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Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race was won by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), followed by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and Andrea Locatelli in 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

With the extreme heat conditions persisting, it was decided by the race organization to shorten the length of race 2, to 15 laps.

Lights out then for race 2, and after initially getting a great drive off the line, Bautista tipped into the right handed turn 2 and went straight down, he had no chance to save it, and the bike somersaulted into the gravel. A rare mistake from the reigning champion.

Toprak took over the lead, followed by his team mate Locatelli in 2nd, and Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in 3rd. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) then dived through on Bassani and took 3rd. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th, and Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 6th.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Locatelli 3. Rea 4. Bassani 5. Lowes 6. Redding 7. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 8. Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW).

With 13 laps of 15 left, Bassani aggressive as always from the start, dived up the inside of Locatelli to take 2nd, Rea seized the opportunity and likewise did the same to the Italian who dropped down to 4th. Out in the lead, Toprak had pulled the gap out to 0.9s.

With 11 laps remaining Rinaldi took Redding into the chicane to take 6th. Meanwhile further back it was Petrucci 10th, Vierge (Honda HRC) 11th, Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 12th. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) then crashed out, his race over.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

With 10 laps to go Toprak had pulled the gap out to 0.3s. Bassani put in the new fastest lap with a 1:47.4. Rea was in 3rd. The leading trio had pulled away from the rest, with Locatelli now 1.7s behind Rea.

With 8 laps to go, Bassani had been steadily gaining on Toprak, and cut under him to take over the lead. Toprak now in 2nd, Rea 3rd. Further back it was Locatelli 4th, Lowes 5th, and Rinaldi 6th.

Just over half race distance and Bassani only held a gap of 0.1s to Toprak. Meanwhile it was Toprak who put in the new fastest lap with a 1:47.7. Drama further back for Isaac Vinales (Team Pedercini) who crashed out, his race over.

With only 4 laps remaining Rea was now struggling to remain in contact with the two ahead of him, and had a gap of 1.0s to overcome to 2nd. Drama for the other factory Kawasaki, Alex Lowes crashed out from a comfortable 5th place, losing the front end, his race over. Meanwhile up ahead Toprak had caught back up to Bassani, and cut up the inside of the Italian into turn 16, to retake the lead. Bassani, however, snapped straight back although Toprak was able to defend the lead.

Last 3 laps and the win would surely be decided between Toprak, and Bassani. Rea now too far back to be in contention.

Penultimate lap and Toprak had put the hammer down, obviously with more tyre grip, and broken the ability of Bassani to remain in contact. Great race for Brad Ray who was now up to 6th, in contention for his best ever WorldSBK result. Behind was Baz 7th, Redding 8th, and Petrucci 9th.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Toprak took the win to make it a double across the weekend. Bassani 2nd, Rea 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Ray 6th, Baz 7th, Redding 8th, Petrucci 9th, Lecuona 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  2. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 391
  2. Razgatlioglu – 321
  3. Locatelli – 208

 

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Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1

The earlier Superpole saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) claim top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:45.959, followed by team mate Andrea Locatelli, and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Scorching temperatures were already taking hold across Southern Europe, and the mercury was hitting 34 degrees Celsius for race 1, with a track temperature of nearly 60 degrees.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Andrea Locatelli with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Bassani 2nd, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 3rd, Toprak 4th, and Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of KRT WorldSBK

Next lap of the 19 lap race and positions were as follows: 1. Locatelli 2. Bassani 3. Bautista 4. Toprak 5. Rea 6. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK)  7. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 8. Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW)

With 18 laps to go, Bassani who had been looking aggressive from the off, dived up the inside of Locatelli to take the lead. Further back Rea held a gap of 0.7s to Redding, while Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was up to 10th. At the front Locatelli responded to retake the lead, Bautista moved into 2nd, while Bassani dropped down into 3rd. Drama then for Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) who crashed out, his race over.

Next lap and Toprak got through on Bautista up into 2nd. Pata Prometeon Yamahas were now 1 and 2.

With 16 laps of 19 remaining, Bassani continued to fall back and this time Rea got through and into 4th.

