World Superbike action at Imola, has already begun. Stay tuned for further updates, later on. Here's news from between Assen, and Imola.
Downshifting mistake caused Sykes' Assen crash
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/downshifting-mistake-caused-sykes-assen-crash-688392/?s=1
Hayden revels in first podium finish since 2011
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/hayden-revels-in-first-podium-finish-since-2011-688351/?s=1
Brookes "can put away doubts" after leading WSBK race
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/brookes-can-put-away-doubts-after-leading-wsbk-race-688339/?s=1
A preview of the Imola races.
Imola: Fortune favours the brave
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/imola-fortune-favours-the-brave-690279/?s=1
WSBK fails to find replacement for axed Monza round
http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/wsbk-fails-to-find-replacement-for-axed-monza-round-726450/?s=1
Stay tuned, for further action, from Assen, and, when there is time, full race reports, from Imola, as well.
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
updates on the motorcycle races
Have been very busy lately, but, will have the latest race reports, soon. More action from Assen and the World Superbike support races, and also, all the action, from MotoGP, in Jerez, Spain, to come. Plus, more news from MotoGP, MotoAmerica, and WSBK. Stay tuned, fans.
Thursday, April 28, 2016
FIM World Superbike Round 4: Assen, Holland
First of all, this will be the first, of two consecutive WSBK races, blogged about, here on 2 Wheelin'. The next round of the championship, will be blogged soon. Stay tuned, for details, at the end of the race report.
Chaz Davies and Ducati warned the rest of the field at Aragon, Spain, a few weeks back, we're coming. Davies dominated, winning both races, and beating the green machines, from Kawasaki. The momentum, is clearly, with Chaz Davies, and Ducati. Ask any diehard motorcycle racer to name a great circuit. Assen, will be the one. For the 25th time, "The Cathedral of Speed" as it is known to motorcycle road racing faithful, hosts the FIM World Superbike Championship. Race one, starts, now!
The Assen circuit was constructed, way back in 1926. So, it has been a fixture of motorcycle racing now, for 90 years. The modern configuration is 4.5 kilometers, 2.8 miles. Jonathan Rea, in winning last year's race here, also set the lap record. The circuit, has 21 corners, and will also be visited, by MotoGP, for the legendary Dutch TT, in June. So, stay tuned, to 2 Wheelin', for that one, too, fans. We have blue skies on the race weekend, for the first time in WSBK in 2016. Races seven and eight, are ready to roll, on Saturday, and Sunday. Let's go to the Saturday event first.
Looking at the weather. Air temp is 11 degrees Celsius (51 degrees Fahrenheit), and the track temp, is warmer at 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit). Winds are to the south, at 24 kilometers an hour, or 14 miles an hour. Jonathan Rea, has a points cushion over both Chaz Davies, and his team mate at Kawasaki, Tom Sykes. Rea has 26 points over Chaz Davies, and 29 points over Tom Sykes. Rea had a lot of trouble on Friday, with rain, and tech problems on Friday. He's qualified fourth for race one, starting directly behind Tom Sykes, on his third pole in four rounds.
Sylvain Guintoli and PATA Yamaha, are also really successful. Guintoli finished in a podium place in 250cc racing, and won in WSBK in 2012. Tom Sykes has his fourth pole at Assen in the last five years. It's his 33rd pole. He's ten poles away from the all-time record held by Troy Corser. It's the fifth pole for Kawasaki. The Goethe Timmer chicane, here at Assen, has been modified, and no longer has an astro turf runoff area. It has red painted double curbs, collaborated by the FIM and the FIA for bikes, and cars.
Native son, Michael van der Mark, will be the favorite. He knows his way around this legendary speed palace. Davide Giugliano on the Ducati, had a big wreck in free practice one. But, he, and the Ducati Panigale R were both none the worse for wear. Chaz Davies has qualified sixth for race one. Rea shadows Tom Sykes. Davies shadow Giugliano. Markus Reiterberger, is behind him, on the BMW S1000RR. Reiterberger is familiar with "The Cathedral" because the German IDM Superbike series, races here at Assen, as well. Reiterberger went seventh quickest, going through the first Super Pole session, and has qualified better than Althea BMW team mate, Jordi Torres.
Xavi Fores, you will recall, came fourth in both races at Motorland Aragon. He qualified better than Davide Giugliano on the factory Ducati. Jordi Torres starts ninth in race one. Torres knows this speedway, after racing here in Moto2, and on the Aprilia in Superbike, last year. There was debris on the road at the end of Super Pole 2, because Alex Lowes crashed his Yamaha at the end of the session. Lowes is ten spots behind team mate Sylvain Guintoli. Guintoli is second. Lowes, is twelfth. Nicky Hayden qualified tenth. He won here in MotoGP, a decade ago.
Hayden battled for that victory, with Colin Edwards, who has raced in both World Superbike, and MotoGP. Hayden is trying to find his feet in the dry on a World Superbike. Alex Lowes tucked the front end of his Yamaha, in qualifying, and wrecked. Josh Brookes had a flat tire and had to pit, and Alex de Angelis had to stop his motorcycle because of Brookes' issues. Those two blokes almost ran into each other into the final chicane. Leon Camier saw the fracas, had to slow down, and could not avoid having to go into the second Super Pole session. Karel Abraham had an issue at the start of Super Pole 1 and only had a chance to turn laps at the very end of the session.
Karel Abraham crashed in the rain, and has had tech issues. He is caboose on the field. We are on the sighting lap for race one. Chaz Davies starts sixth. Tom Sykes wants to get the hole shot on the start, and open a gap to Rea and Davies. Will that happen? We are about to find out. Kawasaki has not scored a double podium here at Assen, since 2013. Tom Sykes, and MotoGP racer who used to be in WSBK for Kawasaki, Loris Baz, were the podium finishers. Sykes in second, with Baz, in third.
Another cool factoid is this. Tom Sykes, and Jonathan Rea, are the first team mates, to win consecutive WSBK championships, since Carl Fogarty and Troy Corser did it for Ducati Performance run by inaugural WSBK champ Davide Tardozzi, in 1999. Fogarty's last race win, was here, in that 1999 race and he had twelve race wins at Assen. More race wins, on any circuit, than any other rider in the 28 year history of World Superbike. Troy Corser won at Phillip Island, seven times, and Jonathan Rea, has won here, at Assen, seven times as well. He's won the last three races held here, in 2014 for Honda, and doing the double in 2015, for Kawasaki.
It is windy and cold at the cathedral, and fans, and crews alike, are bundled up in jackets. The wind is strong, but it isn't as cold as it was after qualifying. The speedway's surface is bone dry. The track is very narrow. Watch the bikes, particularly into turn one, called the Haarbocht. It was shortened in distance between 2005 and 2006. Turn five, called Strubben, is another corner to watch for. Strubben, used to have banking. But, that is no longer the case. You can never rule out weather, here at Assen.
A tailwind could push the riders down the front straightaway. It is too early in the season to think about team orders. Fans in Holland will pull for the #60 Honda, Michael van der Mark. His dad was a racer, who won the endurance motorcycle races like the Suzuka 8 Hours and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which his dad won, in 1994. Chaz Davies has set three fastest laps in six races. Chaz Davies will have to fly into the lead group off the start. Sykes has to make a quick start and break away from Sylvain Guintoli on the Yamaha. Yamaha is still finding their feet. Can Davide Giugliano stay with the front running riders? He did in Phillip Island. But, he slipped away in the previous two races.
Some other names to look out for are Nicky Hayden, Lorenzo Savadori, (who won the Superstock 1000 race here last year, a race you will hear about, in it's current guise, later on, in another post). Alex Lowes is 12th. He was on a good lap, pushed too hard, lost the front, and went through the gravel, and the motorbike was repaired. Leon Camier on the MV Agusta will start 13th. Camier will have a lack of top speed on the MV Agusta. Watch out for Matteo Baiocco, too. Again, Fabio Menghi, the regular rider (for his family's team), was hurt in testing at Phillip Island, and is still recuperating from his injuries. Baiocco ran the Althea Ducati last year and finished 12th in race one and 11th in race two.
Alex De Angelis is 16th in his Assen WSBK debut. Lucas Mahias starts 17th. The Frenchman, riding bike #44, (a Kawasaki), makes his World Superbike debut, today. He was the French national Supersport champ in 2014. Of the dozen races in the championship, he broke out the broom, sweeping the season, and winning all of them. Mahias ran in World Supersport in 2015 and had several podiums. Roman Ramos was held up in Super Pole 1. We are five minutes away from the start of race one as the Alfa Romeo 4C safety car, speeds away on it's last sighting lap.
In 19th on the grid, is Matthieu Lussiana of France. He is back, after racing in Aragon, on the #94 BMW S1000RR. Another wildcard, is one of the oldest riders in the field. Polish rider, Pawel Szkopek. Szkopek, debuted in Italy, in 2004. He raced last year in the penultimate event in France. Josh Hook, has had a hard season. He missed the opening two rounds of the season after recuperating from a Phillip Island testing wreck. Karel Abraham is right at the back, with no time. He is on his own on row eight.
Davide Giugliano is third, Sylvain Guintoli is second, and Tom Sykes, is on pole. Incidentally, Lucas Mahias is subbing, for Sylvain Barrier in this race. Lots of variety in the tire selection for this race. Xavi Fores has an issue, and is pushed to the side of the track. Will it be game over for Fores even before the race begins? For the first time this year (as the bikes are on their warmup lap), Rea and Sykes are using different tires. Sykes has the soft C tire on the front and harder B rear tire, while Rea is using C tires on both ends of the motorcycle. Giugliano and Davies for Ducati, both have the B compound front tire and the C compound rear tire.
Hayden and van der Mark both could be using the B compound rear tires on their Honda's. No less than eight riders in the current field have finished on the podium here in Holland, at least once. This should be quite the race as the bikes form up. Here we go. Race one for World Superbike at The Cathedral. Fores starts in pit lane. Here come the lights. When they go out, we are racing, World Superbike style, in Holland! Go! Jonathan Rea launches into second place in front of Davide Giugliano.
Giugliano slides ahead of Sylvain Guintoli through Haarbocht. Alex Lowes is pushing from 12th on the grid. A couple riders nearly touch into the Ossebroeken complex, turns three and four. Sykes leads as they hit the Strubben for the first time. For now, it's Kawasaki 1-2, with Giugliano third on the Ducati, followed by Sylvain Guintoli. Already, Chaz Davies is pressuring hometown hero, Michael van der Mark. Through the right hand corner at turn six, the Ruskenhoek they go. Chaz Davies, leads the local hero, and the one all the fans will cheer for.
Alex Lowes and Luca Savadori scrap for position as Sylvain Guintoli is under massive pressure from Davies and van der Mark, as we have just begun this 21 lap contest. Davies wants by Guintoli. He does not want the green machines from Kawasaki to get away. Davies has to pass Giugliano if he wants to race Rea and Sykes. Giugliano runs wide and almost makes contact with Guintoli and van der Mark through the Geert Timmer Bocht. Close racing up front so far, in the early laps here at Assen.
Giugliano has lost another spot to Davies. Lowes and Hayden are both moving up. Chaz Davies stays with the Kawasaki's as they fight for the lead. It was not expected we'd see Jonathan Rea at the front of this field in race one at Assen for WSBK. Rea, Sykes, Davies, Guintoli, and van der Mark, the top five. The crowd, pulling, for van der Mark, to win at his home track. In replay, we watch, starting lap two as Sykes runs wide, sailing off the racing line, allowing Rea to make a clean pass. Can Michael van der Mark move up to challenge Chaz Davies? Davies is booking it, setting fastest lap of the race thus far at 1:36.486.
Davies almost dives inside Sykes in the second half of Ruskenhoek. He still can't pass into the next corner, Stekkenwal, (turn eight). van der Mark and Hayden, are the sharks, chasing after Guintoli's Yamaha, the little fish. They want to swallow up Guintoli, and push towards the front. Davies will pass Sykes between De Bult (turn nine) and Mandeveen (turn ten). Rea is gapping Tom Sykes, forcing Sykes to fall into the clutches of Chaz Davies, once we get to the Duikersloot chicane. van der Mark finally passes Guintoli into the last chicane at Geert Timmer Bocht.
Sykes runs wide allowing Davies to move inside. Jonathan Rea cannot shake Chaz Davies right now. He's trying to back Davies and Sykes into Michael van der Mark's territory. But, it's not working. Davies has pounced and flown past the two Kawasaki's. Jonathan Rea is in a more upright position on the motorcycle, whereas Davies is leaning into it. Rea has to sit up and can't get the lean angle on his bike. This is four way fight. Here comes van der Mark! He's without doubt the Flying Dutchman, and to quote the late, great public address announcer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tom Carnegie... "and, he's on it!" 1.5 seconds covers the top seven riders.
In order:
1. Davies
2. Rea
3. Sykes
4. van der Mark
5. Guintoli
6. Hayden
7. Lowes
Lowes, at the back, is the fastest bloke in this group. Oh dear! Game over in race one, for Sylvain Guintoli, on the Yamaha. He's wrecked in Ossebroeken, (turn three). The top six riders are just flying, going at it hammer and tongs here. Let's look at the back half of the top dozen or so.
8. Giugliano
9. Brookes
10. Reiterberger
11. Torres
12. Camier
13. Ramos
14. Mahias
15. De Angelis
Alex De Angelis, for the moment, is on for the final championship point, for Ioda Aprilia. They sweep through the double painted red curbs at Ramshoek (turn 15). Rea goes inside Davies, but runs wide, as he finds his body position on the motorcycle. Rea tried forcing the issue on Davies, and van der Mark, in the meantime, sweeps right around him. Nicky Hayden is alongside Jonathan Rea through Veenslang. Apart from Super Pole, we have had little to no dry weather running before the race.
van der Mark is applying the blowtorch to Tom Sykes. He's going for second spot. Rea has to pressure van der Mark, now. Davide Giugliano on the sister Ducati has had an issue, and has dropped from eighth to 13th. He's still on the road. But, he may have run wide. The new exhaust system Ducati debuted at Aragon, has helped them, and Davies needs that extra punch to defend from the Kawasaki's. Sykes closes on Davies, especially through turn nine (De Bult). Game over for Davide Giugliano at the end of lap seven. Lucas Mahias moves to 13th, followed by Alex De Angelis and Matteo Baiocco.
Alex Lowes in sixth, on the sole remaining Yamaha, needs to set consistent lap times through the rest of this first race. van der Mark is pushing through the fast turns as we work lap seven. van der Mark has passed Tom Sykes, and tries his best, to run down Chaz Davies. Davies runs wide and van der Mark is really pushing the envelope here. Nicky Hayden brings the second Honda into the picture as the top five are all in a fair fight. Will there be a pass at Ruskenhoek? That's brave. Giugliano brings the #34 Ducati back on track. Giugliano tested along with MotoGP riders at the Mugello circuit in Italy, the week before this race.
Alex Lowes, Luca Savadori, Jordi Torres, Leon Camier, and Markus Reiterberger, complete the top ten. Rea dives inside Tom Sykes. Oh dear! Tom Sykes loses it, and is down and out of race one in WSBK in Holland! The polesitter is out, and the front row for this race, is disintegrated. Giugliano is in pit lane, Guintoli, out, and now, Sykes, out. Sykes, on the right side of the road, comes into the left hand corner, hot, and comes across the front of another rider, doesn't have braking space, and is forced to ditch the motorcycle. Working lap ten, Davies leads, with Rea second. van der Mark is now third.
Nicky Hayden is also up there. Sykes would fall 49 points behind team mate Rea, if results from this first race, stand. Davies leads over Rea, van der Mark, and Hayden. Xavi Fores is now inside the points. Leon Camier is now running faster than Luca Savadori and Alex Lowes. Camier could come to sixth, or, perhaps, fifth place, as the race winds down. Hayden has ridden a smart race. He's got a slightly harder front Pirelli tire than his team mate Michael van der Mark does. Whatever happens for the rest of the lap, when the last lap comes around, it will come around to the final triple apex chicane, the Geert Timmer Bocht. That's where all the action will be. Alex Lowes is 6.6 seconds behind the top four.
Davies, Rea, van der Mark, Hayden, those are your leaders right now, ladies and gentlemen. The front runners tires are easy to remember. C compound for the top two, and B compound for positions three and four. Those are the rear tires. The fronts have to do with rider feel. Will Nicky Hayden have more stability under braking with a harder front tire? Maybe. But, again, it's about rider feel with the tire compounds. Harder tires help with stability under braking. Luca Savadori is closing up on Alex Lowes right now. Watch out for Leon Camier as well. He is coming, and fast, on the MV Agusta 1000 F4. Camier also has the BMW's of Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres, right behind him.
A bunch of riders between fifth and ninth, will be locked together in the next few laps. Chaz Davies has had a great race. Chaz Davies has never won at Assen, and Ducati, is looking for their first Assen triumph, since 2012, when Sylvain Guintoli was their rider. Michael van der Mark takes second spot away from Jonathan Rea. Eight laps to go and with van der Mark moving up, the crowd goes berserk! Savadori has passed Alex Lowes, and as we approach the end of this race, Karel Abraham, parks his motorcycle, #17. Game over for the German rider. Jonathan Rea passes for second spot into Ruskenhoek.
