny skies of Silverstone. Henceforth, leapfrogging home favourite for this weekend, Romano Fenati, in the overall standings. The race win for Canet, who turns 18 later this month, was also just his sixth podium in the Moto3 class and there is no reason why he can’t make that seven this weekend.
As for Fenati, he’s enjoyed a positive season so far after being shown the door out of the Sky racing team VR46 mid way through last season. The Moto3 veteran will look to take back second position in the championship with a strong display in front of the ever passionate crowd in Misano.
Del Conca Gresini Moto3 Italian rider Fabio Di Giannantonio will be hoping he can woo his home supporters, as he sits fifth in the world standings and will want to try and close to gap to team mate Jorge Martin, as well as the other three ahead of him.
We finally saw the Enea Bastianini of old at Silverstone, crossing the line in second position to grab his first podium since his race win at Motegi last year. He picked up a win here in 2015, so he’ll be looking to continue his momentum and finish the year strongly.
Other people to watch out for? I could name about 15 – that’s how close the racing has been this year! John McPhee and the British Talent Cup team will be fighting at the front, whilst Mugello winner Andrea Migno and his Italian comrade Nicolo Bulega will want to do Valentino Rossi proud in his absence aboard their VR46 machines.
The Moto3 boys never fail to put on a spectacle, so what better way to start your Sunday off by watching over 30 lightweight machines go fairing to fairing.
At this moment, I’m 35,000 feet up onboard a KLM flight from Manchester to Amsterdam. My final destination is Bologna, before moving further south to the Adriatic coastal town of Cattolica. Misano hosts the Rimini Riviera and San Marino Grand Prix this weekend but with one notable absence. Valentino Rossi’s broken leg will come as a massive disappointment for his fans but also the neutrals, as a five horse championship battle looked back on after an eventful Silverstone. However, debate has opened up about whether any form of motorcycle training should take place away from the circuit. I believe that the more prominent – yet neglected question – is this: to what extent should motorcycle activities outside of racing be allowed?
There’s a variety of viewpoints but I’m going to take a slightly different one. It’s not about allowing or disallowing motocross, trials, mountain biking etc. It’s about – in my opinion – the necessary risk to undertake such activities. It is very important to remember that Valentino Rossi is no longer the dominant Italian he used to be. In his words, “in the past, being strategic was the most important. Now, it’s about being quick from the start”. This has been a problem for Valentino this season. He hasn’t been the fastest over race distance or one lap and the strategies haven’t been the greatest either. The Doctor is enduring his worst spell on European soil since 2013, yet he’s more competitive now than what he was in the same season.
In other words: the pressure was on The Doctor. He knew that if he was to have a chance of success at Misano, he would have to be in better shape than ever. Not just what the likes of me and thee would consider “fit” either but bike-fit too. Any motorcycle racer will tell you that there is no time like saddle time and any time spent on two wheels keeps you in good shape on a motorcycle as well as mentally.
Valentino knew that track knowledge and the energy of the home crowd wouldn’t be enough. Yes, maybe two seasons ago or even three but not in the 2017 MotoGP season because it is way too close to call. There are too many riders who could topple him. Dani Pedrosa managed to do it from 8th on the grid last year.
There’s another reason why Valentino needed to train hard in order to take victory – or have a chance at least: just one win in 2017. The 38-year-old veteran needs to capitalise on circuits that are good to him. Misano is one of them. It was the last circuit at which he took back to back victories at in consecutive seasons (2008 and 2009). He was a winner in 2014 and even took a podium on a Ducati too. A win for Rossi at Misano would’ve brought the championship lead down to under 25 points and going into Aragon, that would’ve been crucial.
Ah. Aragon. Another issue that The Doctor has diagnosed in the seven previous races he has taken part in at the circuit. It is one of only three circuits that he has failed to win at (COTA and Red Bull Ring are the other two) and he’s never had higher than third there either. It is also Marc Marquez territory. A victory at Misano would’ve made a ‘poor’ Aragon feel slightly more positive and it would’ve balanced out the gains and the losses. But a definite win at Misano needed some extra training and unfortunately, Rossi has paid the ultimate price.