Next lap and Toprak got through on his team mate and took the lead. Meanwhile further back it was Redding 7th, Petrucci 8th, Baz 9th, Lowes 10th, and Ray 11th. Bautista then got through on Locatelli and up into 2nd, Rea too seized the opportunity and dived up the Italian into 3rd. Locatelli had now dropped to 4th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista was slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Toprak. Rea put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.554 and was right on the back of Bautista. The leading trio were edging away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile further back Petrucci was up to 7th, Redding 8th. The factory Hondas were struggling again with Vierge 14th, and Lecuona 15th, although Vierge had to start from the back of the grid due to a last minute issue, so his position was well deserved. Leon Haslam (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) was in 13th and riding for the injured Tom Sykes.

Next lap and it was Locatelli with the new fastest lap a 1:48.353, he had clearly not given up and was trying to make contact with the leading trio. Bautista then had a massive tank slapper down the back straight and it allowed Rea to come through. Bautista was lucky to get away with what could have been a nasty crash. It didn’t deter Alvaro however, and he snapped back to take 2nd.

With 11 laps remaining Locatelli held a gap of 1.6s to Bassani in 5th, Rinaldi 6th.

Next lap and it was Petrucci who got through on Bassani up into 6th, Rinaldi was ahead of him in 5th, and Bassani had now dropped down to 7th.

Just over half race distance and Bautista had shrugged off his earlier moment, and was now right on Toprak. Rea was struggling to keep contact with the pace being set by the leading duo, and was falling behind.

With 8 laps to go Bautista had been lining up a pass and used the power of the Ducati to once again blast past Toprak down the back straight, and into the lead. It was a perfectly clean pass and Toprak could not respond. The 250 revs docked from the Ducati by the organisers, seemingly making no difference to the performance what so ever.

And if to reiterate the point, Bautista put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.065 with now only 6 laps remaining. Drama for Eric Granado (Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team) who crashed out.

With only 5 laps remaining the positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Rinaldi.

Next lap and drama for Lecuona who had to retire due to a mechanical issue. Meanwhile further back Bassani continued to slide down the positions, and was now getting reeled in by Loris Baz. Lowes was 9th, Redding 10th, Haslam 11th. Vierge then got through on Leon to take 11th. Meanwhile drama for the Swiss rider Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who retired back to the pits due to a mechanical.

Penultimate lap and Bautista now held a gap of 3.4s over Toprak, while Toprak held a similar gap over Rea in 3rd.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista secured yet another win followed by Toprak 2nd, Rea 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Petrucci 6th, Bassani 7th, Baz 8th, Lowes 9th, and Redding 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 382
  2. Razgatlioglu – 284
  3. Locatelli – 188

 

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British Grand Prix Preview – Can Anyone Stop the Verstappen Juggernaut?

This weekends marks one of those rare occasions in British sport.

It is Round 10 of the 2023 Formula One World Championship as the British Grand Prix rolls into Silverstone. The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is in full swing and the third Test Ashes Test between England and Australia will be on Day Four at Headingley.

The last time those three sports collided on the same day in Great Britain was 2019, where Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix in another all conquering, England won the Cricket World Cup “by the barest of margins” and Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in a thriller in SW19.

Verstappen juggernaut rolls on.

12 months ago it looked as if Verstappen would take a comfortable victory after passing Charles Leclerc for the lead during the race.

That was until he ran over a piece of debris caused by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, before Ferrari left Charles Leclerc to fend for himself after a Safety Car allowing Carlos Sainz to win his first career Grand Prix.

As with 2019, 2023 has a dominant team and one dominant driver, as Hamilton was cruising to the sixth of his seven World Drivers’ Championships, while this season Max Verstappen can pick and choose the races he attends and he will still be the Drivers’ Champion for a third time.

It is a question of when, not if he wins the World Championship and inevitably Verstappen is the hot favourite to win his eighth race of the season, and keep Red Bull’s 100% record in 2023 going.

The Dutchman has won the last five Grands Prix and lies 81 points – over three race victories – clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

The fight behind Red Bull.

The real fight is behind them, with three teams vying to be the best of the rest.

Mercedes currently have that honour with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell consistently banking points.

The Silver Arrows are three points clear of Aston Martin – largely as a result of Lance Stroll’s struggles to match teammate Fernando Alonso for the Silverstone team.

The Spaniard is himself just 18 points behind Perez in third but, as with the cricket, it is very difficult to see the home side managing an unlikely series victory this weekend.

The third team fighting for the best of the rest is Ferrari, who have had something of a renaissance themselves over the last two races with a well managed fourth and fifth in Canada, before Charles Leclerc took an excellent second place in Austria last week.