Davies is eking out an advantage and is fastest of the top four at 1:37.395. Compare that to a 1:37.430 for van der Mark, 1:37.560 for Hayden, and 1:37.598 for Rea. Only seven laps to go now as Rea passes van der Mark. Six laps to go. Start making your moves, now. Tom Sykes is now out. If it stays this way, the championship lead would decrease slightly. 26 points currently, and it would shrink to 21. Through the Ramshoek they come, with six laps left. Davies has been running deep into some of the turns. Thankfully there's no rain, as the riders can now use the curbs at their leisure. van der Mark wants to pass Rea on the outside, but thinks better of it into De Bult.
van der Mark is not trying a pass, or a kamikaze move on Rea. He is merely following him. Davies has led this whole race, for the most part. Hayden is dropping away from the top three. van der Mark passes Rea for second. The fifth place battle is still steaming. Leon Camier leads this group as Alex Lowes has sunk to ninth spot. Rea passes van der Mark back. They battle into turn five, Veenslang. Wildcard rider Pawel Szkopek is passed. He's technically not a wildcard. He is subbing on the Team Toth Yamaha YZF R1 for regular rider, Imre Toth. Toth, is sick. Hopefully, he recovers for the next race at Imola in Italy.
Roman Ramos is 10.6 seconds in-arrears of Alex Lowes, in tenth place. Davies wobbles on the curbs, and Rea passes. Rea runs wide through Ramshoek. Davies retakes the lead and van der Mark has a grandstand seat for this little scrum. Davies makes a move straight away, if he's passed. Very similar in style, to how Valentino Rossi, in MotoGP, does it. Fast laps analysis again, among the top four. Hayden is fastest at 1:37.380. Davies, 1:37.387. Rea, 1:37.409. van der Mark, 1:37.418. Four laps to go as Davies defends and tries for the lead. He is doing his best to hold off Rea at the present time.
Markus Reiterberger has a brief off course excursion. van der Mark forces the issue on Davies, Davies runs wide, and Hayden is very close now to Chaz Davies. It will be a Ducati vs. Honda fight. Three laps remain. van der Mark chases Rea. Jordi Torres has made a pass on Luca Savadori. Leon Camier is now inside the top five on the MV Agusta as well. Dark clouds loom on the horizon here at Assen. Let us hope they don't deposit their contents of rain, on this awesome motorcycle race. Two and a half laps to go, in race one. van der Mark, is coming. van der Mark passes Rea for the lead, and the crowd will go bonkers!
Turn nine, De Bult, and the battle still rages. van der Mark passes for the lead, and runs a bit wide. van der Mark gets out of shape through the right hand turn and just barely holds onto the motorcycle. The riders are changing their lines, through every corner. We see the dark clouds, but, there's more drama! van der Mark loses it! The hometown crowd will be stunned! van der Mark throws it away with two laps remaining in race one! He's absolutely gutted! Rea leads Davies and Hayden, who will score a podium place. He slid through the third turn, and on the corner angle, trying to brake, the front end folds under the bike, and van der Mark tumbles off into the gravel trap, with the bike, cartwheeling, shedding bodywork.
van der Mark, pushes the limit, while Hayden, rides more coolly and consistently. Hayden won't have enough time to catch the top two. Rea and Davies will fight for the win. Two motorcycles that work well in opposite and different areas on this speedway. Davies shines under braking into Geert Timmer Bocht. Rea is stronger in the earlier stages of the lap around Haarbocht, Madijk, Ossebroeken, etc. Hayden has dropped back having to avoid Michael van der Mark's wreck. Hayden has to settle for third and not push like his team mate, risking a wreck. Final lap. Jonathan Rea has to be chuckling all the way to the bank.
Jonathan Rea slides the bike, but, he will win, and score points over Davies in second, and team mate Tom Sykes, who crashed out. Jonathan Rea scores his eighth Assen win!
WSBK Race 1: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
Hayden on the podium, just behind Chaz Davies, and Leon Camier scores an awesome fourth place result for MV Agusta, with Jordi Torres fifth on the BMW, Luca Savadori sixth, Markus Reiterberger on the BMW, the Yamaha of Alex Lowes, Roman Ramos (on the Go11 Kawasaki), coming from eighteenth to ninth (passing half the field from his grid spot), and Lucas Mahias inside the top ten, subbing for the injured Sylvain Barrier. Jonathan Rea has won four in a row at Assen, and eight times at Assen as a circuit. He is second only to Carl Fogarty on this track.
He has definitely pulled a rabbit out of the hat here. Race two, is on deck, on Sunday afternoon.
Round four of Superbike, is race two at Assen. We've come here, every year, since 1992. Can Jonathan Rea do the double at Assen for the third time? The track is tricky, in the wet. We will see that, in the World Supersport race, later on. Stay tuned for that one, in a seperate blog entry, coming your way, soon. This track is clockwise. Watch out, again, for the FIM/FIA double curbs. Will Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark, bounce back, after wrecks in the Saturday race, that you can read about in the above paragraphs? Leon Camier is a man on a mission, finishing fourth on Saturday, and giving MV Agusta their best WSBK result.
Nicky Hayden, behind Chaz Davies, scored his first WSBK podium place. Jonathan Rea has won the last four races at Assen, and can he win the double for the third time? He's done it in 2010 and 2015. More dark clouds coming. This is World Superbike race two. Don't forget, you will also hear about the great World Supersport race here at Assen. Weather, has changed, many times, this Sunday. Seven degrees Celsius air temp, and 13 degrees Celsius, track temp, equals 44 degrees Fahrenheit air temp, and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, track temp. These readings, could change, very quickly.
Wind speed is two kilometers per hour (four miles per hour), blowing to the south. It's calm wind, and dry. No actual rain. Just damp patches on the road. Jordi Torres matches BMW's best result so far. France's Matthieu Lussiana, scored his first ever WSBK points in race one on Saturday. Dark clouds loom on the horizon. Rain is not far away from Assen. Jonathan Rea has 31 points in hand over Chaz Davies.
Now, here's a statistic for you. In 1995, Carl Fogarty won his 34th career Superbike race in race two at Assen at 29 years, 2 months of age. If Rea wins, he will have won his 34th race, in race two, at Assen, at 29 years, 2 months. Just as Fogarty did, 21 years ago. Can Michael van der Mark be the first Dutchman to win in WSBK, in his home race? Nicky Hayden's last podium was in the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix in MotoGP, when Valentino Rossi, and Casey Stoner, took each other out of the race at Jerez. A wet track, will be a huge challenge for the WSBK riders on Sunday.
Tom Sykes has scored his 33rd pole spot. He is ten away from the record set by Troy Corser, as mentioned earlier. Jeremy McWilliams is here, and he was the first Brit (he is actually from Northern Ireland), to win a 500cc Grand Prix race, at Assen, in a long while, and that happened, in 2001, 15 years ago. Leon Camier could also spring a surprise, because he's used to racing in the wet, in British Superbike. The pit lane is open. Xavi Fores has done well, winning titles in Spain and Germany. The conditions will be treacherous. Jonathan Rea will do an additional sighting lap. The track continues to change.
If there are pit stops, no flag to flag like in MotoGP. But, they have to take at least a minute in the lane, while they change tires. Rain will bring the track temperature down, and the ambient temperature is not high either. Jonathan Rea starts fourth for race two. The grid girls have to be absolutely freezing. This race, will be a wet race. Everyone starts on wets, and there may not even be a dry line. The difference between the slick tire and the wet tire, is 15 seconds. It's somewhere in between wet and dry. Four of the top five in points, failed to finish the Saturday race. Chaz Davies wins another Pirelli Best Lap Award. Davies has finished second three races in a row, here at Assen.
If we did get a podium finish for British riders, they would have 500 podiums. Markus Reiterberger has done very well here, and in the wet, you race this speedway differently, than other motorcycle racing tracks. This is the 50th WSBK race at Assen. So many great memories. 1998, Pierfrancesco Chili and Carl Fogarty raced each other. In 2013, Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty had an epic WSBK duel. Sam Lowes and Kenan Sofuoglu had a great Supersport race. Pierfrancesco Chili and Carl Fogarty, had a ding dong battle, at the WSBK race in 1998. Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty had a great race in race two. Chris Walker came through to win his only WSBK race win on a Kawasaki. Not sure what year that was.
Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, Carl Fogarty. It's been a huge race, and is back to that time. World Superbike first came here in 1992, and of course, the Dutch TT has been here for MotoGP for much longer. We'll get to that, as it comes in June of course. Matteo Baiocco is 15th. Lucas Mahias is 16th. Roman Ramos, 17th. Matthieu Lussiana, 18th. Pawel Szkopek starts 19th. Karel Abraham is 21st. He is concerned, because Milwaukee BMW has had five separate issues with the throttle body on their S1000RR motorcycle.
Peter Sebestyen starts 22nd. He is on the Team Toth Yamaha. Team boss and regular rider, Imre Toth, is the umbrella man for his replacement rider this weekend, and again, that's Pawel Szkopek. Five minutes to go, and we'll be underway, for race two. Stand by, ladies and gentlemen. There was an incident in the morning warmup we should discuss. Josh Hook and Alex De Angelis both crashed. They did so in turn ten, (Mandeveen corner). Josh Hook has been scratched, from the field for race two, because of tech issues with his motorcycle.
Alex De Angelis is another scratched rider, because in the wreck with Hook, he hurt a finger on his left hand, hurting the tendon in it. De Angelis, is checking with doctors at the hospital, to heal those injuries. Dominic Schmitter on a Grillini Kawasaki is 23rd on the grid. We actually have 22 bikes out there for WSBK race two in Holland. The three riders on the front row, none scored points in race one. Davide Giugliano, Sylvain Guintoli, and Tom Sykes. Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, respectively, if you are keeping score at home.
Stand by for drama as we get ready for the 50th WSBK race at Assen. The bikes are away on their warmup lap. Six different manufacturers finished in the top six places, in race one. Guintoli and Reiterberger, these guys are using the intermediate compound rear Pirelli tire. If it is windy, the track dries quickly. Yamaha has good mechanical grip. The riders in 600 Supersport, they had a hard time getting on the throttle. You will hear about SSP racing, later. No spoilers, for now. We focus on SBK race two.
Don't burn up the intermediate tires. Look for water, so they don't begin to chunk and fall apart. No matter the outcome of this race, Jonathan Rea, will maintain his points lead. He will have a 31 point cushion over Chaz Davies. Tom Sykes, is now 54 points in-arrears of his team mate. There was a situation here at Assen, during the Dutch TT weekend, in Moto2, where Dominique Aegerter, started on an intermediate tire, and got swamped by the field. Lets hope that does not happen now, as we look for the start, of World Superbike race two at The Cathedral. The tires for the top three riders = intermediate rear.
Here we go. World Superbike race two, at Assen, is, now! At the start, Jonathan Rea gets a hole shot, and whistles off into the distance ahead of the pack! Chaz Davies and also, Karel Abraham, had awesome starts! Ah. Check that. It's Josh Brookes who got the great start on the second Milwaukee BMW. Nicky Hayden and Davide Giugliano are going for it. Rea goes after Sykes as we run into Strubben for the first time. Davies and Rea are side by side and so are the Honda's of Hayden and Michael van der Mark. Down through the Veenslang, we are watching for Markus Reiterberger and Sylvain Guintoli. Where are those two chaps?
Guintoli and Reiterberger, have both sunk like stones, on intermediate tires. Michael van der Mark has his hands full with Xavi Fores. The Kawasaki's have an advantage in the wet. Rea and Sykes can keep the bikes more upright, while other bikes like the Ducati, Honda, Yamaha etc. have to be ridden, using more lean angle. Find the grip. Where does the bike work best on the road? Jonathan Rea has fallen to fifth place. Fores is steaming to the front of the field at the moment. Xavi Fores eats up Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden and has made it to a podium spot in third! Same can not be said for Jordi Torres. The Althea BMW rider has dropped way down to 17th place.
Another man on the move, on the Toth Yamaha, is Pawel Szkopek. He's booked it from 20th to 11th in the space of a lap! Jonathan Rea wants around the Honda's. These boys are tiptoeing, and it's always risky, because if you make a wrong move in the wet, you're done. It's truly, game over. The top ten is covered by a mere two seconds! Holy cow! Sykes has the advantage as they hit the Ruskenhoek for the first time. Davide Giugliano has lost a lot of places, going from third on the grid, way down to seventh. Hayden, meanwhile, wants to challenge his Honda team mate, van der Mark, into Stekkenwal.
Pawel Szkopek is not finished yet! He's up the inside and says "Grazi" to Lorenzo Savadori, on the Aprilia. Will the Toth Yamaha pass the Aprilia? Not yet. Josh Brookes and Alex Lowes have latched onto the front running group. Jonathan Rea easily passes Davide Giugliano. Giugliano can't find the grip on the Ducati. Xavi Fores is up to second now. Here comes Nicky Hayden as well, inside Chaz Davies. Michael van der Mark is following them. What has happened to Guintoli and Reiterberger? They are 20 seconds behind the leader, and seven seconds behind Peter Sebestyen. They cannot pit, because it's not worth it.
Fores is up to second on the customer Ducati, while the factory bike ridden by Davies is falling behind both of the works Honda's. This is the yo yo effect that happens in wet races. Tom Sykes continues to lead. The more weight within his own body weight that he puts over the front of the motorcycle, will help the tires generate heat. The same is true, in a qualifying situation. The nature of the Pirelli tires is, they have to be run at a smoother pace in the wet, to generate decent grip. Chaz Davies and Josh Brookes have both gotten around Jonathan Rea. Guintoli and Reiterberger are praying for rain, to take advantage of having intermediate tires.
If rain came, they can pit, but have about a minute window (61 seconds) to actually fly into the pit lane and get the tires changed. Xavi Fores has been eaten up, again, by the two Honda's. Sykes ekes out a gap on lap four. Jonathan Rea takes fifth place, from Josh Brookes. With a breeze blowing, a dry line is now emerging on the road. Brookes passes Chaz Davies and has set fastest lap so far at 1:54.616. Brookes actually is trying to pass Davies, and now Davide Giugliano is being hounded by Luca Savadori. Alex Lowes has passed Pawel Szkopek. But Szkopek is still in the fight. Savadori passes Davies as well.
Savadori and Davies are a bit too close for comfort! How close do you like it? Xavi Fores, meanwhile, is outperforming both factory Ducati riders. Sykes leads van der Mark with Hayden third and Rea fourth. van der Mark sets fastest race lap and the crowd goes nuts! Josh Brookes is opening a margin on Jonathan Rea! van der Mark will hopefully go through on Sykes, and then, this crowd is going to explode in jubilation! van der Mark, wants it, and is already out front as we run into Strubben. They shoot down the Veenslang, and this is what the crowd wanted yesterday, but didn't get.
van der Mark resets fastest lap at 1:52.703. Dark clouds loom in the background. But, it's bright sunshine for the fans. Look out for Josh Brookes, though. He's scything through the field on the Milwaukee Racing BMW S1000RR, having just passed Nicky Hayden and also getting around Jonathan Rea. Brookes, the reigning British Superbike champ, making his return to WSBK, slots into third at De Bult (corner number nine). Jonathan Rea is now right on his team mate's tail. Is Sykes going to fall from the lead, to fifth? It appears so. van der Mark and Brookes are wheel to wheel! Josh Brookes, takes the lead! The Dutch crowd, wonders, as the Aussie has stolen the thunder, for a brief moment.
Sixteen laps still remain as Brookes runs fastest lap of the race at 1:50.902. Two Honda's are on the podium at this time. Sykes is fifth, Savadori sixth, Giugliano seventh, Fores eighth, Davies ninth, and Alex Lowes, tenth. Szkopek is eleventh, from Leon Camier, Matteo Baiocco, Lucas Mahias, and Matteo Lussiana. Roman Ramos is in the lane, from 16th spot. He will surely swap to slick Pirelli tires. Xavi Fores is starting to sink down the field. An intermediate front tire for Roman Ramos. Possibly, a slick rear tire will go on that bike. Let's hope Ramos does not go a lap down with the 61 second maximum pit time limit.
That may be a waste, because with the track drying, you won't go 15 seconds faster, on the intermediate, like you would on the slick Pirelli tire. So, all you are doing, is trashing your tires. Tom Sykes is losing spots hand over fist to Davide Giugliano and Luca Savadori. Brookes leads and Xavi Fores is headed for the lane. Sykes is a guy who needs to stop, ASAP. More like, now. Nicky Hayden passes team mate Michael van der Mark into Strubben (turn five). When will you time your tire switch? Not too much moisture coming off the rear wheel.
We are working lap seven of 21. Three or four laps, to halfway. It was a deluge during the World Supersport race (again, no spoilers). Then, the track began to dry, coming towards the second WSBK race you are reading about now. Everyone was on wet tires, with the exception of Sylvain Guintoli, and Markus Reiterberger. The intermediate tires are not working, and beginning to be shredded up. The Milwaukee BMW mechanics are in the lane, waiting to see if they'll make a tire change. van der Mark and Rea are in a dust up for position. These two blokes almost touch! Correction. Brookes did not enter the lane. So, maybe Milwaukee BMW was looking for his team mate, Karel Abraham.
Sykes in ninth, signals to his crew, that he'll pit, for new tires. Boys, it's time to gamble. Get off the intermediates and onto slicks, now. Nicky Hayden passes Josh Brookes on the run to turn seven, between Ruskenhoek and Stekkenwal. With a dry line coming, the riders will have to run slightly off line, to cool their rain tires and try to find moisture. Ramos and Reiterberger have both been lapped, on intermediate tires. This is the tale. You must switch tires, to go faster. No pits to bike radios in motorcycle racing. So, the riders have to make the call, and follow their pit boards.
Jonathan Rea hits the pits, now. Oh deary me! Sykes is also in! Kawasaki is rolling the dice, and they need to. New tires on the Kawasaki, as other riders make the jump for pit lane, to get new rubber. Jordi Torres is in on the Althea BMW. Rea and Sykes are using intermediate rear tires. Brookes sets fastest lap at 1:50.582 on the other end of the Assen circuit. Rea and Sykes are leaving pit lane, going back on the speedway. Brookes is at turns ten and eleven, Mandeveen and Duikersloot. Will they pile into pit lane? Will a rider stay on the road and take advantage to gain track position?