Did Valentino need to be training on any form of motorcycle? The jury is out on that one. Bike fitness is key and he was putting in the effort for his home race but there are other ways to maintain good, physical fitness. Many riders choose swimming or even running. Others prefer to stay in the gym but each to their own. Valentino trains almost everyday with his Riders Academy as well, so was it really necessary to do anything more? Again, the jury remain on their lunch hour.
I said at the start it is about the necessary risk. I have offered reasons for both doing or not doing anything motorcycle related and why the risk was and wasn’t worth it. However, it is nobody’s business to put an end to this sort of training. Any rider will tell you – I’ve said it before I know and I’m not going loopy – that bike fitness is the best form of fitness. Teams could write into the riders contract that the only motorcycle they can ride is the one supplied by the team for the GP weekend but then, who’d sign for the team?
You can learn many things on any form of two wheels that are transferable to racing on the tarmac. How to save crashes, body position, throttle control etc, but you can also maintain mental fitness. Knowing that you won’t have to wait until the next GP to ride is a great feeling for any rider. There is no time like saddle time.
Sadly, it isn’t just motorcycle training that can injure you. Cal Crutchlow was cooking his dinner when he sliced his index finger open, damaging his tendons and throwing his San Marino Grand Prix in jeopardy. Are we going to ban riders preparing their own grub? James Haydon fell down his stairs in 1999 during the BSB season and dislocated his shoulder before the Mallory Park round. Did every team manager then demand riders to live in bungalows? Nicky Hayden was killed riding his bike in Italy, so do we ban riding bicycles on roads?
All this talk of “ban this, ban that” drives me mad. In life, everything you do carries a risk. There is not one thing you do on a daily basis that has no risk. It’s the extent of the risk and how you manage it which makes the difference. Maybe Valentino may have injured himself somewhere else and doing something else had he not been on his training bike? Would we be banning that ‘something else’ too?
I am now currently sat on a TrenItalia train from Bologna to Cattolica. It only cost me €11.10 and despite the machine saying “beware of pick-pockets”, I managed the risk well and was not mugged. I am also glad to report that I made it in once piece and the risk of flying was managed well. However, my luggage was momentarily absent. Who knows, maybe I might ban myself from taking anything on my travels with me?
Despite not being able to run their Superbike at Cadwell Park – due to a John Hopkins injury – I caught up with team manager, Iain Hopcroft. Iain discussed the team’s season so far and how it hasn’t gone to plan, the plan for 2018 and the prospects of a wildcard appearance at Donington Park next season!
How has 2017 gone for you so far?
So far, not to plan. During pre season testing with John we were extremely fast and to be honest, I was hoping that we could continue that positivity into the racing season. We arrived at the first round at Donington Park and we were very fast so all was looking good but we had three crashes, which is unheard of for most teams and especially John. in the morning warm-up, John’s final crash was coming out of Goddard’s and he broke his foot.
We moved on to round two, at Brands Hatch Indy and then Oulton park. John was still in pain. That put us on the back-foot for the opening part of the year. Obviously, it’s hard to recover from the points loss and puts pressure on the rider. Also, with round two and three being so close together, it gave little time in between to heal.
When the North West 200 came along and then the Isle of Man TT, it was a welcome break for us to refocus and for John to get back to full fitness.
However, we then arrived at Knockhill. John was pushing hard and he fell off. This time, he broke his hand. We had some ECU problems at Knockhill, which is unheard of but for some reason, it’s happened a lot this year to a few other teams too. So Knockhill was just super frustrating. The plan at the start of the year was to aim for the top six, get into the showdown and work it all out from there.
Snetterton was pretty good. John had a little punch-up with his bike on Saturday – after a bit of over-revving around Coram Curve. The races were strong. We were very happy with that. Since then, things haven’t been too bad – until we got to Cadwell Park and again, John injured himself and put himself out for the Sunday races with ligament damage.
There’s been a bit of pressure on John, as he was brought into the team to deliver. A rider of John’s caliber expects to be fighting at the sharp end of things. Especially after we had strong races together in 2015.
Back to this year, we’re aiming for the top eight now, seeing as we can’t get into the Showdown. We want to end the year strong with some silverware.
How much have ECU problems or machine issues held you back this year?
We have had a good year so far with a couple of minor issues. The team has been fantastic all season long and I couldn’t fault them. The Knockhill issue was a minor Motec problem which is totally out of our hands but was soon rectified by the technical support of Motec.