McLaren, sporting a throwback Chrome livery in a nod to their history this weekend, will be looking to build on a strong weekend for Lando Norris who took fourth in Austria, as their season of catch up continues.

Track Limits?!

As yes, track limits.

Last weekend saw a farcical 1,200 instances of drivers losing lap times for exceeding track limits, largely at the final corner around the 2.7 mile Red Bull Ring.

Track limits will be monitored at Copse Corner, or Turn 9 depending on who you are, but we can expect minimal impact as the layout at Silverstone’s former first corner is different, and crucially a lot less awkward, than the final corner in Spielberg.

Don’t expect to see eight drivers affected by track limit penalties, five hours after the race this weekend.

What else should I look out for?

Well…. the battle at the bottom.

With McLaren and Alpine in fifth and sixth in the Constructors cut well adrift from the top four, four teams at the bottom are separated by nine points.

Haas and in particular Nico Hulkenberg benefitted from a wet-dry sprint qualifying, and race, to nick sixth place and three points as more established teams fell over themselves on Saturday to lift themselves up to seventh in standings with 11 points.

They’re two points clear of Alfa Romeo on nine, with the team run by Sauber having failed to push on from a strong 2022 to sit just two points clear of a resurgent Williams team.

Their team principal James Vowles has warned that progress will be slow, but despite this the team, courtesy of Alex Albon, have been genuine points contenders ever since a raft of upgrades were introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Rookie Logan Sargent will finally be able to access those this week, as the team look to celebrate 800 races in style.

At the bottom of the pile, Alpha Tauri’s miserable season continues with Nyck de Vries seemingly unable to get close to scoring points, while Yuki Tsunoda has two points.

Dr Vries has been the subject of speculation over his future in his debut season in the sport, with Red Bull driver supremo recently suggesting that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner “maybe was right” in his opposition to signing the Dutchman.

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Round 6 WorldSBK, Donington Park, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw a new winner crowned, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) claiming only his 2nd win of the season so far, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) in 2nd, and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 3rd.

Toprak Razgatlioglu WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Lights out then for race 2 and both Toprak and Bautista were in contention, before Toprak took the early lead. Then before the first lap could be completed, a massive crash involving 3 riders into turn 8 Coppice, brought the red flag out and the race was stopped. The riders involved were, Tom Sykes (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). Seemingly it was Sykes who had a massive highside, and the others were collected in the process.

The race would be restarted with a total of 22 laps.

Lights out for the restart and this time Bautista gets the hole shot, followed by Rea, Toprak 3rd, Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK) 4th, and Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th. Toprak dived up the inside of Rea into his favourite corner, Melbourne Loop, to take 2nd.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 6. Lowes 7. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 8. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 9. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 10. Oettl (TeamGoEleven).

Toprak then once again, and in his favourite corner, stuck it up the inside of Bautista to move into the lead. The Spaniard had to pick the bike up, and it allowed Rea to come through into 2nd. Bautista got mugged in that corner and found himself in 3rd.

Next lap and Rea put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and increased the gap to Bautista to 0.3s. Meanwhile in 5th, the Texan, Gerloff, was having one of the best rides for a BMW rider in some time.

With 18 laps of 22 remaining, at the front it was still Toprak leading Rea, with Bautista in 3rd, Locatelli 4th, and Gerloff 5th. Bautista had reduced the gap to Rea to 0.2s.

Next lap and further back it was Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 10th, Oettl 11th, and Remi Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)  12th. Meanwhile at the front there was now a group of 7 riders forming, and Alex Lowes was showing good pace and passed Gerloff into 5th.

With 15 laps to go, the lap times between the leading trio of Toprak, Rea, and Bautista was similar. Further back Locatelli was struggling to keep in contact. Lowes then carried on his charge and moved past Locatelli into the chicane to take 4th.

Next lap and both Hondas were having a disaster of a weekend, with Vierge 13th, and Lecuona 15th. The Brit, Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha), was sandwiched in between in 14th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista, who had been closing the gap made his move on Rea into the chicane and into 2nd. Meanwhile Toprak was looking to take his 2nd win of the weekend.

Next lap and Bautista put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and was now slowly reeling in the Turkish rider ahead. Meanwhile Rea couldn’t match the pace and was now losing contact with the two ahead the gap increasing to 1.6s.

Just over half race distance and Bautista seized the moment, and blasted past Toprak and into the lead in turn 1. Toprak however had the pace down the Craner Curves, and snapped straight back at Bautista into turn 4 to retake the lead.