Here's your running order.
1. Josh Brookes
2. Nicky Hayden
3. Michael van der Mark
4. Chaz Davies
5. Luca Savadori
6. Alex Lowes
7. Davide Giugliano
8. Matteo Baiocco
9. Pawel Szkopek
10. Leon Camier
Brookes is not coming in on this lap. He'll hold P1. Miwaukee BMW brings out the slicks. We don't know yet, if it's for Karel Abraham, or Josh Brookes. van der Mark and Giugliano pit. Nicky Hayden stays on track. This is the big moment, because next lap around, is halfway. Chaz Davies and Luca Savadori stay out. Alex Lowes will also keep racing. Leon Camier pits the MV Agusta. van der Mark, box, box, box. Davies stays out, and sets fastest lap at 1:49.9! Giugliano pits. Karel Abraham pits. Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea, are close on track.
Abraham is on slicks. Abraham changes and adjusts the rear shock and the front forks. Brookes is continuing as Jonathan Rea passes Michael van der Mark. Leon Camier and Matteo Baiocco have both pitted. Jonathan Rea is less than a minute from taking the lead from Josh Brookes. Savadori pits. Chaz Davies will stay out. Davies is going to be in a pickle, and lose places compared to where he should be. Tom Sykes now sets fastest lap at 1:43.264. Hayden is going after Brookes on the road, and neither has pitted. Chaz Davies and Alex Lowes have also chosen to stay on track here.
Matteo Baiocco on the VFT Racing Ducati, will be lapped.
The Kawasaki's are going to only get quicker while the Ducati's and Honda's are going to have a harder time. Davies wants by Nicky Hayden as Brookes will pit this lap. It will be slick tires for Brookes. Wait! Brookes stays out, and Davies steals second from Hayden! Lowes shoots to the lead and then pits. Brookes stays in P1. Davies shoots by Hayden in the Ramshoek and through the Geert Timmer chicane (or GT chicane, for short). One bloke might just try and stay out for the final ten laps of this absolutely shootout of a WSBK race! These guys will have to pit. Ten more laps on these wet tires could be an issue. Pirelli makes a durable tire. But the performance just won't be there.
Chaz Davies chases Josh Brookes. But, Tom Sykes, is coming. He's the man we have to watch. He is gaining on team mate Jonathan Rea. Brookes and Davies, in the lane. Will Hayden follow? Spot on. He does. Lucas Mahias on the Pedercini Kawasaki, could inherit the lead. Kawasaki will inherit the top two after these pit stops. Rea followed by Sykes. Oh dear! This is getting dicey. Sykes and Rea are mixed in with lapped traffic. The lapped riders are Dominic Schmitter and Jordi Torres. Torres on the #81 Althea BMW and Schmitter on the Grillini Racing Kawasaki ZX10R. Hayden, Brookes, and Davies exit the pits.
Chaz Davies has lost loads of time. Tom Sykes passes Pawel Szkopek's Team Toth Yamaha for position. Momentarily, Szkopek was actually second! Yikes! Lucas Mahias is leading on the #44 Pedercini Kawasaki. Mahias is super sub for Sylvain Barrier, and he dominated French Superbike in 2014 winning all the races. Markus Reiterberger is way down in 18th and is a lap down. Matteo Baiocco is out. What a shame! Josh Brookes has crashed out of race two! Rea sets new fastest lap at 1:40.568. Rea and Sykes have now passed Lucas Mahias for the lead. So, order, in a way, has been restored, with KRT out in front.
Pawel Szkopek is now in the lane. His wet weather tires are surely eaten alive. For now the sun is out. But, rain might still be a possibility. Sykes has to push and make up points. Sykes resets fastest lap at 1:40 flat. 1:40.036. These two are 54 points apart, and if it stays this way, 59 points would be the margin. Michael van der Mark will be third. Mahias is fourth. Rea is balked by the lapped bike of Markus Reiterberger. Matteo Lussiana is next to be lapped. Markus Reiterberger will take the final point from Matteo Lussiana, who was a Superstock 1000 rider, last year.
Karel Abraham on the #17 Milwaukee BMW will be lapped. Lucas Mahias pits at the end of lap 15, as the wet tires on the Pedercini Kawasaki, are toast. Sykes is fractionally quicker than Rea, and Sykes uses Abraham on the lapped bike, as a pick. Five laps now remain. Mahias may rejoin, ahead of Roman Ramos. Rea is more comfortable than Sykes, after Sykes was held up. Lorenzo Savadori finished sixth in race one (his best SBK finish). Well, he will better that, and finish fourth. Chaz Davies was second in race one, but only fifth in this race. He'll stay in second in the championship, but be 45 points behind. Will the Kawasaki's tires hold for the last five laps?
This track is bone dry. Nicky Hayden lost out on pit stops, and runs seventh, behind Alex Lowes on the Yamaha. Hayden easily passes Lowes. Davide Giugliano will finish eighth. Xavi Fores is ninth, with Sylvain Guintoli ninth. After that, it's Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Camier, Roman Ramos, Lucas Mahias, Karel Abraham, and Jordi Torres. Rea is sliding around, but he's making things work. Sykes is, too. But, he needs to pick up the pace on Rea. Michael van der Mark, will finish on the podium, and Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia, has gone very well. Sykes is building his pace on Rea.
Will we see a last turn battle again here at Assen? If he does not shove the bike down the inside, he won't gain points, and might be out of contention for the championship. Rea runs deep into Strubben as Sykes sets fastest lap of the race at 1:38.213. A lap and a half to go here at Assen. The gap is one second. Sykes is losing rear grip as he pressures Rea. Rea is one lap away from a ninth win at Assen. Rea looks to be cruising to a win, here at The Cathedral. Rea is up by 1.4 seconds. Lorenzo Savadori will hold fourth, with Chaz Davies fifth. Davies will have a huge points deficit to Rea.
Jonathan Rea will win his eighth Assen race, his fifth in a row, and his third double win here. It's a Kawsaki 1-2, and Rea wins his eighth race at Assen! He's crushed it, this weekend!
World Superbike Race 2: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
Irony of ironies, it starts raining, right at the end of WSBK race two at Assen. Jonathan Rea has done the same as the great Carl Fogarty, winning at Assen, at 29 years, two months, of age. The next race for World Superbike is this weekend, in Imola, Italy, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Stay tuned, for a full race report, to be posted, soon.
Chaz Davies and Ducati warned the rest of the field at Aragon, Spain, a few weeks back, we're coming. Davies dominated, winning both races, and beating the green machines, from Kawasaki. The momentum, is clearly, with Chaz Davies, and Ducati. Ask any diehard motorcycle racer to name a great circuit. Assen, will be the one. For the 25th time, "The Cathedral of Speed" as it is known to motorcycle road racing faithful, hosts the FIM World Superbike Championship. Race one, starts, now!
The Assen circuit was constructed, way back in 1926. So, it has been a fixture of motorcycle racing now, for 90 years. The modern configuration is 4.5 kilometers, 2.8 miles. Jonathan Rea, in winning last year's race here, also set the lap record. The circuit, has 21 corners, and will also be visited, by MotoGP, for the legendary Dutch TT, in June. So, stay tuned, to 2 Wheelin', for that one, too, fans. We have blue skies on the race weekend, for the first time in WSBK in 2016. Races seven and eight, are ready to roll, on Saturday, and Sunday. Let's go to the Saturday event first.
Looking at the weather. Air temp is 11 degrees Celsius (51 degrees Fahrenheit), and the track temp, is warmer at 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit). Winds are to the south, at 24 kilometers an hour, or 14 miles an hour. Jonathan Rea, has a points cushion over both Chaz Davies, and his team mate at Kawasaki, Tom Sykes. Rea has 26 points over Chaz Davies, and 29 points over Tom Sykes. Rea had a lot of trouble on Friday, with rain, and tech problems on Friday. He's qualified fourth for race one, starting directly behind Tom Sykes, on his third pole in four rounds.
Sylvain Guintoli and PATA Yamaha, are also really successful. Guintoli finished in a podium place in 250cc racing, and won in WSBK in 2012. Tom Sykes has his fourth pole at Assen in the last five years. It's his 33rd pole. He's ten poles away from the all-time record held by Troy Corser. It's the fifth pole for Kawasaki. The Goethe Timmer chicane, here at Assen, has been modified, and no longer has an astro turf runoff area. It has red painted double curbs, collaborated by the FIM and the FIA for bikes, and cars.
Native son, Michael van der Mark, will be the favorite. He knows his way around this legendary speed palace. Davide Giugliano on the Ducati, had a big wreck in free practice one. But, he, and the Ducati Panigale R were both none the worse for wear. Chaz Davies has qualified sixth for race one. Rea shadows Tom Sykes. Davies shadow Giugliano. Markus Reiterberger, is behind him, on the BMW S1000RR. Reiterberger is familiar with "The Cathedral" because the German IDM Superbike series, races here at Assen, as well. Reiterberger went seventh quickest, going through the first Super Pole session, and has qualified better than Althea BMW team mate, Jordi Torres.
Xavi Fores, you will recall, came fourth in both races at Motorland Aragon. He qualified better than Davide Giugliano on the factory Ducati. Jordi Torres starts ninth in race one. Torres knows this speedway, after racing here in Moto2, and on the Aprilia in Superbike, last year. There was debris on the road at the end of Super Pole 2, because Alex Lowes crashed his Yamaha at the end of the session. Lowes is ten spots behind team mate Sylvain Guintoli. Guintoli is second. Lowes, is twelfth. Nicky Hayden qualified tenth. He won here in MotoGP, a decade ago.
Hayden battled for that victory, with Colin Edwards, who has raced in both World Superbike, and MotoGP. Hayden is trying to find his feet in the dry on a World Superbike. Alex Lowes tucked the front end of his Yamaha, in qualifying, and wrecked. Josh Brookes had a flat tire and had to pit, and Alex de Angelis had to stop his motorcycle because of Brookes' issues. Those two blokes almost ran into each other into the final chicane. Leon Camier saw the fracas, had to slow down, and could not avoid having to go into the second Super Pole session. Karel Abraham had an issue at the start of Super Pole 1 and only had a chance to turn laps at the very end of the session.
Karel Abraham crashed in the rain, and has had tech issues. He is caboose on the field. We are on the sighting lap for race one. Chaz Davies starts sixth. Tom Sykes wants to get the hole shot on the start, and open a gap to Rea and Davies. Will that happen? We are about to find out. Kawasaki has not scored a double podium here at Assen, since 2013. Tom Sykes, and MotoGP racer who used to be in WSBK for Kawasaki, Loris Baz, were the podium finishers. Sykes in second, with Baz, in third.
Another cool factoid is this. Tom Sykes, and Jonathan Rea, are the first team mates, to win consecutive WSBK championships, since Carl Fogarty and Troy Corser did it for Ducati Performance run by inaugural WSBK champ Davide Tardozzi, in 1999. Fogarty's last race win, was here, in that 1999 race and he had twelve race wins at Assen. More race wins, on any circuit, than any other rider in the 28 year history of World Superbike. Troy Corser won at Phillip Island, seven times, and Jonathan Rea, has won here, at Assen, seven times as well. He's won the last three races held here, in 2014 for Honda, and doing the double in 2015, for Kawasaki.
It is windy and cold at the cathedral, and fans, and crews alike, are bundled up in jackets. The wind is strong, but it isn't as cold as it was after qualifying. The speedway's surface is bone dry. The track is very narrow. Watch the bikes, particularly into turn one, called the Haarbocht. It was shortened in distance between 2005 and 2006. Turn five, called Strubben, is another corner to watch for. Strubben, used to have banking. But, that is no longer the case. You can never rule out weather, here at Assen.
A tailwind could push the riders down the front straightaway. It is too early in the season to think about team orders. Fans in Holland will pull for the #60 Honda, Michael van der Mark. His dad was a racer, who won the endurance motorcycle races like the Suzuka 8 Hours and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which his dad won, in 1994. Chaz Davies has set three fastest laps in six races. Chaz Davies will have to fly into the lead group off the start. Sykes has to make a quick start and break away from Sylvain Guintoli on the Yamaha. Yamaha is still finding their feet. Can Davide Giugliano stay with the front running riders? He did in Phillip Island. But, he slipped away in the previous two races.
Some other names to look out for are Nicky Hayden, Lorenzo Savadori, (who won the Superstock 1000 race here last year, a race you will hear about, in it's current guise, later on, in another post). Alex Lowes is 12th. He was on a good lap, pushed too hard, lost the front, and went through the gravel, and the motorbike was repaired. Leon Camier on the MV Agusta will start 13th. Camier will have a lack of top speed on the MV Agusta. Watch out for Matteo Baiocco, too. Again, Fabio Menghi, the regular rider (for his family's team), was hurt in testing at Phillip Island, and is still recuperating from his injuries. Baiocco ran the Althea Ducati last year and finished 12th in race one and 11th in race two.
Alex De Angelis is 16th in his Assen WSBK debut. Lucas Mahias starts 17th. The Frenchman, riding bike #44, (a Kawasaki), makes his World Superbike debut, today. He was the French national Supersport champ in 2014. Of the dozen races in the championship, he broke out the broom, sweeping the season, and winning all of them. Mahias ran in World Supersport in 2015 and had several podiums. Roman Ramos was held up in Super Pole 1. We are five minutes away from the start of race one as the Alfa Romeo 4C safety car, speeds away on it's last sighting lap.
In 19th on the grid, is Matthieu Lussiana of France. He is back, after racing in Aragon, on the #94 BMW S1000RR. Another wildcard, is one of the oldest riders in the field. Polish rider, Pawel Szkopek. Szkopek, debuted in Italy, in 2004. He raced last year in the penultimate event in France. Josh Hook, has had a hard season. He missed the opening two rounds of the season after recuperating from a Phillip Island testing wreck. Karel Abraham is right at the back, with no time. He is on his own on row eight.
Davide Giugliano is third, Sylvain Guintoli is second, and Tom Sykes, is on pole. Incidentally, Lucas Mahias is subbing, for Sylvain Barrier in this race. Lots of variety in the tire selection for this race. Xavi Fores has an issue, and is pushed to the side of the track. Will it be game over for Fores even before the race begins? For the first time this year (as the bikes are on their warmup lap), Rea and Sykes are using different tires. Sykes has the soft C tire on the front and harder B rear tire, while Rea is using C tires on both ends of the motorcycle. Giugliano and Davies for Ducati, both have the B compound front tire and the C compound rear tire.
Hayden and van der Mark both could be using the B compound rear tires on their Honda's. No less than eight riders in the current field have finished on the podium here in Holland, at least once. This should be quite the race as the bikes form up. Here we go. Race one for World Superbike at The Cathedral. Fores starts in pit lane. Here come the lights. When they go out, we are racing, World Superbike style, in Holland! Go! Jonathan Rea launches into second place in front of Davide Giugliano.
Giugliano slides ahead of Sylvain Guintoli through Haarbocht. Alex Lowes is pushing from 12th on the grid. A couple riders nearly touch into the Ossebroeken complex, turns three and four. Sykes leads as they hit the Strubben for the first time. For now, it's Kawasaki 1-2, with Giugliano third on the Ducati, followed by Sylvain Guintoli. Already, Chaz Davies is pressuring hometown hero, Michael van der Mark. Through the right hand corner at turn six, the Ruskenhoek they go. Chaz Davies, leads the local hero, and the one all the fans will cheer for.
Alex Lowes and Luca Savadori scrap for position as Sylvain Guintoli is under massive pressure from Davies and van der Mark, as we have just begun this 21 lap contest. Davies wants by Guintoli. He does not want the green machines from Kawasaki to get away. Davies has to pass Giugliano if he wants to race Rea and Sykes. Giugliano runs wide and almost makes contact with Guintoli and van der Mark through the Geert Timmer Bocht. Close racing up front so far, in the early laps here at Assen.
Giugliano has lost another spot to Davies. Lowes and Hayden are both moving up. Chaz Davies stays with the Kawasaki's as they fight for the lead. It was not expected we'd see Jonathan Rea at the front of this field in race one at Assen for WSBK. Rea, Sykes, Davies, Guintoli, and van der Mark, the top five. The crowd, pulling, for van der Mark, to win at his home track. In replay, we watch, starting lap two as Sykes runs wide, sailing off the racing line, allowing Rea to make a clean pass. Can Michael van der Mark move up to challenge Chaz Davies? Davies is booking it, setting fastest lap of the race thus far at 1:36.486.
Davies almost dives inside Sykes in the second half of Ruskenhoek. He still can't pass into the next corner, Stekkenwal, (turn eight). van der Mark and Hayden, are the sharks, chasing after Guintoli's Yamaha, the little fish. They want to swallow up Guintoli, and push towards the front. Davies will pass Sykes between De Bult (turn nine) and Mandeveen (turn ten). Rea is gapping Tom Sykes, forcing Sykes to fall into the clutches of Chaz Davies, once we get to the Duikersloot chicane. van der Mark finally passes Guintoli into the last chicane at Geert Timmer Bocht.
Sykes runs wide allowing Davies to move inside. Jonathan Rea cannot shake Chaz Davies right now. He's trying to back Davies and Sykes into Michael van der Mark's territory. But, it's not working. Davies has pounced and flown past the two Kawasaki's. Jonathan Rea is in a more upright position on the motorcycle, whereas Davies is leaning into it. Rea has to sit up and can't get the lean angle on his bike. This is four way fight. Here comes van der Mark! He's without doubt the Flying Dutchman, and to quote the late, great public address announcer at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tom Carnegie... "and, he's on it!" 1.5 seconds covers the top seven riders.