Hopkins hasn’t been happy at some points this year but the run into the end of the season suggests that he may well be a front runner.
What is your aim for the rest of the year?
John is aiming to give the team podiums at Silverstone! it’s a track that he really enjoys and has held the lap record there in previous years. It is also a triple-header, so with 75 points up for grabs, it’d be nice to take them all.
The last four tracks are tracks that John loves so we head into them with great positivity. Brands Hatch GP is also a good track, as John gave us a podium there in 2015 so the run-in to the end of the year shows a lot of promise.
What are the advantages of using the Ducati? You guys were the only team for a long time to run the Panigale.
Since the Panigale came out in 2012, we were the only team in the world to run the bike. In 2013, WSBK introduced it. Our relationship with Ducati is very strong. It is great that Paul Bird has decided to use Ducatis as it brings along a team friend in Giovanni Crupi, who is also Shakey’s crew chief.
How close are you to the Paul Bird Motorsport team?
We know that John and Shane are different so setting the bike up is also quite different. We all get along very well and it is great to have a Ducati Corse engineer (Giovanni Crupi) in the paddock. If there are any questions, we can ask the factory and they will help. Giovanni has been instrumental in the design of the Panigale and he has been very helpful with the chassis set up in the past.
There’s no difference at all with the bikes. Paul Bird may have a bigger budget than us, meaning their access to having more spare parts or their ability to test is greater. PBM buy exactly what Moto Rapido buy. The engine specs are the same. The difference is that we build our engines and PBM use Ducati Corse but as you can see from the speed trap data, our engines are fast too.
Given that you’ve said you get along well, would John help ‘Shakey’ if he needed it?
No. It’s all about winning races and yes, they’d have a laugh and a joke about it all but neither of them would share information like that. They are racers.
What do you as a team and John as a rider have to do to get in the top six every weekend?
Honestly, an extra 100cc wouldn’t go amiss! No, seriously, all weekend we are good in practice and qualifying. This year, I believe that the pressure has been on John from the get-go. From this point onwards, you’ll see a different kind of ‘Hopper’. The team didn’t consider Cadwell Park their favourite circuit and John doesn’t either so up until he crashed, we had been mega happy with where we’d been all weekend. John being out of the races on Sunday didn’t show the amount of effort that went in over the weekend. The team has worked amazingly well, so I wouldn’t change anything on that front.
The Motostar championship is going OK this season, do you agree?
It’s not going bad at all. It’s been really good! It was more a project for us to work with Moto3 stuff as some of the team had worked with it before. Thomas is amazing at feedback and he is good with PR, sponsors and everyone in the team, which really helps with the team harmony and if John’s having a bad day, Thomas normally brings home some silverware which balances it all out – otherwise we’d all be suicidal! It’s nice to have a second rider in the team because it does relieve some of the pressure from John.
It doesn’t stretch resources, which is good. The way it has worked out this year is that Sean Willers does the tyres for both Thomas and John. Tom Brown, who is the second mechanic on the Superbike, uses his knowledge of the Moto3 to the benefit of Thomas. That’s been evident right from testing in Cartagena. They both work alongside Matt Balchin who is Thomas’s main mechanic.
We haven’t decided on our plans with regards to Motostar next year. We want to follow Thomas through his career and into the British Talent Cup and see what happens.
How close to the WSBK Ducati side of things are you?
Ducati Corse don’t use Motec and they can’t really help us out because there are no circuits in BSB – apart from Assen and Donington Park – that replicate anything on the WSBK level. Throttle mapping is different, suspension will be different and also, they run traction control whereas we can’t. In other words, the WSBK Ducati is totally different to our MotoRapido Ducati or Paul Bird’s BeWiser Ducati.
Was there a view to do wildcards at WSBK?
If we had a better start in BSB, then a wildcard would’ve definitely been on the cards. We are certainly looking at that for next year. I think it’s a really cool thing to do and a good opportunity to show WSBK what we have and what we can do. Dorna need an American too. John has a huge personality and a tonne of fans so he would definitely attract people to watch him.
What is the plan for 2018?
John Hopkins – I’d love that but who knows at this stage. It’d be nice to run a Superbike and a Superstock bike. We’d probably run something else too but we aren’t too sure what. We help out the Boast Plumbing team in the Ducati Tri-Options, which runs Joe Collier, Jon Railton and Levi Day. It’d be a great match and great to see Joe’s progression continue further if he wins the Cup.