Next lap and Bautista knew he had the speed to take Toprak down the straight, which he did to retake the lead. Toprak again responded using the agility of the R1 to close the gap through the twisty parts of the track. Meanwhile further back it was still Rea leading his team mate, followed by Locatelli 5th, Petrucci 6th, Redding 7th, and Gerloff down to 9th.

With 8 laps remaining, the weekend was going from bad to worse for Honda, and Xavi Vierge retired to the garage. Meanwhile as he had shown in race 1, Petrucci was capable of late race pace, and he was again gaining on the riders ahead. He caught Locatelli and made a clean pass into 5th.

Next lap and Scott Redding was having the best race of his season so far, and got through on Locatelli into 6th. He had only started from 9th on the grid. Meanwhile at the front the gap between Bautista, and Toprak, increased to 0.7s.

With 6 laps to go, Petrucci had now caught Lowes, and dived through into the Foggy Esses to take 4th. He now had Rea in his sights, and got through into 3rd with what would be his first podium of his WorldSBK career to date. Both Kawasakis were now dropping back, and Redding was reeling them in, he caught Lowes first and cut under him into the Melbourne loop to take 5th.

With 4 laps to go Redding had now caught Rea, and made a clean pass again into the Melbourne loop. The BMW had much better acceleration, and Rea was unable to respond. Meanwhile at the front Bautista increased the gap to 1.3s. Toprak was winding the life out of his R1 but was unable to make up any ground.

Penultimate lap and Petrucci had now increased the gap over Redding to 1.2s. Meanwhile Rea launched an attack on Redding into the chicane, but Redding was able to defend his position.

Petrucci WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to take another win, followed by Toprak 2nd, Petrucci 3rd, Redding 4th, Rea 5th, Lowes 6th, Bassani 7th, Locatelli 8th, Gerloff 9th, Oettl 10th, Brad Ray 13th.

Results top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing)
  4. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
  5. Rea (Kawaski Racing Team WorldSBK)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 357
  2. Razgatlioglu – 264
  3. Locatelli – 175

 

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Formula E: Title Fight Heats Up In Portland As Dennis Takes The Championship Lead

The very first Portland E-Prix for Formula E saw drama in both qualifying and the race.

Qualifying:

Groups:

This session kicked off with Group A going out. 2 of the 4 chamionship contenders participating in this session: Pascal Wehrlein and Nick Cassidy. Gunther, Fenestraz, Ticktum and Vergne were quickest in the early parts of the session. As the timer ticked down, drivers kept on going faster and faster. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther were the top 4 as we entered the latter staged of the first group session. Mitch Evans, although he was not in this session, was under investigation for pit land procedures. 2 championship contenders Cassidy and Wehrlein both did NOT improve and were due to start on the 6th and 10th rows of the grid. Fenestraz, Vergne, Nato and Gunther(who made an error on his final lap) managed to make it through to the duels. Group A was finished and Group B was just getting underway.

As the light went green for Group B, another championship contender Mitch Evans was out of his car before the session even got underway. It appeared he had an issue with his car so he was unable to even participate in the session which was big for his championship hopes. It emerged that both DS Penskes were under investigation for a technical infringement which then meant both drivers of Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne would be forced to do a pitlane start. Roberto Mehri had a big lockup going into turn 1 but he managed to go into the run off area and rejoin the track. Mortara did something similar to his teammate and went onto the grass. He then pitted while Jake Dennis went fastest with a 1:09:856. It was then understood that a DC fault was the reason for the Mitch Evans not taking part in qualifying. Mortara managed to jump up to P2 which dropped Andre Lotterer out of the top 4. Both Sam Bird and Antonio Felix Da Costa managed to finish laps but only got up to P7 and P8 respectfully. The top 4 then went from Dennis, Mortara, Lotterer and Rast to Rast, Dennis, Hughes and Da Costa. They all went through to the duels.

Duels:
It was Nato and Vergne up first with Nato managing to beat the 2 time champion.

Fenestraz and Gunther were up next with Fenestraz having an advantage over the Maserati driver. Fenestraz then has a moment after the final corner and he managed to tap the wall and have a wiggle. He manages to beat Gunther by 0.100.

Hughes and Dennis went up against eachother for the third qualifying. Hughes first ahead by 0.056 but then Dennis managed to get a jump by 0.126. Dennis managed to keep that lead and beat the McLaren driver.