In order:
1. Davies
2. Rea
3. Sykes
4. van der Mark
5. Guintoli
6. Hayden
7. Lowes
Lowes, at the back, is the fastest bloke in this group. Oh dear! Game over in race one, for Sylvain Guintoli, on the Yamaha. He's wrecked in Ossebroeken, (turn three). The top six riders are just flying, going at it hammer and tongs here. Let's look at the back half of the top dozen or so.
8. Giugliano
9. Brookes
10. Reiterberger
11. Torres
12. Camier
13. Ramos
14. Mahias
15. De Angelis
Alex De Angelis, for the moment, is on for the final championship point, for Ioda Aprilia. They sweep through the double painted red curbs at Ramshoek (turn 15). Rea goes inside Davies, but runs wide, as he finds his body position on the motorcycle. Rea tried forcing the issue on Davies, and van der Mark, in the meantime, sweeps right around him. Nicky Hayden is alongside Jonathan Rea through Veenslang. Apart from Super Pole, we have had little to no dry weather running before the race.
van der Mark is applying the blowtorch to Tom Sykes. He's going for second spot. Rea has to pressure van der Mark, now. Davide Giugliano on the sister Ducati has had an issue, and has dropped from eighth to 13th. He's still on the road. But, he may have run wide. The new exhaust system Ducati debuted at Aragon, has helped them, and Davies needs that extra punch to defend from the Kawasaki's. Sykes closes on Davies, especially through turn nine (De Bult). Game over for Davide Giugliano at the end of lap seven. Lucas Mahias moves to 13th, followed by Alex De Angelis and Matteo Baiocco.
Alex Lowes in sixth, on the sole remaining Yamaha, needs to set consistent lap times through the rest of this first race. van der Mark is pushing through the fast turns as we work lap seven. van der Mark has passed Tom Sykes, and tries his best, to run down Chaz Davies. Davies runs wide and van der Mark is really pushing the envelope here. Nicky Hayden brings the second Honda into the picture as the top five are all in a fair fight. Will there be a pass at Ruskenhoek? That's brave. Giugliano brings the #34 Ducati back on track. Giugliano tested along with MotoGP riders at the Mugello circuit in Italy, the week before this race.
Alex Lowes, Luca Savadori, Jordi Torres, Leon Camier, and Markus Reiterberger, complete the top ten. Rea dives inside Tom Sykes. Oh dear! Tom Sykes loses it, and is down and out of race one in WSBK in Holland! The polesitter is out, and the front row for this race, is disintegrated. Giugliano is in pit lane, Guintoli, out, and now, Sykes, out. Sykes, on the right side of the road, comes into the left hand corner, hot, and comes across the front of another rider, doesn't have braking space, and is forced to ditch the motorcycle. Working lap ten, Davies leads, with Rea second. van der Mark is now third.
Nicky Hayden is also up there. Sykes would fall 49 points behind team mate Rea, if results from this first race, stand. Davies leads over Rea, van der Mark, and Hayden. Xavi Fores is now inside the points. Leon Camier is now running faster than Luca Savadori and Alex Lowes. Camier could come to sixth, or, perhaps, fifth place, as the race winds down. Hayden has ridden a smart race. He's got a slightly harder front Pirelli tire than his team mate Michael van der Mark does. Whatever happens for the rest of the lap, when the last lap comes around, it will come around to the final triple apex chicane, the Geert Timmer Bocht. That's where all the action will be. Alex Lowes is 6.6 seconds behind the top four.
Davies, Rea, van der Mark, Hayden, those are your leaders right now, ladies and gentlemen. The front runners tires are easy to remember. C compound for the top two, and B compound for positions three and four. Those are the rear tires. The fronts have to do with rider feel. Will Nicky Hayden have more stability under braking with a harder front tire? Maybe. But, again, it's about rider feel with the tire compounds. Harder tires help with stability under braking. Luca Savadori is closing up on Alex Lowes right now. Watch out for Leon Camier as well. He is coming, and fast, on the MV Agusta 1000 F4. Camier also has the BMW's of Markus Reiterberger and Jordi Torres, right behind him.
A bunch of riders between fifth and ninth, will be locked together in the next few laps. Chaz Davies has had a great race. Chaz Davies has never won at Assen, and Ducati, is looking for their first Assen triumph, since 2012, when Sylvain Guintoli was their rider. Michael van der Mark takes second spot away from Jonathan Rea. Eight laps to go and with van der Mark moving up, the crowd goes berserk! Savadori has passed Alex Lowes, and as we approach the end of this race, Karel Abraham, parks his motorcycle, #17. Game over for the German rider. Jonathan Rea passes for second spot into Ruskenhoek.
Davies is eking out an advantage and is fastest of the top four at 1:37.395. Compare that to a 1:37.430 for van der Mark, 1:37.560 for Hayden, and 1:37.598 for Rea. Only seven laps to go now as Rea passes van der Mark. Six laps to go. Start making your moves, now. Tom Sykes is now out. If it stays this way, the championship lead would decrease slightly. 26 points currently, and it would shrink to 21. Through the Ramshoek they come, with six laps left. Davies has been running deep into some of the turns. Thankfully there's no rain, as the riders can now use the curbs at their leisure. van der Mark wants to pass Rea on the outside, but thinks better of it into De Bult.
van der Mark is not trying a pass, or a kamikaze move on Rea. He is merely following him. Davies has led this whole race, for the most part. Hayden is dropping away from the top three. van der Mark passes Rea for second. The fifth place battle is still steaming. Leon Camier leads this group as Alex Lowes has sunk to ninth spot. Rea passes van der Mark back. They battle into turn five, Veenslang. Wildcard rider Pawel Szkopek is passed. He's technically not a wildcard. He is subbing on the Team Toth Yamaha YZF R1 for regular rider, Imre Toth. Toth, is sick. Hopefully, he recovers for the next race at Imola in Italy.
Roman Ramos is 10.6 seconds in-arrears of Alex Lowes, in tenth place. Davies wobbles on the curbs, and Rea passes. Rea runs wide through Ramshoek. Davies retakes the lead and van der Mark has a grandstand seat for this little scrum. Davies makes a move straight away, if he's passed. Very similar in style, to how Valentino Rossi, in MotoGP, does it. Fast laps analysis again, among the top four. Hayden is fastest at 1:37.380. Davies, 1:37.387. Rea, 1:37.409. van der Mark, 1:37.418. Four laps to go as Davies defends and tries for the lead. He is doing his best to hold off Rea at the present time.
Markus Reiterberger has a brief off course excursion. van der Mark forces the issue on Davies, Davies runs wide, and Hayden is very close now to Chaz Davies. It will be a Ducati vs. Honda fight. Three laps remain. van der Mark chases Rea. Jordi Torres has made a pass on Luca Savadori. Leon Camier is now inside the top five on the MV Agusta as well. Dark clouds loom on the horizon here at Assen. Let us hope they don't deposit their contents of rain, on this awesome motorcycle race. Two and a half laps to go, in race one. van der Mark, is coming. van der Mark passes Rea for the lead, and the crowd will go bonkers!
Turn nine, De Bult, and the battle still rages. van der Mark passes for the lead, and runs a bit wide. van der Mark gets out of shape through the right hand turn and just barely holds onto the motorcycle. The riders are changing their lines, through every corner. We see the dark clouds, but, there's more drama! van der Mark loses it! The hometown crowd will be stunned! van der Mark throws it away with two laps remaining in race one! He's absolutely gutted! Rea leads Davies and Hayden, who will score a podium place. He slid through the third turn, and on the corner angle, trying to brake, the front end folds under the bike, and van der Mark tumbles off into the gravel trap, with the bike, cartwheeling, shedding bodywork.
van der Mark, pushes the limit, while Hayden, rides more coolly and consistently. Hayden won't have enough time to catch the top two. Rea and Davies will fight for the win. Two motorcycles that work well in opposite and different areas on this speedway. Davies shines under braking into Geert Timmer Bocht. Rea is stronger in the earlier stages of the lap around Haarbocht, Madijk, Ossebroeken, etc. Hayden has dropped back having to avoid Michael van der Mark's wreck. Hayden has to settle for third and not push like his team mate, risking a wreck. Final lap. Jonathan Rea has to be chuckling all the way to the bank.
Jonathan Rea slides the bike, but, he will win, and score points over Davies in second, and team mate Tom Sykes, who crashed out. Jonathan Rea scores his eighth Assen win!
WSBK Race 1: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
Hayden on the podium, just behind Chaz Davies, and Leon Camier scores an awesome fourth place result for MV Agusta, with Jordi Torres fifth on the BMW, Luca Savadori sixth, Markus Reiterberger on the BMW, the Yamaha of Alex Lowes, Roman Ramos (on the Go11 Kawasaki), coming from eighteenth to ninth (passing half the field from his grid spot), and Lucas Mahias inside the top ten, subbing for the injured Sylvain Barrier. Jonathan Rea has won four in a row at Assen, and eight times at Assen as a circuit. He is second only to Carl Fogarty on this track.
He has definitely pulled a rabbit out of the hat here. Race two, is on deck, on Sunday afternoon.
Round four of Superbike, is race two at Assen. We've come here, every year, since 1992. Can Jonathan Rea do the double at Assen for the third time? The track is tricky, in the wet. We will see that, in the World Supersport race, later on. Stay tuned for that one, in a seperate blog entry, coming your way, soon. This track is clockwise. Watch out, again, for the FIM/FIA double curbs. Will Tom Sykes and Michael van der Mark, bounce back, after wrecks in the Saturday race, that you can read about in the above paragraphs? Leon Camier is a man on a mission, finishing fourth on Saturday, and giving MV Agusta their best WSBK result.
Nicky Hayden, behind Chaz Davies, scored his first WSBK podium place. Jonathan Rea has won the last four races at Assen, and can he win the double for the third time? He's done it in 2010 and 2015. More dark clouds coming. This is World Superbike race two. Don't forget, you will also hear about the great World Supersport race here at Assen. Weather, has changed, many times, this Sunday. Seven degrees Celsius air temp, and 13 degrees Celsius, track temp, equals 44 degrees Fahrenheit air temp, and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, track temp. These readings, could change, very quickly.
Wind speed is two kilometers per hour (four miles per hour), blowing to the south. It's calm wind, and dry. No actual rain. Just damp patches on the road. Jordi Torres matches BMW's best result so far. France's Matthieu Lussiana, scored his first ever WSBK points in race one on Saturday. Dark clouds loom on the horizon. Rain is not far away from Assen. Jonathan Rea has 31 points in hand over Chaz Davies.
Now, here's a statistic for you. In 1995, Carl Fogarty won his 34th career Superbike race in race two at Assen at 29 years, 2 months of age. If Rea wins, he will have won his 34th race, in race two, at Assen, at 29 years, 2 months. Just as Fogarty did, 21 years ago. Can Michael van der Mark be the first Dutchman to win in WSBK, in his home race? Nicky Hayden's last podium was in the 2011 Spanish Grand Prix in MotoGP, when Valentino Rossi, and Casey Stoner, took each other out of the race at Jerez. A wet track, will be a huge challenge for the WSBK riders on Sunday.
Tom Sykes has scored his 33rd pole spot. He is ten away from the record set by Troy Corser, as mentioned earlier. Jeremy McWilliams is here, and he was the first Brit (he is actually from Northern Ireland), to win a 500cc Grand Prix race, at Assen, in a long while, and that happened, in 2001, 15 years ago. Leon Camier could also spring a surprise, because he's used to racing in the wet, in British Superbike. The pit lane is open. Xavi Fores has done well, winning titles in Spain and Germany. The conditions will be treacherous. Jonathan Rea will do an additional sighting lap. The track continues to change.
If there are pit stops, no flag to flag like in MotoGP. But, they have to take at least a minute in the lane, while they change tires. Rain will bring the track temperature down, and the ambient temperature is not high either. Jonathan Rea starts fourth for race two. The grid girls have to be absolutely freezing. This race, will be a wet race. Everyone starts on wets, and there may not even be a dry line. The difference between the slick tire and the wet tire, is 15 seconds. It's somewhere in between wet and dry. Four of the top five in points, failed to finish the Saturday race. Chaz Davies wins another Pirelli Best Lap Award. Davies has finished second three races in a row, here at Assen.
If we did get a podium finish for British riders, they would have 500 podiums. Markus Reiterberger has done very well here, and in the wet, you race this speedway differently, than other motorcycle racing tracks. This is the 50th WSBK race at Assen. So many great memories. 1998, Pierfrancesco Chili and Carl Fogarty raced each other. In 2013, Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty had an epic WSBK duel. Sam Lowes and Kenan Sofuoglu had a great Supersport race. Pierfrancesco Chili and Carl Fogarty, had a ding dong battle, at the WSBK race in 1998. Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty had a great race in race two. Chris Walker came through to win his only WSBK race win on a Kawasaki. Not sure what year that was.
Noriyuki Haga, Troy Corser, Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, Carl Fogarty. It's been a huge race, and is back to that time. World Superbike first came here in 1992, and of course, the Dutch TT has been here for MotoGP for much longer. We'll get to that, as it comes in June of course. Matteo Baiocco is 15th. Lucas Mahias is 16th. Roman Ramos, 17th. Matthieu Lussiana, 18th. Pawel Szkopek starts 19th. Karel Abraham is 21st. He is concerned, because Milwaukee BMW has had five separate issues with the throttle body on their S1000RR motorcycle.
Peter Sebestyen starts 22nd. He is on the Team Toth Yamaha. Team boss and regular rider, Imre Toth, is the umbrella man for his replacement rider this weekend, and again, that's Pawel Szkopek. Five minutes to go, and we'll be underway, for race two. Stand by, ladies and gentlemen. There was an incident in the morning warmup we should discuss. Josh Hook and Alex De Angelis both crashed. They did so in turn ten, (Mandeveen corner). Josh Hook has been scratched, from the field for race two, because of tech issues with his motorcycle.
Alex De Angelis is another scratched rider, because in the wreck with Hook, he hurt a finger on his left hand, hurting the tendon in it. De Angelis, is checking with doctors at the hospital, to heal those injuries. Dominic Schmitter on a Grillini Kawasaki is 23rd on the grid. We actually have 22 bikes out there for WSBK race two in Holland. The three riders on the front row, none scored points in race one. Davide Giugliano, Sylvain Guintoli, and Tom Sykes. Ducati, Yamaha, and Kawasaki, respectively, if you are keeping score at home.
Stand by for drama as we get ready for the 50th WSBK race at Assen. The bikes are away on their warmup lap. Six different manufacturers finished in the top six places, in race one. Guintoli and Reiterberger, these guys are using the intermediate compound rear Pirelli tire. If it is windy, the track dries quickly. Yamaha has good mechanical grip. The riders in 600 Supersport, they had a hard time getting on the throttle. You will hear about SSP racing, later. No spoilers, for now. We focus on SBK race two.
Don't burn up the intermediate tires. Look for water, so they don't begin to chunk and fall apart. No matter the outcome of this race, Jonathan Rea, will maintain his points lead. He will have a 31 point cushion over Chaz Davies. Tom Sykes, is now 54 points in-arrears of his team mate. There was a situation here at Assen, during the Dutch TT weekend, in Moto2, where Dominique Aegerter, started on an intermediate tire, and got swamped by the field. Lets hope that does not happen now, as we look for the start, of World Superbike race two at The Cathedral. The tires for the top three riders = intermediate rear.
Here we go. World Superbike race two, at Assen, is, now! At the start, Jonathan Rea gets a hole shot, and whistles off into the distance ahead of the pack! Chaz Davies and also, Karel Abraham, had awesome starts! Ah. Check that. It's Josh Brookes who got the great start on the second Milwaukee BMW. Nicky Hayden and Davide Giugliano are going for it. Rea goes after Sykes as we run into Strubben for the first time. Davies and Rea are side by side and so are the Honda's of Hayden and Michael van der Mark. Down through the Veenslang, we are watching for Markus Reiterberger and Sylvain Guintoli. Where are those two chaps?
Guintoli and Reiterberger, have both sunk like stones, on intermediate tires. Michael van der Mark has his hands full with Xavi Fores. The Kawasaki's have an advantage in the wet. Rea and Sykes can keep the bikes more upright, while other bikes like the Ducati, Honda, Yamaha etc. have to be ridden, using more lean angle. Find the grip. Where does the bike work best on the road? Jonathan Rea has fallen to fifth place. Fores is steaming to the front of the field at the moment. Xavi Fores eats up Jonathan Rea and Nicky Hayden and has made it to a podium spot in third! Same can not be said for Jordi Torres. The Althea BMW rider has dropped way down to 17th place.
Another man on the move, on the Toth Yamaha, is Pawel Szkopek. He's booked it from 20th to 11th in the space of a lap! Jonathan Rea wants around the Honda's. These boys are tiptoeing, and it's always risky, because if you make a wrong move in the wet, you're done. It's truly, game over. The top ten is covered by a mere two seconds! Holy cow! Sykes has the advantage as they hit the Ruskenhoek for the first time. Davide Giugliano has lost a lot of places, going from third on the grid, way down to seventh. Hayden, meanwhile, wants to challenge his Honda team mate, van der Mark, into Stekkenwal.
Pawel Szkopek is not finished yet! He's up the inside and says "Grazi" to Lorenzo Savadori, on the Aprilia. Will the Toth Yamaha pass the Aprilia? Not yet. Josh Brookes and Alex Lowes have latched onto the front running group. Jonathan Rea easily passes Davide Giugliano. Giugliano can't find the grip on the Ducati. Xavi Fores is up to second now. Here comes Nicky Hayden as well, inside Chaz Davies. Michael van der Mark is following them. What has happened to Guintoli and Reiterberger? They are 20 seconds behind the leader, and seven seconds behind Peter Sebestyen. They cannot pit, because it's not worth it.