Thomas has been accepted into the British Talent Cup but the plan for that championship is to not interfere with any BSB rounds and it is only planned to be six rounds anyway. It’d leave him available to do anything that he wants to do within BSB. We have a few more rounds left to decide on that one just yet.
It would be really nice to have a second bike if we could have the sponsorship to cover it. With a second bike, you double your team size. It’d be a case of who that second rider would be, whether or not they had their own crew chief or preferred mechanics etc. There’s a lot of talented people in this paddock and I’m sure that if you are going to pick a rider from a team, they’ll come with someone. Resources wouldn’t be an issue. We were left in the lurch with the Lloyds British sponsorship, after they went bust. Luckily, we have some very good sponsors this year which has been amazing and we can’t thank them enough.
We support some of the CoolFab series riders too, with the likes of Ollie Walker and Ryan Hitchcock. It’s nice to see a rider progress through the ranks.
Next year, if John’s here, we are looking at Showdown places. John is hungry for the championship, especially after the 2011 title fight. We know he can fight for the championship and he knows that he can too. He will not give up trying for a BSB championship until he has won it. We as a team give him the best package possible every weekend.
Images by Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photgraphy.
It was the greatest lap you’ll ever see at the North West 200. Despite years of battling and emotional stories, it still surprises us. Glenn Irwin was the winner of the main race this year, beating Alastair Seeley in a head-to-head dogfight around the famous Triangle course. In his own words, Glenn Irwin recalls the final half a lap.
“It was pretty surreal! On each and every lap of the race I could pick certain people out in the crowd. People I didn’t even know, they were just waving at me like I was a hero or something! I took the time to look at them too, even though I was doing 200mph or whatever it was! On the last lap, that all went out the window – not intentionally but I had to focus myself.
I wanted to lead every lap of the race, just in case there was a red flag but of course, the last lap is the only one that counts! I actually have very little memory of the last lap, until I arrived at Metropole and I could see a back-marker in the distance. I was like ‘no, no, I don’t need this’, because I knew I had the beating of Alastair but this was going to bring him back into play. I knew that my strongest part of the track was the ‘Coast Road’ and I didn’t think that he’d be able to get passed me there – that’s not me being cocky, that’s just how it felt.
When I got to the back-marker, I knew I had to get passed him but I also knew that I couldn’t do anything silly. I didn’t want to make contact with him or cause anyone harm so I was a bit more reserved. Alastair took the gamble and passed both of us into Church Corner. It was weird though; I guess a lot of people would panic when Alastair took the lead and I think the crowd probably did. However, I was sat there thinking, ‘what has he done? Genuinely, what has he done that for?’. It was a weird feeling that made me think that. I think the adrenalin of it all gave me this ‘invincible’ feeling. It’s nothing against Alastair and we get on well and have a lot of respect for each other.
I knew I was strong coming up Black Hill and into the Juniper Chicane, especially on the brakes. I got Black Hill probably the best I have ever got it and just dropped it down the outside of him. I then aimed for the inside of the track where there’s a few bumps, to stop him trying to retaliate. Luckily, he didn’t retaliate and I held my position.
That moment of crossing the line was just unbelievable! I was like, ‘F**k, F**k, F**k, I’ve won! I’ve done it! I’ve done it!’. I saw my mechanic running up and then I saw my brother too! I was doing a burnout in front of a massive crowd who were cheering me on. It was just such a speechless moment! It felt like the whole of Northern Ireland was cheering for me. It was unbelievable and it still kind of chokes me up now.
I could hear the crowd as soon as I crossed the line. They roared. It was such an amazing feeling. I’ve watched it back since and now, I can hear them around the final part of the lap too. To be able to hear them over the footage is extremely rare in road racing. It was just mega! It was one of the most surreal experiences since racing.
When I saw my brother run on the circuit, it was class! I knew exactly what he was feeling as I’m the same when I’m watching him race in the British Supersport class. To have him there, it was absolutely unbelievable. It was a very, very special moment and I was proud to share the moment with him. My dad was there too and he said to me, “you’ve done something that I could never do” and I replied to him and said, “it’s not that you couldn’t do it, it’s the fact you didn’t do it”. The main thing is that the Irwin name is there now!