The final quarter final saw Rene Rast and Antonio Felix DaCosta go against eachother. Rast was 3 tenths down on the 2020 champion and it didn’t seem to go well. But then as they crossed the line, Rast managed to get through by other 1 tenth!

It was an all Nissan semi final 1 with Nato against Fenestraz. Nato managed to go a bit wide in turn 1 while Fenestraz managed to keep it tighter and be over 3 tenths up. Fenestraz then managed to get through to the final.

Rast and Dennis went uo against eachother with Dennis maintaining an early lead as they crossed the line to go into the final.

Dennis and Fenestraz went against eachother for the final with Dennis first being up by 0.011 tenths and then Fenestraz being up by 0.022 tenths. Fenestraz then tapped the wall at the final corner which costs him pole position. Jake Dennis took pole position and the championship lead.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E
Pole Position-Image Credit to Sam Bloxham

Race:
The lights went out in Portland and the McLarens managed to make a good start as well as Nick Cassidy who already made his way up to P5. Many moves happened in the early parts of this race with Mehri up to P15 and the Nissans still in 2nd and 3rd. Da Costa also managed to overtake Cassidy for P5. Muller managed to have broken front nose on his car. Cassidy then managed to get up to the lead from Dennis and Rast. A yellow flag then came out due to Mehri having a loss of power and stopping on track which brought out a safety car. At the safety car restart, Nato lead from Da Costa and Dennis. At that point, Da Costa managed to make 12 overtakes in the race so far. When the safety car came in, Fenestraz had to pit for a new front nose. The top 3 remained the same after the restart until Nato and Gunther managed to jump Cassidy with Mortara and Da Costa in P4 and P5.

The Safety Car was then deployed for a second time as the Abt Cupra of Nico Muller crashed at the walls of turn 9 and 10. His wing came off and went under the car. Thankfully, he is safe and got out of the car. The DS Penskes of Vergne and Vandoorne managed to get up to P13 and P15 after starting from the pitlane. Wehrlein also managed to get up to P1. The Safety Car remained out for many laps as we passed lap 15 out of 28. Then, Nato passed Cassidy while under the safety car. This was more than likely due to the race stewards reviewing the footage when the safety car came out.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3-Image Credit: Simon Galloway

We then went green again and MANY drivers decided to go for attack mode including Nato, Gunther, Mortara, Rast, Frijns, Hughes and Bird. While having attack mode, Gunther goes for an overtake on Dennis and managed to hold onto it. Every car was still stuck together on lap 18/28 while Vandoorne and Lotterer went through attack mode. Vergne then had a moment on the grass at the same place Muller went off but he managed to keep it on track. Wehrlein was then under investigation for a turn 1 incident. Both Vergne and Wehrlein then fell down the order as they took attack mode. Muller then got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but he already retired from the race. Da Costa managed to overtake Cassidy for the lead of the race!

The race then became a matter of energy saving to get them to the end. This involved a lot of weaving from many drivers. Vergne managed to get his way up to P4 after a pit lane start but he was overusing on power and had to drop back to conserve in order to get to the end. As we entered the letter staged of the race, Evans, Wehrlein, Buemi and Sette Camara all had 1 attac mode remaining. 4 additional laps were then added due to the amount of laps we spent behind the safety car. In terms of energy at this point, Vergne has 24% while Cassidy had 28% and Da Costa 29%. Dennis then goes for a move around the outside and he gets Da Costa but not Cassidy as Da Costa fights back. Gunther manages to touch the grass and drop down to P8. With 3 laps remaining, Da Costa takes the lead of the E-Prix! Dennis lines up a move into turn 1 on Da Costa but he stays behind the Porsche driver.

Cassidy manages to hold onto the lead and he wins the Portland E-Prix! Jake Dennis finishes P2 and Antonio Felix Da Costa finished the podium positions in P3. Mitch Evans managed to go from P20 to P4, Sebastian Buemi finished in P5 with Maximilian Gunther in P6. Sam Bird crossed the line in P7 but he got a penalty for a collision and dropped down to P17. Lucas DiGrassi, Pascal Wehrlein and Normal Nato crossed the line P8, P9 and P10 but got points for P7, P8 and P9. Robin Frijns managed to get P10.

Formula E returns in a few weeks with the Rome E-Prix on the 15th and 16th of July with the season finale a few weeks after that in London for the London E-Prix on the 29th and 30th of July.