Fores is up to second on the customer Ducati, while the factory bike ridden by Davies is falling behind both of the works Honda's. This is the yo yo effect that happens in wet races. Tom Sykes continues to lead. The more weight within his own body weight that he puts over the front of the motorcycle, will help the tires generate heat. The same is true, in a qualifying situation. The nature of the Pirelli tires is, they have to be run at a smoother pace in the wet, to generate decent grip. Chaz Davies and Josh Brookes have both gotten around Jonathan Rea. Guintoli and Reiterberger are praying for rain, to take advantage of having intermediate tires.
If rain came, they can pit, but have about a minute window (61 seconds) to actually fly into the pit lane and get the tires changed. Xavi Fores has been eaten up, again, by the two Honda's. Sykes ekes out a gap on lap four. Jonathan Rea takes fifth place, from Josh Brookes. With a breeze blowing, a dry line is now emerging on the road. Brookes passes Chaz Davies and has set fastest lap so far at 1:54.616. Brookes actually is trying to pass Davies, and now Davide Giugliano is being hounded by Luca Savadori. Alex Lowes has passed Pawel Szkopek. But Szkopek is still in the fight. Savadori passes Davies as well.
Savadori and Davies are a bit too close for comfort! How close do you like it? Xavi Fores, meanwhile, is outperforming both factory Ducati riders. Sykes leads van der Mark with Hayden third and Rea fourth. van der Mark sets fastest race lap and the crowd goes nuts! Josh Brookes is opening a margin on Jonathan Rea! van der Mark will hopefully go through on Sykes, and then, this crowd is going to explode in jubilation! van der Mark, wants it, and is already out front as we run into Strubben. They shoot down the Veenslang, and this is what the crowd wanted yesterday, but didn't get.
van der Mark resets fastest lap at 1:52.703. Dark clouds loom in the background. But, it's bright sunshine for the fans. Look out for Josh Brookes, though. He's scything through the field on the Milwaukee Racing BMW S1000RR, having just passed Nicky Hayden and also getting around Jonathan Rea. Brookes, the reigning British Superbike champ, making his return to WSBK, slots into third at De Bult (corner number nine). Jonathan Rea is now right on his team mate's tail. Is Sykes going to fall from the lead, to fifth? It appears so. van der Mark and Brookes are wheel to wheel! Josh Brookes, takes the lead! The Dutch crowd, wonders, as the Aussie has stolen the thunder, for a brief moment.
Sixteen laps still remain as Brookes runs fastest lap of the race at 1:50.902. Two Honda's are on the podium at this time. Sykes is fifth, Savadori sixth, Giugliano seventh, Fores eighth, Davies ninth, and Alex Lowes, tenth. Szkopek is eleventh, from Leon Camier, Matteo Baiocco, Lucas Mahias, and Matteo Lussiana. Roman Ramos is in the lane, from 16th spot. He will surely swap to slick Pirelli tires. Xavi Fores is starting to sink down the field. An intermediate front tire for Roman Ramos. Possibly, a slick rear tire will go on that bike. Let's hope Ramos does not go a lap down with the 61 second maximum pit time limit.
That may be a waste, because with the track drying, you won't go 15 seconds faster, on the intermediate, like you would on the slick Pirelli tire. So, all you are doing, is trashing your tires. Tom Sykes is losing spots hand over fist to Davide Giugliano and Luca Savadori. Brookes leads and Xavi Fores is headed for the lane. Sykes is a guy who needs to stop, ASAP. More like, now. Nicky Hayden passes team mate Michael van der Mark into Strubben (turn five). When will you time your tire switch? Not too much moisture coming off the rear wheel.
We are working lap seven of 21. Three or four laps, to halfway. It was a deluge during the World Supersport race (again, no spoilers). Then, the track began to dry, coming towards the second WSBK race you are reading about now. Everyone was on wet tires, with the exception of Sylvain Guintoli, and Markus Reiterberger. The intermediate tires are not working, and beginning to be shredded up. The Milwaukee BMW mechanics are in the lane, waiting to see if they'll make a tire change. van der Mark and Rea are in a dust up for position. These two blokes almost touch! Correction. Brookes did not enter the lane. So, maybe Milwaukee BMW was looking for his team mate, Karel Abraham.
Sykes in ninth, signals to his crew, that he'll pit, for new tires. Boys, it's time to gamble. Get off the intermediates and onto slicks, now. Nicky Hayden passes Josh Brookes on the run to turn seven, between Ruskenhoek and Stekkenwal. With a dry line coming, the riders will have to run slightly off line, to cool their rain tires and try to find moisture. Ramos and Reiterberger have both been lapped, on intermediate tires. This is the tale. You must switch tires, to go faster. No pits to bike radios in motorcycle racing. So, the riders have to make the call, and follow their pit boards.
Jonathan Rea hits the pits, now. Oh deary me! Sykes is also in! Kawasaki is rolling the dice, and they need to. New tires on the Kawasaki, as other riders make the jump for pit lane, to get new rubber. Jordi Torres is in on the Althea BMW. Rea and Sykes are using intermediate rear tires. Brookes sets fastest lap at 1:50.582 on the other end of the Assen circuit. Rea and Sykes are leaving pit lane, going back on the speedway. Brookes is at turns ten and eleven, Mandeveen and Duikersloot. Will they pile into pit lane? Will a rider stay on the road and take advantage to gain track position?
Here's your running order.
1. Josh Brookes
2. Nicky Hayden
3. Michael van der Mark
4. Chaz Davies
5. Luca Savadori
6. Alex Lowes
7. Davide Giugliano
8. Matteo Baiocco
9. Pawel Szkopek
10. Leon Camier
Brookes is not coming in on this lap. He'll hold P1. Miwaukee BMW brings out the slicks. We don't know yet, if it's for Karel Abraham, or Josh Brookes. van der Mark and Giugliano pit. Nicky Hayden stays on track. This is the big moment, because next lap around, is halfway. Chaz Davies and Luca Savadori stay out. Alex Lowes will also keep racing. Leon Camier pits the MV Agusta. van der Mark, box, box, box. Davies stays out, and sets fastest lap at 1:49.9! Giugliano pits. Karel Abraham pits. Tom Sykes and Jonathan Rea, are close on track.
Abraham is on slicks. Abraham changes and adjusts the rear shock and the front forks. Brookes is continuing as Jonathan Rea passes Michael van der Mark. Leon Camier and Matteo Baiocco have both pitted. Jonathan Rea is less than a minute from taking the lead from Josh Brookes. Savadori pits. Chaz Davies will stay out. Davies is going to be in a pickle, and lose places compared to where he should be. Tom Sykes now sets fastest lap at 1:43.264. Hayden is going after Brookes on the road, and neither has pitted. Chaz Davies and Alex Lowes have also chosen to stay on track here.
Matteo Baiocco on the VFT Racing Ducati, will be lapped.
The Kawasaki's are going to only get quicker while the Ducati's and Honda's are going to have a harder time. Davies wants by Nicky Hayden as Brookes will pit this lap. It will be slick tires for Brookes. Wait! Brookes stays out, and Davies steals second from Hayden! Lowes shoots to the lead and then pits. Brookes stays in P1. Davies shoots by Hayden in the Ramshoek and through the Geert Timmer chicane (or GT chicane, for short). One bloke might just try and stay out for the final ten laps of this absolutely shootout of a WSBK race! These guys will have to pit. Ten more laps on these wet tires could be an issue. Pirelli makes a durable tire. But the performance just won't be there.
Chaz Davies chases Josh Brookes. But, Tom Sykes, is coming. He's the man we have to watch. He is gaining on team mate Jonathan Rea. Brookes and Davies, in the lane. Will Hayden follow? Spot on. He does. Lucas Mahias on the Pedercini Kawasaki, could inherit the lead. Kawasaki will inherit the top two after these pit stops. Rea followed by Sykes. Oh dear! This is getting dicey. Sykes and Rea are mixed in with lapped traffic. The lapped riders are Dominic Schmitter and Jordi Torres. Torres on the #81 Althea BMW and Schmitter on the Grillini Racing Kawasaki ZX10R. Hayden, Brookes, and Davies exit the pits.
Chaz Davies has lost loads of time. Tom Sykes passes Pawel Szkopek's Team Toth Yamaha for position. Momentarily, Szkopek was actually second! Yikes! Lucas Mahias is leading on the #44 Pedercini Kawasaki. Mahias is super sub for Sylvain Barrier, and he dominated French Superbike in 2014 winning all the races. Markus Reiterberger is way down in 18th and is a lap down. Matteo Baiocco is out. What a shame! Josh Brookes has crashed out of race two! Rea sets new fastest lap at 1:40.568. Rea and Sykes have now passed Lucas Mahias for the lead. So, order, in a way, has been restored, with KRT out in front.
Pawel Szkopek is now in the lane. His wet weather tires are surely eaten alive. For now the sun is out. But, rain might still be a possibility. Sykes has to push and make up points. Sykes resets fastest lap at 1:40 flat. 1:40.036. These two are 54 points apart, and if it stays this way, 59 points would be the margin. Michael van der Mark will be third. Mahias is fourth. Rea is balked by the lapped bike of Markus Reiterberger. Matteo Lussiana is next to be lapped. Markus Reiterberger will take the final point from Matteo Lussiana, who was a Superstock 1000 rider, last year.
Karel Abraham on the #17 Milwaukee BMW will be lapped. Lucas Mahias pits at the end of lap 15, as the wet tires on the Pedercini Kawasaki, are toast. Sykes is fractionally quicker than Rea, and Sykes uses Abraham on the lapped bike, as a pick. Five laps now remain. Mahias may rejoin, ahead of Roman Ramos. Rea is more comfortable than Sykes, after Sykes was held up. Lorenzo Savadori finished sixth in race one (his best SBK finish). Well, he will better that, and finish fourth. Chaz Davies was second in race one, but only fifth in this race. He'll stay in second in the championship, but be 45 points behind. Will the Kawasaki's tires hold for the last five laps?
This track is bone dry. Nicky Hayden lost out on pit stops, and runs seventh, behind Alex Lowes on the Yamaha. Hayden easily passes Lowes. Davide Giugliano will finish eighth. Xavi Fores is ninth, with Sylvain Guintoli ninth. After that, it's Sylvain Guintoli, Leon Camier, Roman Ramos, Lucas Mahias, Karel Abraham, and Jordi Torres. Rea is sliding around, but he's making things work. Sykes is, too. But, he needs to pick up the pace on Rea. Michael van der Mark, will finish on the podium, and Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia, has gone very well. Sykes is building his pace on Rea.
Will we see a last turn battle again here at Assen? If he does not shove the bike down the inside, he won't gain points, and might be out of contention for the championship. Rea runs deep into Strubben as Sykes sets fastest lap of the race at 1:38.213. A lap and a half to go here at Assen. The gap is one second. Sykes is losing rear grip as he pressures Rea. Rea is one lap away from a ninth win at Assen. Rea looks to be cruising to a win, here at The Cathedral. Rea is up by 1.4 seconds. Lorenzo Savadori will hold fourth, with Chaz Davies fifth. Davies will have a huge points deficit to Rea.
Jonathan Rea will win his eighth Assen race, his fifth in a row, and his third double win here. It's a Kawsaki 1-2, and Rea wins his eighth race at Assen! He's crushed it, this weekend!
World Superbike Race 2: #1 Jonathan Rea GBR. Kawasaki ZX10R
Irony of ironies, it starts raining, right at the end of WSBK race two at Assen. Jonathan Rea has done the same as the great Carl Fogarty, winning at Assen, at 29 years, two months, of age. The next race for World Superbike is this weekend, in Imola, Italy, at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Stay tuned, for a full race report, to be posted, soon.
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Ulrich Announces Retirement From Superbike Racing
Before we look at other news from MotoAmerica, coming soon, a breaking story. Chris Ulrich, will retire, from riding a motorcycle on track, to focus on team management, and developing future riding talent.
http://www.motoamerica.com/chris-ulrich-announces-retirement-from-motoamerica-superbike-racing
http://www.motoamerica.com/chris-ulrich-announces-retirement-from-motoamerica-superbike-racing
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
MotoGP news from Spain
TContinuing to play catch up. Here is all the pre-race news from Spain. Will have a race report, as soon as possible, on each race from MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3.
Tight at the top as Moto3 arrives in Europe
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/tight-at-the-top-as-moto3-arrives-in-europe/198609
First CEV Wins of the season at the Circuit de Valencia
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/17/first-cev-wins-of-the-season-at-the-circuit-de-valencia/198695
Lowes leads as top four split by four points
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/lowes-leads-as-top-four-split-by-four-points/198612
Yamaha and Lorenzo set to go their separate ways after 2016
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/yamaha-and-lorenzo-set-to-go-their-separate-ways-after-2016/198705
Lorenzo set to take on new challenge with Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/lorenzo-set-to-take-on-new-challenge-with-ducati/198703
Jorge Lorenzo teams up with Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/jorge-lorenzo-teams-up-with-ducati/198702
#StatAttack: Leaders look for first Jerez podiums in Moto2
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-leaders-look-for-first-jerez-podiums-in-moto2/198641
#StatAttack: Converting podiums to wins in Moto3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-converting-podiums-to-wins-in-moto3/198640
#StatAttack: 30 Years of Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-30-years-of-jerez/198642
Tenth year of Red Bull Rookies Cup begins in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/tenth-year-of-red-bull-rookies-cup-begins-in-jerez/198720
MotoGP trackside TV coverage reaches new heights in 2016
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/motogp-trackside-tv-coverage-reaches-new-heights-in-2016/198710
Check out three of the greatest Jerez MotoGP races, from 1996, 2005, and 2010.
Classics: Relive three of the best Spanish GPs
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/classics-relive-three-of-the-best-spanish-gps/198584
Vinales: "I want to see myself with the number one"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/vinales-i-want-to-see-myself-with-the-number-one/198721
Laverty: "Qualifying is where I can improve"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/laverty-qualifying-is-where-i-can-improve/198786
Iannone: "I believe that we have the potential"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/iannone-i-believe-that-we-have-the-potential/198800
Rossi: "Texas was not very lucky for me"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/rossi-texas-was-not-very-lucky-for-me/198802
Michelin preview the Jerez GP
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/michelin-preview-the-jerez-gp/198806
Bradl: "Jerez is an interesting track"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/bradl-jerez-is-an-interesting-track/198791
Smith: "This year is different"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/smith-this-year-is-different/198726
Rabat: "I need to work on my riding technique"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/rabat-i-need-to-work-on-my-riding-technique/198869
Pedrosa: "We'll try and give our best"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/pedrosa-we-ll-try-and-give-our-best/198730
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-try-and-try-again/198858
Bautista: "A lot of fans and my friends will be there"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/bautista-a-lot-of-fans-and-my-friends-will-be-there/198799
Hernandez: "I just hope we can have better luck"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/hernandez-i-just-hope-we-can-have-better-luck/198790
Lorenzo: "I just want to enjoy these 15 races with Yamaha"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/lorenzo-i-just-want-to-enjoy-these-15-races-with-yamaha/198861
Dovizioso: "I am relaxed about it"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/dovizioso-i-am-relaxed-about-it/198857
Espargaro: "We are building up our own knowledge"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/espargaro-we-are-building-up-our-own-knowledge/198906
Miller: "I've been working hard on my rehabilitation"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/miller-i-ve-been-working-hard-on-my-rehabilitation/198909
#SpanishGP: Focus remains on 2016 as 2017 grid takes shape
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/spanishgp-focus-remains-on-2016-as-2017-grid-takes-shape/198919
Why Lorenzo switched to Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/why-lorenzo-switched-to-ducati/198920
Rossi weighs in on Lorenzo's Ducati move
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/why-lorenzo-switched-to-ducati/198920
Binder: "In testing we did a good job here"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/binder-in-testing-we-did-a-good-job-here/198901
Michelin discuss findings from Argentina
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/michelin-discuss-findings-from-argentina/198964
Meet the wildcards: Two Italians and a Frenchman in Spain
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/meet-the-wildcards-two-italians-and-a-frenchman-in-spain/198699
Navarro conquers cool morning conditions to top FP1 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/navarro-conquers-cool-morning-conditions-to-top-fp1-in-jerez/198976
Lorenzo leads Spanish challenge in Free Practice 1
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-leads-spanish-challenge-in-free-practice-1/198989
Nakagami under record pace to lead FP1
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/nakagami-under-record-pace-to-lead-fp1/198999
Late charge puts Binder back on top
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/late-charge-puts-binder-back-on-top/199019
Lorenzo steals the show on Friday
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-steals-the-show-on-friday/199031
Carmelo Ezpeleta honoured by Tio Pepe
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/carmelo-ezpeleta-honoured-by-tio-pepe/199037
Nakagami ends fastest as Folger rallies in FP2
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/nakagami-ends-fastest-as-folger-rallies-in-fp2/199044
Lorenzo: "Little by little we solved these problems"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-little-by-little-we-solved-these-problems/199112
Barbera: "It could not have started better"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/barbera-it-could-not-have-started-better/199107
Jorge Lorenzo becomes new Tissot Ambassador
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/jorge-lorenzo-becomes-new-tissot-ambassador/198941
Marquez: "I still don't feel entirely comfortable"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/marquez-i-still-don-t-feel-entirely-comfortable/199127
Espargaro: "Finally I have a very positive feeling"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/espargaro-finally-i-have-a-very-positive-feeling/199180
Toba and Sasaki head Jerez qualifying
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/toba-and-sasaki-head-jerez-qualifying/199199
Home heroes: Where it all began
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/home-heroes-where-it-all-began/198779
Revitalised Rossi gathers momentum in FP3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/revitalised-rossi-gathers-momentum-in-fp3/199210
Binder begins Saturday with clear advantage
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/binder-begins-saturday-with-clear-advantage/199200
Lap record comes under pressure as Baldassari leads
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lap-record-comes-under-pressure-as-baldassarri-leads/199215
Premiere pole for rookie Bulega in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/24/premiere-pole-for-rookie-bulega-in-jerez/199221
Lorenzo controls MotoGP FP4 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lorenzo-controls-motogp-fp4-in-jerez/199231
Rossi wins three-way fight for 52nd pole position
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/rossi-wins-three-way-fight-for-52nd-pole-position/199248
Crutchlow and Baz head into Q2 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/crutchlow-and-baz-head-into-q2-in-jerez/199241
Jerez pole record obliterated as Lowes takes pole
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/jerez-pole-record-obliterated-as-lowes-takes-pole/199267
Doohan talks MotoGP rivalries
http://www.motogp.com/en/in+the+media/2016/04/23/doohan-talks-motogp-rivalries/199196
Rossi: "I knew I could be competitive"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/rossi-i-knew-i-could-be-competitive/199291
Espargaro: "Mission accomplished today"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/espargaro-mission-accomplished-today/199305
Iannone: "It bothers me a lot"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/iannone-it-bothers-me-a-lot/199306
Viu Victorious in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/viu-victorious-in-jerez/199343
Marquez: "We tested three different setups"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/marquez-we-tested-three-different-setups/199307
Lorenzo: "It was a pity that I had problems"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lorenzo-it-was-a-pity-that-i-had-problems/199360
BMW M Division Presents the 2016 BMW M Award
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/bmw-m-division-presents-the-2016-bmw-m-award/199007
Stay tuned, for each of the races, with full reports, and post-race coverage and news updates.