I stayed in the hospitality after the race in my leathers until about 9pm! I’m the kind of person who doesn’t want to be part of just one selfie or sign just one shirt or whatever on one side of the room and not make my way over to the other side. There was a guy there called Chris Esler who unfortunately got paralysed in a motocross accident years ago. I saw him in the corner of the room, so I made my way down to him. However, I knew there and then that I couldn’t make my way to just one person so I just went with it. I really enjoy meeting the fans and signing caps or whatever! I had a lot of drink handed to me, that’s for sure! I went off to have a quick freshen up, before coming back for more! I think the organisers were really impressed by that.
I’m just the same as everyone else at the end of the day. I’ve done something really cool and in all fairness, I just want to enjoy myself with everyone else! Mervyn White was a happy man that night too, as he’s had a lot of criticism over the last few years. He’d had no luck with the weather and he took a big decision to delay the big NW200 race. He got the race he deserved!
It was great to see all my sponsors happy too, as without them, my career would look very different. It was also great to see James Jamieson from James Jamieson Construction who is massive sponsor of mine and my brother, Andy. He’d been watching me from York Hairpin and again, without him, my career would look very, very, very different indeed.
There were so many emotions! Grown men don’t cry but actually, they really do! I saw James Jamieson again and he couldn’t speak! I was just walking around thinking ‘this is f*****g class!’. It was a bit like being a horse trainer I guess. When you work so hard and put so much effort in and then when it all finally comes together, it’s the best thing ever! It was great to see the emotion of someone who has done so much for me!
I never really had the moment to celebrate with the team because they were already rushing back for the boat back to the mainland UK, as we had a test at Knockhill. However, when I got to Knockhill, we had a good meal out and a catch up. Paul Bird was absolutely over the moon!”.
Image by Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography
It had been a difficult maiden season in the premier class for Rins, who was forced to miss a considerable part of the first half of the season through injury. Sunday’s British Grand Prix should therefore go down as being somewhat of a breakthrough moment for Team Suzuki Ecstar rider, Alex Rins.
Whilst to many, a P9 finish may not exactly be headline worthy, it would be wrong to underestimate the importance of this result. Both for team and for rider. Having made a solid start to the race the 21 year-old found himself leading a group consisting of Scott Redding, Alvaro Bautista and Pol Espargaro – class veterans – battling over seventh to tenth places.
The race marked a timely return to form for Rins as he matched his previous MotoGP best finish, achieved back at the opening round of the season in Qatar. In addition to this, the rookie ran close to, and at times had the measure of his more illustrious teammate, Andrea Iannone, throughout the weekend. The young Spaniard was understandably buoyant speaking after the race:
AR – I am happy for how the weekend went. Compared to previous races, in this one I managed to defend my position from the very early laps, and then I was able to try to attack. I’m satisfied by the work we are doing. We continue to improve, not huge improvements, but consistent. We have to keep on getting experience and to try to get better qualifying positions which would make the race easier.
For a rookie, the cost of having to miss multiple races is higher than others. A forced absence from riding the bike in any form – Suzuki would not let him test or participate in a practice session until he had fully recovered – had left Rins playing catch up with the rest of his competitors. However, we must give Suzuki credit here. So often we see riders rush back from an injury layoff, only to soon be sidelined again. On the contrary to that, any rider will tell you being fit is one thing but being bike fit? Totally different.
Suzuki clearly value the former Moto3 and Moto2 race winner as part of the long term vision for the team. When the team returned to the MotoGP paddock in 2015 they did so not to merely make the numbers up but to develop a bike that was capable of winning the championship.
Talk of winning championships is perhaps still premature for Rins but there is little doubt that the team are doing all they can to give their young charger the best possible machine. Speaking after the race, Suzuki technical manager, Ken Kawauchi, was understandably full of praise in his post-race debrief:
KK – This was his best race since his injury. He was able to fight consistently within the top ten in the race and he was also good in managing the tyres wisely. This is a big step he has made. With this race I believe he gained more confidence and in the next race he will also attempt even more. However, we have to work to give him more consistency and a more effective pace in the race. This is the next step we have to make.
The next round at Misano cannot come soon enough for Alex Rins and Suzuki.