Who is your favourite to win the title?

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MotoGP: Martin Sprints to Sachsenring Glory

Jorge Martin was on another level in a superb sprint race victory here at the Sachsenring. Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller rounding off the top three in 2nd and 3rd as the Martinator marched on in his 2023 title challenge.

The crowd were witness to a fantastic battle in the early stages between the front 3 riders and a great fight for 4th place which was taken, in the end, by Luca Marini.  More disappointment for both Yamaha and Aprilia with only Aleix Espargaro managing to finish in the top 10.

Image Credit: MotoGP

AS IT HAPPENED

Jack Miller, after a great start, lead into turn 1 on the first lap only for Pecco Bagnaia to come back past Miller into turn 2.

At the end of lap 1,  Bagnaia ran too hot into turn 1 as Miller moved back past into 1st and created a bit of a gap at the front. Jorge Martin  wasup 3 places in the race by the start of lap 2.

As the front three were battling, it was Brad Binder setting the fastest lap of the race at the end of lap 2 with Marc Marquez running wide. Marquez is constantly on the limit with his Honda this weekend, which has resulted in a lot of crashes so far. Halfway through lap 3, Bagnaia made his way back to the front down the hill of turn 11, back past Miller, only for the lead to quickly switch back to Miller down into turn 1 at the start of lap 4. A fantastic battle between last year’s teammates.

The overtake and key moment of the race has to go to the Martinator, Jorge Martin, as he blasted up the inside of both Bagnaia and Miller into the lead. An outstanding move from Martin!

On lap 6, Martin set the fastest lap of the sprint whilst building a gap to Bagnaia in the chasing group of 4 behind. Martin was pushing the gap above 1 second for the first time and trying to stretch out a lead at the front. Martin posted fastest lap after fastest lap and was on another level here at the Sachsenring.

It was a story of Ducati vs KTM in the top 5 with Yamaha nowhere, down in 14th and 15th. Aprilia were also outside of the top ten. With 9 laps to go in the sprint race, Martin is now 1.327s ahead of Bagnaia in second and despite Bagnaia doing his best lap of the race, he’s still unable to respond to the blistering pace of Martin out at the front.

Starting lap 10 of 15, Martin was well ahead now with a gap of 1.696s to Bagnaia in 2nd. Bagnaia was also half a second clear of Miller in 3rd.

Coming into the final phase of the sprint race, the top 3 seemed to have the positions locked in. The battle for 4th intensified with Binder battling with Marini. Binder was unable to outbreak the VR46 team rider into turn 1 as the battle for 4th place continued with 4 laps to go.

At the start of lap 14 and Binder was trying all he can to get by Marin, again into turn 1, however he was unable to make the move stick. Marini was holding station in 4th and showing superb defensive skills and was shutting the door whenever he could on Binder.

On the last lap of the sprint, Zarco managed to barge his way by Binder to take 5th but this then forced an investigation by the stewards. In the end, Marini managed to hold off everyone to take a great 4th place.

Martin crossed the line +2.468s clear of Bagnaia in 2nd and is now just 21 points shy of Bagnaia’s lead in the championship. Martin is mounting a serious challenge to our reigning champion and proved to be just too quick today for Bagnaia and Miller. Miller said, post race, that there is still more to come from the KTM rider and we’re all set for a great race tomorrow.

How it finished
Image Credit: MotoGP

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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MotoGP: Bagnaia takes pole in Sachsenring

Pecco Bagnaia reigns supreme at the Sachsenring with his 15th career pole position in MotoGP.  Back-to-back pole positions for the world champion as the incredible run of form continued here in Germany. 

A Sachsenring stunner here and a qualifying session full of drama. After a sea of yellow flags and laps cancelled, it was the Bologna bullet holding out at the end of Q2 to take pole position. 

Image Credit: Ducati Corse

QUALIFYING 1

Nicknamed the SachsenKING, Marc Marquez lead the pack of riders into Q1 on an ever changing track and set the benchmark time for the rest of the riders to chase posting the fastest time early on in the session.

With eight minutes left of the session, Marquez headed back out on the medium rain tyres to see if the track was ready for slicks, only to end up sprinting back to the pits for the spare bike, after the first of what turned into many falls throughout qualifying session for Marquez.

With time ticking away and riders in the pits looking on, they all had a tough call to make on what tyres to head back out on for the rest of Q1. After advice from his KTM teammate Jack Miller, Brad Binder was the first to gamble and head out onto the track on slick tyres.