Tight at the top as Moto3 arrives in Europe
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/tight-at-the-top-as-moto3-arrives-in-europe/198609
First CEV Wins of the season at the Circuit de Valencia
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/17/first-cev-wins-of-the-season-at-the-circuit-de-valencia/198695
Lowes leads as top four split by four points
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/lowes-leads-as-top-four-split-by-four-points/198612
Yamaha and Lorenzo set to go their separate ways after 2016
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/yamaha-and-lorenzo-set-to-go-their-separate-ways-after-2016/198705
Lorenzo set to take on new challenge with Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/lorenzo-set-to-take-on-new-challenge-with-ducati/198703
Jorge Lorenzo teams up with Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/18/jorge-lorenzo-teams-up-with-ducati/198702
#StatAttack: Leaders look for first Jerez podiums in Moto2
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-leaders-look-for-first-jerez-podiums-in-moto2/198641
#StatAttack: Converting podiums to wins in Moto3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-converting-podiums-to-wins-in-moto3/198640
#StatAttack: 30 Years of Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/statattack-30-years-of-jerez/198642
Tenth year of Red Bull Rookies Cup begins in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/tenth-year-of-red-bull-rookies-cup-begins-in-jerez/198720
MotoGP trackside TV coverage reaches new heights in 2016
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/motogp-trackside-tv-coverage-reaches-new-heights-in-2016/198710
Check out three of the greatest Jerez MotoGP races, from 1996, 2005, and 2010.
Classics: Relive three of the best Spanish GPs
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/classics-relive-three-of-the-best-spanish-gps/198584
Vinales: "I want to see myself with the number one"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/vinales-i-want-to-see-myself-with-the-number-one/198721
Laverty: "Qualifying is where I can improve"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/laverty-qualifying-is-where-i-can-improve/198786
Iannone: "I believe that we have the potential"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/iannone-i-believe-that-we-have-the-potential/198800
Rossi: "Texas was not very lucky for me"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/rossi-texas-was-not-very-lucky-for-me/198802
Michelin preview the Jerez GP
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/michelin-preview-the-jerez-gp/198806
Bradl: "Jerez is an interesting track"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/bradl-jerez-is-an-interesting-track/198791
Smith: "This year is different"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/smith-this-year-is-different/198726
Rabat: "I need to work on my riding technique"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/rabat-i-need-to-work-on-my-riding-technique/198869
Pedrosa: "We'll try and give our best"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/19/pedrosa-we-ll-try-and-give-our-best/198730
If at first you don't succeed, try and try again
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/if-at-first-you-don-t-succeed-try-and-try-again/198858
Bautista: "A lot of fans and my friends will be there"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/bautista-a-lot-of-fans-and-my-friends-will-be-there/198799
Hernandez: "I just hope we can have better luck"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/hernandez-i-just-hope-we-can-have-better-luck/198790
Lorenzo: "I just want to enjoy these 15 races with Yamaha"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/20/lorenzo-i-just-want-to-enjoy-these-15-races-with-yamaha/198861
Dovizioso: "I am relaxed about it"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/dovizioso-i-am-relaxed-about-it/198857
Espargaro: "We are building up our own knowledge"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/espargaro-we-are-building-up-our-own-knowledge/198906
Miller: "I've been working hard on my rehabilitation"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/miller-i-ve-been-working-hard-on-my-rehabilitation/198909
#SpanishGP: Focus remains on 2016 as 2017 grid takes shape
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/spanishgp-focus-remains-on-2016-as-2017-grid-takes-shape/198919
Why Lorenzo switched to Ducati
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/why-lorenzo-switched-to-ducati/198920
Rossi weighs in on Lorenzo's Ducati move
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/why-lorenzo-switched-to-ducati/198920
Binder: "In testing we did a good job here"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/21/binder-in-testing-we-did-a-good-job-here/198901
Michelin discuss findings from Argentina
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/michelin-discuss-findings-from-argentina/198964
Meet the wildcards: Two Italians and a Frenchman in Spain
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/meet-the-wildcards-two-italians-and-a-frenchman-in-spain/198699
Navarro conquers cool morning conditions to top FP1 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/navarro-conquers-cool-morning-conditions-to-top-fp1-in-jerez/198976
Lorenzo leads Spanish challenge in Free Practice 1
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-leads-spanish-challenge-in-free-practice-1/198989
Nakagami under record pace to lead FP1
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/nakagami-under-record-pace-to-lead-fp1/198999
Late charge puts Binder back on top
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/late-charge-puts-binder-back-on-top/199019
Lorenzo steals the show on Friday
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-steals-the-show-on-friday/199031
Carmelo Ezpeleta honoured by Tio Pepe
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/carmelo-ezpeleta-honoured-by-tio-pepe/199037
Nakagami ends fastest as Folger rallies in FP2
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/nakagami-ends-fastest-as-folger-rallies-in-fp2/199044
Lorenzo: "Little by little we solved these problems"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/lorenzo-little-by-little-we-solved-these-problems/199112
Barbera: "It could not have started better"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/barbera-it-could-not-have-started-better/199107
Jorge Lorenzo becomes new Tissot Ambassador
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/jorge-lorenzo-becomes-new-tissot-ambassador/198941
Marquez: "I still don't feel entirely comfortable"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/marquez-i-still-don-t-feel-entirely-comfortable/199127
Espargaro: "Finally I have a very positive feeling"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/22/espargaro-finally-i-have-a-very-positive-feeling/199180
Toba and Sasaki head Jerez qualifying
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/toba-and-sasaki-head-jerez-qualifying/199199
Home heroes: Where it all began
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/home-heroes-where-it-all-began/198779
Revitalised Rossi gathers momentum in FP3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/revitalised-rossi-gathers-momentum-in-fp3/199210
Binder begins Saturday with clear advantage
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/binder-begins-saturday-with-clear-advantage/199200
Lap record comes under pressure as Baldassari leads
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lap-record-comes-under-pressure-as-baldassarri-leads/199215
Premiere pole for rookie Bulega in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/24/premiere-pole-for-rookie-bulega-in-jerez/199221
Lorenzo controls MotoGP FP4 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lorenzo-controls-motogp-fp4-in-jerez/199231
Rossi wins three-way fight for 52nd pole position
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/rossi-wins-three-way-fight-for-52nd-pole-position/199248
Crutchlow and Baz head into Q2 in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/crutchlow-and-baz-head-into-q2-in-jerez/199241
Jerez pole record obliterated as Lowes takes pole
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/jerez-pole-record-obliterated-as-lowes-takes-pole/199267
Doohan talks MotoGP rivalries
http://www.motogp.com/en/in+the+media/2016/04/23/doohan-talks-motogp-rivalries/199196
Rossi: "I knew I could be competitive"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/rossi-i-knew-i-could-be-competitive/199291
Espargaro: "Mission accomplished today"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/espargaro-mission-accomplished-today/199305
Iannone: "It bothers me a lot"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/iannone-it-bothers-me-a-lot/199306
Viu Victorious in Jerez
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/viu-victorious-in-jerez/199343
Marquez: "We tested three different setups"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/marquez-we-tested-three-different-setups/199307
Lorenzo: "It was a pity that I had problems"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/lorenzo-it-was-a-pity-that-i-had-problems/199360
BMW M Division Presents the 2016 BMW M Award
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/23/bmw-m-division-presents-the-2016-bmw-m-award/199007
Stay tuned, for each of the races, with full reports, and post-race coverage and news updates.
Monday, April 25, 2016
MotoGP news after Austin
MotoGP news, after the Austin round. Still catching up, and have to look at news between Austin and Jerez, and then, blog the Jerez rounds. Bear with me, fans. Lots going on right now.
Marquez marches to fourth Austin win, as Rossi crashes out
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/marquez-marches-to-fourth-austin-win-as-rossi-crashes-out/198340
Lorenzo: "You could see it was difficult to stay on"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/lorenzo-you-could-see-it-was-difficult-to-stay-on/198418
Rossi: "I didn't feel from the bike I was too fast"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rossi-i-didn-t-feel-from-the-bike-i-was-too-fast/198434
Marquez: "The team advised me very well"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/marquez-the-team-advised-me-very-well/198438
Pedrosa: "I feel especially bad for Andrea"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/pedrosa-i-feel-especially-bad-for-andrea/198443
Iannone: "I dedicate this podium to my Ducati and the team"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/iannone-i-dedicate-this-podium-to-my-ducati-and-the-team/198458
Dovizioso: "Once again today I was unable to finish"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/dovizioso-once-again-today-i-was-unable-to-finish/198360
Vinales: "I felt confident until almost half of the race"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/vinales-i-felt-confident-until-almost-half-of-the-race/198361
Redding: "I started to lose a second every lap"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/redding-i-started-to-lose-a-second-every-lap/198362
Bradl: "We continue to test and improve with every session"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/bradl-we-continue-to-test-and-improve-with-every-session/198374
Rabat: "It was another difficult race"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/rabat-it-was-another-difficult-race/198375
Crutchlow: "We're definitely capable of the pace"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/crutchlow-we-re-definitely-capable-of-the-pace/198376
Smith: "All of our hard work was lost"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/smith-all-of-our-hard-work-was-lost/198379
Team Suzuki Ecstar complete private COTA test
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/13/team-suzuki-ecstar-complete-private-cota-test/198589
Barbera: "After five laps I had a lot of pain"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/barbera-after-five-laps-i-had-a-lot-of-pain/198381
Laverty: "I felt like I could crash every time on the right"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/laverty-i-felt-like-i-could-crash-every-time-on-the-right/198383
Bautista: "I cannot be 100% satisfied"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/bautista-i-cannot-be-100-satisfied/198382
Bradley Smith on Austin, his move to KTM & starting again
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/13/bradley-smith-on-austin-his-move-to-ktm-starting-again/198563
Baz: "Someone came from the inside and hit me"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/baz-someone-came-from-the-inside-and-hit-me/198385
Hernandez: "Our main objective today was to finish"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/hernandez-our-main-objectives-today-was-to-finish/198384
Marquez marches to fourth Austin win, as Rossi crashes out
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/marquez-marches-to-fourth-austin-win-as-rossi-crashes-out/198340
Lorenzo: "You could see it was difficult to stay on"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/lorenzo-you-could-see-it-was-difficult-to-stay-on/198418
Rossi: "I didn't feel from the bike I was too fast"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rossi-i-didn-t-feel-from-the-bike-i-was-too-fast/198434
Marquez: "The team advised me very well"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/marquez-the-team-advised-me-very-well/198438
Pedrosa: "I feel especially bad for Andrea"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/pedrosa-i-feel-especially-bad-for-andrea/198443
Iannone: "I dedicate this podium to my Ducati and the team"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/iannone-i-dedicate-this-podium-to-my-ducati-and-the-team/198458
Dovizioso: "Once again today I was unable to finish"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/dovizioso-once-again-today-i-was-unable-to-finish/198360
Vinales: "I felt confident until almost half of the race"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/vinales-i-felt-confident-until-almost-half-of-the-race/198361
Redding: "I started to lose a second every lap"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/redding-i-started-to-lose-a-second-every-lap/198362
Bradl: "We continue to test and improve with every session"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/bradl-we-continue-to-test-and-improve-with-every-session/198374
Rabat: "It was another difficult race"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/rabat-it-was-another-difficult-race/198375
Crutchlow: "We're definitely capable of the pace"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/crutchlow-we-re-definitely-capable-of-the-pace/198376
Smith: "All of our hard work was lost"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/smith-all-of-our-hard-work-was-lost/198379
Team Suzuki Ecstar complete private COTA test
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/13/team-suzuki-ecstar-complete-private-cota-test/198589
Barbera: "After five laps I had a lot of pain"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/barbera-after-five-laps-i-had-a-lot-of-pain/198381
Laverty: "I felt like I could crash every time on the right"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/laverty-i-felt-like-i-could-crash-every-time-on-the-right/198383
Bautista: "I cannot be 100% satisfied"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/bautista-i-cannot-be-100-satisfied/198382
Bradley Smith on Austin, his move to KTM & starting again
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/13/bradley-smith-on-austin-his-move-to-ktm-starting-again/198563
Baz: "Someone came from the inside and hit me"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/baz-someone-came-from-the-inside-and-hit-me/198385
Hernandez: "Our main objective today was to finish"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/12/hernandez-our-main-objectives-today-was-to-finish/198384
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Moto2 & Moto3 news before and after the Austin, Texas race
News from Moto2 and Moto3 before and after the Austin round. Of course, you have already read the race reports from Texas. The Jerez, Spain races, are today. Stay tuned, for news, and also, for race reports. Yours truly, is trying to catch up.
Rain hits Austin as Lowes leads Moto2 FP3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/rain-hits-austin-as-lowes-leads-moto2-fp3/198089
Rins claims Americas GP pole with record breaking lap
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/rins-claims-americas-gp-pole-with-record-breaking-lap/198149
Rins: "We have done a great job"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rins-we-have-done-a-great-job/198207
A guide to the #AmericasGP Moto2 race
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/a-guide-to-the-americasgp-moto2-race/198199
Clouds gather as Nakagami heads Moto2 morning session
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/clouds-gather-as-nakagami-heads-moto2-morning-session/198248
Consistent Rins holds off Lowes for Austin victory
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/consistent-rins-holds-off-lowes-for-austin-victory/198319
Rins: "I just tried to push hard"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rins-i-just-tried-to-push-hard/198401
Lowes: "Of course I wanted to win"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/lowes-of-course-i-wanted-to-win/198356
Zarco: "I can be very happy to have fought like this"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/zarco-i-can-be-very-happy-to-have-fought-like-this/198358
Navarro begins Saturday on top
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/navarro-begins-saturday-on-top/198067
Moto3 riders battle changing conditions as Oettl lands pole
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/moto3-riders-battle-changing-conditions-as-oettl-lands-pole/198102
Oettl: "I want to finish in the top ten"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/oettl-i-want-to-finish-in-the-top-ten/198239
#AmericasGP: Moto3 race guide
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/americasgp-moto3-race-guide/198198
Navarro tops lightweight class Warm up
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/navarro-tops-lightweight-class-warm-up/198242
Faultless Fenati cruises to first 2016 win
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/faultless-fenati-cruises-to-first-2016-win/198290
Fenati: "I never gave up"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/fenati-i-never-gave-up/198394
Navarro: "I made a mistake at the first corner"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/navarro-i-made-a-mistake-at-the-first-corner/198355
Binder: "I wasn't sure about what to do"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/binder-i-wasn-t-sure-about-what-to-do/198353
Rain hits Austin as Lowes leads Moto2 FP3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/rain-hits-austin-as-lowes-leads-moto2-fp3/198089
Rins claims Americas GP pole with record breaking lap
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/rins-claims-americas-gp-pole-with-record-breaking-lap/198149
Rins: "We have done a great job"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rins-we-have-done-a-great-job/198207
A guide to the #AmericasGP Moto2 race
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/a-guide-to-the-americasgp-moto2-race/198199
Clouds gather as Nakagami heads Moto2 morning session
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/clouds-gather-as-nakagami-heads-moto2-morning-session/198248
Consistent Rins holds off Lowes for Austin victory
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/consistent-rins-holds-off-lowes-for-austin-victory/198319
Rins: "I just tried to push hard"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/rins-i-just-tried-to-push-hard/198401
Lowes: "Of course I wanted to win"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/lowes-of-course-i-wanted-to-win/198356
Zarco: "I can be very happy to have fought like this"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/zarco-i-can-be-very-happy-to-have-fought-like-this/198358
Navarro begins Saturday on top
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/navarro-begins-saturday-on-top/198067
Moto3 riders battle changing conditions as Oettl lands pole
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/09/moto3-riders-battle-changing-conditions-as-oettl-lands-pole/198102
Oettl: "I want to finish in the top ten"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/oettl-i-want-to-finish-in-the-top-ten/198239
#AmericasGP: Moto3 race guide
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/americasgp-moto3-race-guide/198198
Navarro tops lightweight class Warm up
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/navarro-tops-lightweight-class-warm-up/198242
Faultless Fenati cruises to first 2016 win
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/faultless-fenati-cruises-to-first-2016-win/198290
Fenati: "I never gave up"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/10/fenati-i-never-gave-up/198394
Navarro: "I made a mistake at the first corner"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/navarro-i-made-a-mistake-at-the-first-corner/198355
Binder: "I wasn't sure about what to do"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/11/binder-i-wasn-t-sure-about-what-to-do/198353
Friday, April 22, 2016
MotoAmerica Round 2: Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia
Toni Elias and Cameron Beaubier, split the wins in round two of the MotoAmerica Superbike Championship at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia, last weekend. The Suzuki Superbike Shootout of Georgia. Here's all you need to know from the Road Atlanta races.