With 30 seconds remaining of Q1, only two riders had the slick tyres on and this proved to be the right call with Binder and Marquez moving into Q2.

QUALIFYING 2

The battle for pole was on and with the sunshine now beating down onto the circuit, all of the riders headed out onto the track with slick tyres.

With ten minutes of the session remaining, Marquez was on course to posting the fastest time only to go over the handlebars coming out of turn 13. Marquez yet again seen sprinting back to the pits determined to get back out in Q2.

With Luca Marini now crossing the line going quickest, we then saw teammate Marco Bezzecchi crash out at turn 13. A copy cat like crash to the one we saw only moments earlier with Marquez.  With yellow flags now waving in sector 4 and with Bezzecchi now sprinting back to the pits, we were set for a hectic battle for pole in the second half of the session.

With just two minutes left to go in Q2, Johann Zarco goes quickest only to be topped a few seconds later by Miller. Fastest lap times just kept coming as we were shaping up for a thrilling finish to Q2.

Then just as all of the sectors lit up in yellow flags, Marini posted the quickest time only to be fractionally topped by Bagnaia, which would turn out to be pole position with a lap time of 1’21.4090 seconds. Just 0.078th of a second quicker to Marini in second place.

With Zarco going down and another fall from Marquez forcing the yellow flags, it caused a bunch of riders lap times to be cancelled and in doing so kept Bagnaia on top to take pole position.

Starting grid for the 2023 Saschenring MotoGP race. Image courtesy of MotoGP

 

Feature Image Credit:  courtesy of Ducati

 

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Moto3: Sasaki Shatters Sachsenring for Pole

Ayumu Sasaki pole setter for the moto3 2023 Saschenring race. image courtesy of IntactGP

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

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

 

QUALIFYING 1

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

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

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

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

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

QUALIFYING 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image credit: MotoGP 

Feature Image Credit: intactgp

 

 

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

Qualifying 1

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

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

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

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

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

Qualifying 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP

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Formula E Jakarta E-Prix: Gunther Takes Victory After Scoring Back to Back Poles

Round 10 and Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship brought many turns, drama and unexpected events.

Round 10:

Qualifying:

Qualifying for round 10 saw Dennis, Vandoorne, Vergne and Frijns get through from group A and Gunther, Wehrlein, Rast and Mortara go through from group B.

Quarter Final 1 saw the DS Penskes go head to head with Vergne taking victory over Vandoorne. It was Frijns and Dennis in quarter final 2 with Dennis winning over the Abt Cupra driver. Rene Rast went against Pascal Wehrlein in quarter final 3 with Wehrlein beating his fellow German. Both the Maserati drivers went against eachother for quarter final 4 with Gunther winning.

Vergne and Dennis went head to head for Semi final 1 and Jake Dennis won over the 2 time champion. Wehrlein and Gunther went to battle and Gunther won over the championship leader.

It was Jake Dennis vs Maximilian Gunther for the final and Gunther took his first pole position!

Race:

Round 10 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 took off with a clean getaway for the majority of drivers. Vandoorne managed to get ahead of Jake Dennis on the opening lap with the Envision of Sebastian Buemi falling down the order to P21.

Further on, David Beckmann (the stand in rookie for Andre Lotterer for this weekend) had a collision with Buemi and lost his front wing with Buemi suspecting he had a puncture. Wehrlein then took the lead of the race with DiGrassi, Mehri and Buemi taking their first attack mode. Attack mode was very different for this weekend. Drivers could go for 2 minutes then 6 minutes, 4 minutes in both stints or 6 minutes then 2 minutes. It was up to the drivers and teams whichever one they went with. Gunther and Dennis then joined the other drivers by taking attack mode.

Sebastien Buemi, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6 Image Credit:  Simon Galloway.

When Wehrlein took attack mode for the second time, he dropped down to P3 with Gunther in P1 and Vandoorne in P2 respectively. When Vandoorne went for his second attack mode on lap 12, he rejoined at P4, ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne but far behind Dennis. Wehrlein then takes back the lead after Gunther goes for his attack mode. Dennis eventually takes his 6 minute attack mode and Muller joined him while Mortara went for 2 minutes. Dennis passed Vandoorne with 4 minutes remaining.