Road Atlanta Preview: Elias Leads Them To Georgia
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-preview-elias-leads-them-to-road-atlanta
Road Atlanta First Look: Corti, Elias, And Morais
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-first-look-claudio-corti-toni-elias-and-sheridan-morais
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta Supersport Qualifying Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-supersport-qualifying-results
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta KTM RC Cup Qualifying Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-ktm-rc-cup-qualifying-results
Beaubier Takes Superpole In Road Atlanta Superbike
http://www.motoamerica.com/beaubier-on-pole-for-road-atlanta-superbike
Josh Day, crashed in practice, and suffered a broken thumb.
Video: Yamalube/Westby Racing Josh Day Injury Update
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-bazzaz-superstock-1000-josh-day-injury-update
Road Atlanta Supersport and Superstock 600 Warm-Up Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-supersport-superstock-600-warm-up-results
Road Atlanta Superbike and Superstock 1000 Warm-Up Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-superbike-and-superstock-1000-warm-up-results
VIDEO: Road Atlanta Supersport and Superstock 600 Race 1 Highlights
http://www.motoamerica.com/video-road-atlanta-supersport-and-superstock-600-race-one-highlights
Elias, Beaubier Split Road Atlanta Superbike Wins
http://www.motoamerica.com/elias-beaubier-split-road-atlanta-superbike-wins
Next up for MotoAmerica, is round three, at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, coming up next weekend.
Road Atlanta Preview: Elias Leads Them To Georgia
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-preview-elias-leads-them-to-road-atlanta
Road Atlanta First Look: Corti, Elias, And Morais
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-first-look-claudio-corti-toni-elias-and-sheridan-morais
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta Supersport Qualifying Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-supersport-qualifying-results
MotoAmerica Road Atlanta KTM RC Cup Qualifying Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-ktm-rc-cup-qualifying-results
Beaubier Takes Superpole In Road Atlanta Superbike
http://www.motoamerica.com/beaubier-on-pole-for-road-atlanta-superbike
Josh Day, crashed in practice, and suffered a broken thumb.
Video: Yamalube/Westby Racing Josh Day Injury Update
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-bazzaz-superstock-1000-josh-day-injury-update
Road Atlanta Supersport and Superstock 600 Warm-Up Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/motoamerica-road-atlanta-supersport-superstock-600-warm-up-results
Road Atlanta Superbike and Superstock 1000 Warm-Up Results
http://www.motoamerica.com/road-atlanta-superbike-and-superstock-1000-warm-up-results
VIDEO: Road Atlanta Supersport and Superstock 600 Race 1 Highlights
http://www.motoamerica.com/video-road-atlanta-supersport-and-superstock-600-race-one-highlights
Elias, Beaubier Split Road Atlanta Superbike Wins
http://www.motoamerica.com/elias-beaubier-split-road-atlanta-superbike-wins
Next up for MotoAmerica, is round three, at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, New Jersey, coming up next weekend.
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Moto3: U.S.A. (Austin, Texas)
The young lions, of Moto3, are ready to charge, in Austin, Texas, at Circuit of the Americas. This was the first race of the day on the Sunday of action, but, it will be the final race of the weekend that is covered here on 2 Wheelin' as is customary. This is the fourth time we've been here, as mentioned, earlier on in the weekend. The race start, has been delayed due to oil spillages on the back straightaway. After the MotoGP warmup, oil was reported on the back straight. There was also an issue in the MotoAmerica Superbike race as well. People are baffled as to where it came from. There was no evidence of a blown engine in warmup for MotoGP. You've heard about what happened in MotoGP, already.
Phillip Oettl is on pole, and he is the first German rider, to score a pole in the class, since Jonas Folger was able to do it three years ago, which would have been in 2013. Mixed conditions were present in qualifying. Jorge Navarro and Enea Bastianini were also fast. Bastianini is looking forward to this race. Rider stay relaxed, and focus on the race, during the delay for the track cleanup. Brad Binder is someone also hanging out in the garage. He is the points leader, 36 points ahead of Niccolo Antonelli. Jakub Kornfeil is ready to race, and will start fourth.
Livio Loi is ready, qualifying in tenth. Recall the heartbreak for Adam Norrodin after his disappointment in Argentina. Norrodin will start sixth. We wait for the safety truck, to put down the speedy dry. The pit lane opens in five minutes, and the race starts, 15 minutes after that. Weather conditions should be good, for this race. We look at the winner from Argntina, 17 year-old whiz kid, Khairul Idham Pawi. Pawi starts way down on row eleven for today's race. So, he'll have to fight for it if he wants to win two in a row.
Andrea Locatelli had an impressive finish in Argentina, and celebrated like he'd won the World Cup soccer championship. He has team mates in Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo. Brad Binder remains the championship points leader in Moto3, headed into this race. Francesco Bagnaia is ready to race, after having a great race, in Qatar, and a bad one in Argentina. "Pecco" cannot set the bike up the way he wants it. The Mahindra is not a comfortable bike to ride for some of the riders, in terms of performance. Many riders in this class, search for their elusive first Grand Prix win. Jorge Navarro, Brad Binder, and Fabio Quartararo, among them.
Fun fact. Austin, Texas, is home to the largest bat colony in North America. 750,000 bats. The riders take their motorcycles out of the garage area, ready for the sighting lap. Khairul Idham Pawi, has stalled his motorcycle. He restarts and is on his way. Jorge Navarro was fastest in the Moto3 morning warmup, a 20 minute session. Romano Fenati, has his future plans secured. He will ride again, for Sky Racing Team VR46. But, he will move up, to Moto2, for next season. Fenati is not tall, but he is stocky. He'd fit on a Moto2 bike. Valentino Rossi says there won't be a VR46 academy team in MotoGP next year.
It will not happen now, since Rossi plans to continue racing at the top level of international motorcycle road racing. The oil is isolated off to the left hand side of turn 11. Someone knew they had to get off the racing line, when their bike's engine went sour. Fabio Quartararo has to start performing better than he has been, even though he is young, and only 16 years old. Phillip Oettl has never started on the front row of a Grand Prix, and his previous best was fourth, but that was in 2013 at the round in Aragon, Spain.
Jorge Navarro has his eighth front row start in Moto3. Oettl was quick in the morning warmup, and Navarro ran quicker than the pole time. He has had five podiums in the last seven races. Jorge Navarro may also have an opportunity, to move up to Moto2. 18 laps scheduled for the Moto3 race. Watch Niccolo Antonelli's team mate Jules Danilo. He has run well this weekend, and will roll off from eighth spot. Brad Binder, will start 12th. Will he have the steam, to challenge some of the front runners? That seems unlikely, according to observers. But, we'll find out.
Binder is mired in the middle of the pack. Tatsuki Suzuki starts 13th. Most of the field have medium front and medium rear tires. Enea Bastianini will roll the dice, and use the soft rear tire. Juanfran Guevara, is 14th, ahead of Alexis Masbou. Hiroki Ono is next, nursing a broken foot. Masbou is riding the Peugeot branded bike. Moto3 in Austin, Texas, is ready, for 18 laps of action... next!
We are on the warmup lap. Turn one at COTA is very tight, and is at the crest of a hill. 33 riders fighting for ten yards of tarmac doesn't always work. Alexis Masbou is slow on the warmup lap. Could he have a problem with the bike? This might be a group race at the front. Last year, Danny Kent checked out. This year, it seems as though no one will likely whistle off into the distance. Look out for the number of riders who exceed track limits. Keep an eye out. What is Phillip Oettl thinking, as he starts from pole for the first time? We are ready, to race, in Austin, Texas, Moto3 style!
Watch the lights. When they go out, we are away. Moto3 in Texas, is go! Romano Fenati gets the jump and goes with Enea Bastianini, while Phillip Oettl didn't get the start he necessarily was looking for. Navarro has the hole shot here. Jules Danilo runs wide across the paint in turn one. Jakub Kornfeil runs wide in turn two as well. Enea Bastianini has also lost a couple of spots. He fights Kornfeil and can't get there. Don't let Jorge Navarro get away. That's what the rest of the riders have to remember. A last minute switch, for Enea Bastianini, on the grid, before the bikes took the start. Bastianini is on the option rear tire that is a medium compound one.
Bastianini dives inside Jakub Kornfeil. Slipstream madness will be underway as they approach the back straight. Adam Norrodin lost some spots, and wants to regain them. Navarro stretches his lead while Phillip Oettl fends off Romano Fenati's challenge. Bastianini will want to close the gap, and bring other riders like Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder with him. Navarro surely has the race pace to leap away from everyone else, as Kornfeil makes a bold move! Kornfeil is halting Brad Binder's march to the top of the table here.
Binder runs wide on the curbs and tries to come back. Jakub Kornfeil slams the door in his face. Niccolo Antonelli languishes outside the top 20. He won in Qatar, but has started from 30th on the grid in this race. Antonelli matches his bike number, and is 23rd right now. Local yellow flags are displayed. A few riders went off the road. Hiroki Ono is one. Jorge Navarro is booking it, setting a 2:16.385. He is just outside the all-time race lap record at COTA in Moto3, set three years ago, by Luis Salom at 2:16.345.
Bad news. Game over, again, for Adam Norrodin. He can't catch a break! Ooh! Hiroki Ono drills him in the side, and wipes out Adam Norrodin, who lands opposite his motorcycle. Hiroki Ono knocked Norrodin off his bike, after hitting the corner way too hot. Ono is going to be sent to the principal's office for that one, and have to have a little discussion, with MotoGP Race Director, Mike Webb. Navarro distances himself from Romano Fenati, by over a second. Oettl is third, followed by Binder, Quartararo, Bastianini, Kornfeil, Locatelli, Guevara, and Loi.
Brad Binder is hunting down Romano Fenati and Phillip Oettl. Jorge Navarro may be replicating how Danny Kent streaked away from the field in this race last year. Joan Mir has made up 13 spots, going from 29th on the grid, to 16th. Niccolo Antonelli is up to 19th. Kornfeil goes inside Bastianini. Antonelli wants by Pecco Bagnaia and Andrea Migno. Navarro streaks away in the lead. The gap is 1.6 seconds. Danny Kent was the first rider to break away from the pack in a Moto3 race, last year.
Meanwhile, Navarro records fastest lap of the race thus far at a 2:17.152. Last time out in Argentina was an exception for Khairul Idham Pawi. Pawi languishes in 26th at the moment. Adam Norrodin is the only retirement from the race thus far. Fabio Quartararo moves ahead of Brad Binder once again. Quartararo is a second and a half behind Phillip Oettl who is in the final podium place as things stand. Jorge Navarro continues stretching his advantage as Romano Fenati tries getting on terms with Navarro. Niccolo Antonelli, meanwhile, continues to struggle. Antonelli has Tatsuki Suzuki of Japan, behind him. Suzuki started 13th, and has plummeted down the order, since then.
Pecco Bagnaia, Gabriel Rodrigo, and Aron Canet are also languishing. Jakub Kornfeil runs a shade wide. Brad Binder is being eaten up by Fabio Quartararo on the sister Leopard Racing (not leo-pard, but leopard, like the African wild cat), bike. Quartararo pulls out of the slipstream and has to get the bike stopped for the corner. Quartararo makes the pass. Will Binder cut back by? No. Jakub Kornfeil and Enea Bastianini have their own battle as do Andrea Locatelli and Niccolo Bulega. Juanfran Guevara and Jules Danilo also fight for position.
Adam Norrodin is back in the garage. He's banged his head and is feeling a little wonky. He may go to the medical clinic for a checkup. Navarro leads, but his gap shrinks be two to three tenths of a second. Romano Fenati sets new fast lap of the race. 2:16.954 is the time for Fenati's fast lap. Oh! Another big wreck! Joan Mir and Darryn Binder have both gone down. Binder is back underway, no doubt miffed by this little contretemps. Mir got into the corner way too hot, and was going too slowly. Therefore, he toppled over when the front end hit the curb, and poor old Darryn Binder, was an innocent bystander with no place to go but, smash!, straight into Mir's motorcycle.
Because of the aforementioned incident, Niccolo Antonelli is now into the points. The top bikes are quicker than those mired deeper in the field as Niccolo Bulega is now ninth. The Hiroki Ono and Adam Norrodin wreck, we saw earlier, is currently being investigated by the stewards. New fastest lap for Jorge Navarro at 2:16.928. He consolidates his lead to 1.4 seconds over Romano Fenati. Phillip Oettl has fallen behind Fenati. Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder aren't out of this fight either, by any means. Game over for Darryn Binder after his earlier crash.
Hiroki Ono will get a ride through penalty. Race over for him, as he's down in 25th spot. Navarro loses a half a second, making a mistake in sector three on the track. Jakub Kornfeil passes Enea Bastianini. Bastianini just passed Kornfeil on lap six. These blokes are having a ding dong battle. Another fast lap knocked down by Romano Fenati at 2:16.842. Game over for Jorge Martin on bike #88, who has crashed. Phillip Oettl is up on Fabio Quartararo, but only by two seconds. Romano Fenati is closing in, and there will be a fight for the overall win, instead of a runaway winner. Quartararo has to finish in the top five, but he wants a podium.
Jorge Martin rejoins the race. It's not game over for him. Hiroki Ono takes his ride through penalty. Joan Mir and Darryn Binder are out. Fenati passes Navarro after Navarro runs very wide into a corner. Navarro had been flying, but he's now being hunted down as Fenati leads. What does Navarro have left in the locker? Phillip Oettl still hangs on to a podium spot. Quartararo and Binder are closing. Niccolo Bulega is now ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Andrea Locatelli, and Enea Bastianini, for sixth. In 12th right now, is Niccolo Antonelli.
It is game over for Jorge Martin. Niccolo Antonelli and Aron Canet are both running as the fastest riders in the group battling for sixth. They are into the same lap time range as the podium finishers in the 2:17 range. Nine laps now remain in this race. Phillip Oettl is being caught by Fabio Quartararo, and Brad Binder. Antonelli is now up to tenth place. He wants a top six finish. Nine laps still to run. Nico Bulega has to wrestle his motorcycle and almost crashes! Fenati turns up the heat on Oettl. Quartararo outbrakes Phillip Oettl, and moves up to third.
Quartararo is now in a podium spot. Aron Canet latches onto Niccolo Antonelli. Phillip Oettl is responding to Fabio Quartararo. Brad Binder can eke out a gap over these two. Andrea Locatelli is currently sixth. Eight laps to go, as Romano Fenati is very competitive. Fenati and Navarro are going to duke it out for the win here. Navarro closes the gap to 3/4 of a second. Oh! Navarro wiggles and runs wide in the braking zone in turn one! Are his hopes of victory, dashed? Karel Hanika goes off the road and then rejoins.
Fenati leads from Navarro over Quartararo, Oettl, and Brad Binder, followed by Locatelli, Bastianini, Kornfeil and others. Quartararo and Oettl almost wreck! Oettl almost dove on Quartararo, and thought better of it. Game over for Karel Hanika. Too much crash damage. Quartararo needs to start his season, and Oettl wants his first full dry race podium. Brad Binder has fought the front end all weekend. Karel Hanika pushes too hard, and the motorcycle swaps ends and sends him sailing onto the pavement.
Jakub Kornfeil is being pressured by Niccolo Bulega. Jules Danilo is also pushing. Next year, Bulega could be the real deal, once he gets knowledge of all the tracks. Circuit of the Americas is a technical, and long circuit, making it difficult to learn. Five laps left now. Romano Fenati extends his lead to over three seconds. Phillip Oettl is still gaining on Fabio Quartararo. Niccolo Antonelli will pass Enea Bastianini for seventh. Andrea Locatelli is still leading the scrum for sixth. Niccolo Antonelli is now up to seventh. Bastianini has not finished on the podium in eight races. Gresini and Honda cannot give him a motorcycle that he's confident with.
Bastianini right now, fights with Aron Canet. Aron Canet is the man on the charge, brakes late, and runs wide. He has the inside line and almost slams into Antonelli! Fabio Quartararo's race is run! His shifter is busted. Phillip Oettl will be on the podium. Now, Quartararo has regained speed. Andrea Locatelli is also running fabulously. Quartararo is now dropping like a stone. Oh! Hard spil for Niccolo Antonelli! Aron Canet almost gets caught in it. Antonelli throws away some vital championship points. Quartararo is now eighth. But, it looks like Romano Fenati is going to win this race. Brad Binder will now hunt down Phillip Oettl. It's the final lap.
Romano Fenati is out front by a country mile. Oettl is under pressure from Binder. Binder has tons of front end chatter, as he pushes and pushes to pass Oettl! Binder is throwing caution to the wind. Oettl holds third. Fenati and Navarro will be 1-2. Can Binder get into Oettl's slipstream down the back straight? He closes on Oettl in the braking zone! Binder pulls ahead. What will Oettl do on the brakes? No dice. He has to give it up and let Binder hold station. Binder stops, turns, and shoots off the corner, but Oettl might still have something left in the locker.