Towards the latter stages of the race, the championship leader Nick Cassidy nearly spins his car. He collided with Vergne in turn 1. Dennis also got ahead of Gunther for P2. Gunther tries to line up a move into turn 1 but he didn’t manage to make it stick. Cassidy had to take his final attack mode but he dropped to P7 with no one having attack mode ahead of him. Rene Rast had a spin at turn 16. Near the end of the race, Evans got hit by his teammate Sam Bird in turn 1. Bird then ended up bringing out another yellow flag on the final lap. Wehrlein then crossed the line as the winner! Jake Dennis finished in P2 with Maximilian Gunther in P3. Stoffel Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne made it a DS Penske P4-P5 respectfully. Educardo Mortara finished P6, Championship leader Nick Cassidy finishes P7, Antonio Felix Da Costa finished P8 with Robin Frijns and Jake Hughes filling the final 2 points positions.

Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, 1st position, celebrates on the podium. Image Credit: LAT Images

Round 11:

Qualifying:

Qualifying for round 11 consisted of Dennis, Fenestraz, Evans and Hughes getting through from Group A and Gunther, Mortara, Wehrlein and Vandoorne through from group B.

Evans came out victorious over Fenestraz, Dennis beat Hughes in a Jake Vs Jake quarter final, both the Maserati drivers beat both Wehrlein and Vandoorne in the final 2 quarter finals.

Dennis and Mitch went head to head for semi final 1 and Dennis got through by 0.001 of a second. Mortara and Gunther went against eachother in semi final 2 with Gunther winning out.

It was Dennis vs Gunther in the final(the exact same as Round 10 Qualifying) and the result as the same as Gunther won pole position.

Race:

The race for Round 11 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in 2023 started off with 2 drivers being wheeled to the pitlane before the formation sequence even began. Sacha Fenestraz and Sam Bird had an issue on the grid which was not able to be fixed intime for the race. Gunther kept the lead as the lights went out. Gunther managed to keep the lead as the race went on, he took attackmode after his engineer told him to gain 4 tenths. This meant the German driver dropped down to P3.

Dennis then took attack mode after Gunther but he stayed ahead the Maserati driver. Evans was then leading the race but when he took attack mode, he fell behind both Dennis and Gunther.  Behind Gunther and Evans was Vandoorne and Mortara in P4 and P5. Soon after, David Beckmann had to retire due to an incident with Di Grassi. Both Evans and Mortara managed to make p a place to P2 and P4 respectfully. Gunther then makes a move to go up to P2 which he manages to make stick. It was then revealed that Roberto Mehri was down to 65% energy while everyone else was down to about 70%. Gunther looks to go around the outside of Dennis.

Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3, leads Maximilian Gunther, Maserati MSG Racing, Maserati Tipo Folgore. Image Credit: Simon Galloway

Buemi then pits for a new front wing after getting damage. Jean Eric-Vergne follows him after a seperate incident. Dennis then takes attack mode but drops down to P3. Gunther takes his attack mode soon after Dennis but Gunther stays ahead of Dennis. Following this, Mortara, Da Costa, Nato and Vergne (who rejoined after pitting a few laps back). Further on, Gunther lead the race by over 2 seconds to Dennis. Vandoorne was hot on the heels of Evans for the final podium spot. Gunther’s teammate Educardo Mortara locked up going into turn 1 and fell down a few places.

Towards the final stages of the race, Wehrlein took attack mode and dropped back to P8. He then managed to get past Da Costa. Vandoorne then got overtaken by Fenestraz while Fenestraz’ teammate Norman Nato tries to make 2 overtakes at once but he doesn’t manage to make it stick. Wehrlein overtook Vandoorne to make it up to P6. Wehrlein started to struggle to catch up to the rest of the pack at the front of the field. There was no added laps to the race.  Dennis tried to get past Gunther but it did not work as Maximilian Gunther won the Jakarta E-Prix! Jake Dennis finished P2 and Mitch Evans in P3.  Sacha Fenestraz finished P4 with his teammate Norman Nato in p5. Pascal Wehrlein was in P6, Antonio Felix Da Costa in P7, Eduardo Mortara in P8, Stoffel Vandorne in P9 with Sebastian Buemi finishing the points positions.

In the championship standings, Pascal Wehrlein leads the way by 1 point to Jake Dennis in P2 with Nick Cassidy behind by 5 points to Dennis. Mitch Evans is 19 points behind Cassidy with Jean-Eric Vergen 12 points back from Evans with 97.

 

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