A sensational win for Romano Fenati, getting himself back into the fight for the title!
#5 Romano Fenati ITA. Honda
Binder gets the podium place. Oettl fourth. Locatelli, Bastianini, Canet, Loi, Danilo, Bulega, Kornfeil, Guevara, Quartararo, Bagnaia, and Migno, are the points scoring finishers. Fenati had a solid race and was relatively unchallenged for the last part of the race. Poor old Fabio Quartararo, is 13th place in three straight races. Cruel. 13 is NOT Quartararo's lucky number. This leads us to the next Moto3 race, along with their big brothers in Moto2 and MotoGP, this weekend, at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain. Stay tuned, for action, from Spain, coming soon.
Phillip Oettl is on pole, and he is the first German rider, to score a pole in the class, since Jonas Folger was able to do it three years ago, which would have been in 2013. Mixed conditions were present in qualifying. Jorge Navarro and Enea Bastianini were also fast. Bastianini is looking forward to this race. Rider stay relaxed, and focus on the race, during the delay for the track cleanup. Brad Binder is someone also hanging out in the garage. He is the points leader, 36 points ahead of Niccolo Antonelli. Jakub Kornfeil is ready to race, and will start fourth.
Livio Loi is ready, qualifying in tenth. Recall the heartbreak for Adam Norrodin after his disappointment in Argentina. Norrodin will start sixth. We wait for the safety truck, to put down the speedy dry. The pit lane opens in five minutes, and the race starts, 15 minutes after that. Weather conditions should be good, for this race. We look at the winner from Argntina, 17 year-old whiz kid, Khairul Idham Pawi. Pawi starts way down on row eleven for today's race. So, he'll have to fight for it if he wants to win two in a row.
Andrea Locatelli had an impressive finish in Argentina, and celebrated like he'd won the World Cup soccer championship. He has team mates in Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo. Brad Binder remains the championship points leader in Moto3, headed into this race. Francesco Bagnaia is ready to race, after having a great race, in Qatar, and a bad one in Argentina. "Pecco" cannot set the bike up the way he wants it. The Mahindra is not a comfortable bike to ride for some of the riders, in terms of performance. Many riders in this class, search for their elusive first Grand Prix win. Jorge Navarro, Brad Binder, and Fabio Quartararo, among them.
Fun fact. Austin, Texas, is home to the largest bat colony in North America. 750,000 bats. The riders take their motorcycles out of the garage area, ready for the sighting lap. Khairul Idham Pawi, has stalled his motorcycle. He restarts and is on his way. Jorge Navarro was fastest in the Moto3 morning warmup, a 20 minute session. Romano Fenati, has his future plans secured. He will ride again, for Sky Racing Team VR46. But, he will move up, to Moto2, for next season. Fenati is not tall, but he is stocky. He'd fit on a Moto2 bike. Valentino Rossi says there won't be a VR46 academy team in MotoGP next year.
It will not happen now, since Rossi plans to continue racing at the top level of international motorcycle road racing. The oil is isolated off to the left hand side of turn 11. Someone knew they had to get off the racing line, when their bike's engine went sour. Fabio Quartararo has to start performing better than he has been, even though he is young, and only 16 years old. Phillip Oettl has never started on the front row of a Grand Prix, and his previous best was fourth, but that was in 2013 at the round in Aragon, Spain.
Jorge Navarro has his eighth front row start in Moto3. Oettl was quick in the morning warmup, and Navarro ran quicker than the pole time. He has had five podiums in the last seven races. Jorge Navarro may also have an opportunity, to move up to Moto2. 18 laps scheduled for the Moto3 race. Watch Niccolo Antonelli's team mate Jules Danilo. He has run well this weekend, and will roll off from eighth spot. Brad Binder, will start 12th. Will he have the steam, to challenge some of the front runners? That seems unlikely, according to observers. But, we'll find out.
Binder is mired in the middle of the pack. Tatsuki Suzuki starts 13th. Most of the field have medium front and medium rear tires. Enea Bastianini will roll the dice, and use the soft rear tire. Juanfran Guevara, is 14th, ahead of Alexis Masbou. Hiroki Ono is next, nursing a broken foot. Masbou is riding the Peugeot branded bike. Moto3 in Austin, Texas, is ready, for 18 laps of action... next!
We are on the warmup lap. Turn one at COTA is very tight, and is at the crest of a hill. 33 riders fighting for ten yards of tarmac doesn't always work. Alexis Masbou is slow on the warmup lap. Could he have a problem with the bike? This might be a group race at the front. Last year, Danny Kent checked out. This year, it seems as though no one will likely whistle off into the distance. Look out for the number of riders who exceed track limits. Keep an eye out. What is Phillip Oettl thinking, as he starts from pole for the first time? We are ready, to race, in Austin, Texas, Moto3 style!
Watch the lights. When they go out, we are away. Moto3 in Texas, is go! Romano Fenati gets the jump and goes with Enea Bastianini, while Phillip Oettl didn't get the start he necessarily was looking for. Navarro has the hole shot here. Jules Danilo runs wide across the paint in turn one. Jakub Kornfeil runs wide in turn two as well. Enea Bastianini has also lost a couple of spots. He fights Kornfeil and can't get there. Don't let Jorge Navarro get away. That's what the rest of the riders have to remember. A last minute switch, for Enea Bastianini, on the grid, before the bikes took the start. Bastianini is on the option rear tire that is a medium compound one.
Bastianini dives inside Jakub Kornfeil. Slipstream madness will be underway as they approach the back straight. Adam Norrodin lost some spots, and wants to regain them. Navarro stretches his lead while Phillip Oettl fends off Romano Fenati's challenge. Bastianini will want to close the gap, and bring other riders like Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder with him. Navarro surely has the race pace to leap away from everyone else, as Kornfeil makes a bold move! Kornfeil is halting Brad Binder's march to the top of the table here.
Binder runs wide on the curbs and tries to come back. Jakub Kornfeil slams the door in his face. Niccolo Antonelli languishes outside the top 20. He won in Qatar, but has started from 30th on the grid in this race. Antonelli matches his bike number, and is 23rd right now. Local yellow flags are displayed. A few riders went off the road. Hiroki Ono is one. Jorge Navarro is booking it, setting a 2:16.385. He is just outside the all-time race lap record at COTA in Moto3, set three years ago, by Luis Salom at 2:16.345.
Bad news. Game over, again, for Adam Norrodin. He can't catch a break! Ooh! Hiroki Ono drills him in the side, and wipes out Adam Norrodin, who lands opposite his motorcycle. Hiroki Ono knocked Norrodin off his bike, after hitting the corner way too hot. Ono is going to be sent to the principal's office for that one, and have to have a little discussion, with MotoGP Race Director, Mike Webb. Navarro distances himself from Romano Fenati, by over a second. Oettl is third, followed by Binder, Quartararo, Bastianini, Kornfeil, Locatelli, Guevara, and Loi.
Brad Binder is hunting down Romano Fenati and Phillip Oettl. Jorge Navarro may be replicating how Danny Kent streaked away from the field in this race last year. Joan Mir has made up 13 spots, going from 29th on the grid, to 16th. Niccolo Antonelli is up to 19th. Kornfeil goes inside Bastianini. Antonelli wants by Pecco Bagnaia and Andrea Migno. Navarro streaks away in the lead. The gap is 1.6 seconds. Danny Kent was the first rider to break away from the pack in a Moto3 race, last year.
Meanwhile, Navarro records fastest lap of the race thus far at a 2:17.152. Last time out in Argentina was an exception for Khairul Idham Pawi. Pawi languishes in 26th at the moment. Adam Norrodin is the only retirement from the race thus far. Fabio Quartararo moves ahead of Brad Binder once again. Quartararo is a second and a half behind Phillip Oettl who is in the final podium place as things stand. Jorge Navarro continues stretching his advantage as Romano Fenati tries getting on terms with Navarro. Niccolo Antonelli, meanwhile, continues to struggle. Antonelli has Tatsuki Suzuki of Japan, behind him. Suzuki started 13th, and has plummeted down the order, since then.
Pecco Bagnaia, Gabriel Rodrigo, and Aron Canet are also languishing. Jakub Kornfeil runs a shade wide. Brad Binder is being eaten up by Fabio Quartararo on the sister Leopard Racing (not leo-pard, but leopard, like the African wild cat), bike. Quartararo pulls out of the slipstream and has to get the bike stopped for the corner. Quartararo makes the pass. Will Binder cut back by? No. Jakub Kornfeil and Enea Bastianini have their own battle as do Andrea Locatelli and Niccolo Bulega. Juanfran Guevara and Jules Danilo also fight for position.
Adam Norrodin is back in the garage. He's banged his head and is feeling a little wonky. He may go to the medical clinic for a checkup. Navarro leads, but his gap shrinks be two to three tenths of a second. Romano Fenati sets new fast lap of the race. 2:16.954 is the time for Fenati's fast lap. Oh! Another big wreck! Joan Mir and Darryn Binder have both gone down. Binder is back underway, no doubt miffed by this little contretemps. Mir got into the corner way too hot, and was going too slowly. Therefore, he toppled over when the front end hit the curb, and poor old Darryn Binder, was an innocent bystander with no place to go but, smash!, straight into Mir's motorcycle.
Because of the aforementioned incident, Niccolo Antonelli is now into the points. The top bikes are quicker than those mired deeper in the field as Niccolo Bulega is now ninth. The Hiroki Ono and Adam Norrodin wreck, we saw earlier, is currently being investigated by the stewards. New fastest lap for Jorge Navarro at 2:16.928. He consolidates his lead to 1.4 seconds over Romano Fenati. Phillip Oettl has fallen behind Fenati. Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder aren't out of this fight either, by any means. Game over for Darryn Binder after his earlier crash.
Hiroki Ono will get a ride through penalty. Race over for him, as he's down in 25th spot. Navarro loses a half a second, making a mistake in sector three on the track. Jakub Kornfeil passes Enea Bastianini. Bastianini just passed Kornfeil on lap six. These blokes are having a ding dong battle. Another fast lap knocked down by Romano Fenati at 2:16.842. Game over for Jorge Martin on bike #88, who has crashed. Phillip Oettl is up on Fabio Quartararo, but only by two seconds. Romano Fenati is closing in, and there will be a fight for the overall win, instead of a runaway winner. Quartararo has to finish in the top five, but he wants a podium.
Jorge Martin rejoins the race. It's not game over for him. Hiroki Ono takes his ride through penalty. Joan Mir and Darryn Binder are out. Fenati passes Navarro after Navarro runs very wide into a corner. Navarro had been flying, but he's now being hunted down as Fenati leads. What does Navarro have left in the locker? Phillip Oettl still hangs on to a podium spot. Quartararo and Binder are closing. Niccolo Bulega is now ahead of Jakub Kornfeil, Andrea Locatelli, and Enea Bastianini, for sixth. In 12th right now, is Niccolo Antonelli.
It is game over for Jorge Martin. Niccolo Antonelli and Aron Canet are both running as the fastest riders in the group battling for sixth. They are into the same lap time range as the podium finishers in the 2:17 range. Nine laps now remain in this race. Phillip Oettl is being caught by Fabio Quartararo, and Brad Binder. Antonelli is now up to tenth place. He wants a top six finish. Nine laps still to run. Nico Bulega has to wrestle his motorcycle and almost crashes! Fenati turns up the heat on Oettl. Quartararo outbrakes Phillip Oettl, and moves up to third.
Quartararo is now in a podium spot. Aron Canet latches onto Niccolo Antonelli. Phillip Oettl is responding to Fabio Quartararo. Brad Binder can eke out a gap over these two. Andrea Locatelli is currently sixth. Eight laps to go, as Romano Fenati is very competitive. Fenati and Navarro are going to duke it out for the win here. Navarro closes the gap to 3/4 of a second. Oh! Navarro wiggles and runs wide in the braking zone in turn one! Are his hopes of victory, dashed? Karel Hanika goes off the road and then rejoins.
Fenati leads from Navarro over Quartararo, Oettl, and Brad Binder, followed by Locatelli, Bastianini, Kornfeil and others. Quartararo and Oettl almost wreck! Oettl almost dove on Quartararo, and thought better of it. Game over for Karel Hanika. Too much crash damage. Quartararo needs to start his season, and Oettl wants his first full dry race podium. Brad Binder has fought the front end all weekend. Karel Hanika pushes too hard, and the motorcycle swaps ends and sends him sailing onto the pavement.
Jakub Kornfeil is being pressured by Niccolo Bulega. Jules Danilo is also pushing. Next year, Bulega could be the real deal, once he gets knowledge of all the tracks. Circuit of the Americas is a technical, and long circuit, making it difficult to learn. Five laps left now. Romano Fenati extends his lead to over three seconds. Phillip Oettl is still gaining on Fabio Quartararo. Niccolo Antonelli will pass Enea Bastianini for seventh. Andrea Locatelli is still leading the scrum for sixth. Niccolo Antonelli is now up to seventh. Bastianini has not finished on the podium in eight races. Gresini and Honda cannot give him a motorcycle that he's confident with.
Bastianini right now, fights with Aron Canet. Aron Canet is the man on the charge, brakes late, and runs wide. He has the inside line and almost slams into Antonelli! Fabio Quartararo's race is run! His shifter is busted. Phillip Oettl will be on the podium. Now, Quartararo has regained speed. Andrea Locatelli is also running fabulously. Quartararo is now dropping like a stone. Oh! Hard spil for Niccolo Antonelli! Aron Canet almost gets caught in it. Antonelli throws away some vital championship points. Quartararo is now eighth. But, it looks like Romano Fenati is going to win this race. Brad Binder will now hunt down Phillip Oettl. It's the final lap.
Romano Fenati is out front by a country mile. Oettl is under pressure from Binder. Binder has tons of front end chatter, as he pushes and pushes to pass Oettl! Binder is throwing caution to the wind. Oettl holds third. Fenati and Navarro will be 1-2. Can Binder get into Oettl's slipstream down the back straight? He closes on Oettl in the braking zone! Binder pulls ahead. What will Oettl do on the brakes? No dice. He has to give it up and let Binder hold station. Binder stops, turns, and shoots off the corner, but Oettl might still have something left in the locker.
A sensational win for Romano Fenati, getting himself back into the fight for the title!
#5 Romano Fenati ITA. Honda
Binder gets the podium place. Oettl fourth. Locatelli, Bastianini, Canet, Loi, Danilo, Bulega, Kornfeil, Guevara, Quartararo, Bagnaia, and Migno, are the points scoring finishers. Fenati had a solid race and was relatively unchallenged for the last part of the race. Poor old Fabio Quartararo, is 13th place in three straight races. Cruel. 13 is NOT Quartararo's lucky number. This leads us to the next Moto3 race, along with their big brothers in Moto2 and MotoGP, this weekend, at Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain. Stay tuned, for action, from Spain, coming soon.
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
Moto2: U.S.A. (Austin, Texas)
The Moto2 World Championship, races the second round of it's season, along with the other classes, at Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas.
20 corners makes this track, a roller coaster ride, and we've seen that in MotoGP. Moto2, is next! Windy, cloudy conditions. But, a good day, for racing. It's the third race for Moto2. Tom Luthi, of Switzerland, is the championship leader. Luthi, and Johann Zarco, have won races this year so far. Alex Rins earns his first pole of 2016 and it is the 17th of his career. Sam Lowes is third on the grid. Alex Rins won from pole in Moto3 at the inaugural race at COTA in 2013. Franco Morbidelli's motorcycle was totally rebuilt before the race, with a new frame, and swing arm. Tom Luthi finished second in Moto2 in 2014. He has not led in Moto2 since the middle of the 2012 season.
What can Takaaki Nakagami do? He needs a good result. He's been going backwards in races after qualifying well. He was quickest, in the morning warmup for this race. Franco Morbidelli has not had the best weekend at all, as mentioned. Morbidelli started and finished fifth here at COTA, last year. Dominique Aegerter has qualified fourth. 19 laps scheduled for this race. Julian Simon makes his 100th Moto2 start. Marcel Schrotter is 13th on the grid and his scored points in every Moto2 race he's run in here at Circuit of the Americas. Luis Salom was on the podium in Qatar, and finished third in the 2013 Moto3 race here.
Axel Pons fell in turn three on Saturday, rolling off 15th. Hafizh Syahrin has had some great results so far this year. He starts down the order today, in 17th spot. Danny Kent dominated Moto3 here a year ago. But, he's struggling in Moto2. Sam Lowes wants to repeat after winning this race last year, and Alex Rins, wants a podium. Xavier Simeon was on pole for this race last year, and could only muster 15th this time out. 28 motorcycles will start. Efren Vazquez has a fractured right ankle after falling in qualifying. Vazquez, was knocked out cold, in the fall. He is in the hospital, with a fractured ankle.
The riders have the bikes on the warmup lap. Lowes, Zarco, and Rins, may be the top riders in this race. Other riders, will just be tripping over each other for fourth spot, perhaps. Turn one here at COTA is a tricky corner. Will Alex Rins be affected by media pressure, wondering if he'll be a MotoGP rider next year? Johann Zarco wants two wins in a row in Moto2. We are ready, for a start. It's Moto2, in Texas!
Here come the lights. Away we go! Dominique Aegerter gets a good hole shot off the line. A few riders find the going in turn one, treacherous. Just stay on the motorcycles, boys. Alex Rins takes the lead, and Johann Zarco slots into second. Simone Corsi may have touched another bike. Not sure. Jonas Folger is moving up, and perhaps, Sam Lowes, was snoozing when the red lights went out. Folger goes into turn seven hot, and Sam Lowes gets around him. The next group of riders, is a trio with Takaaki Nakagami, Franco Morbidelli, and Tom Luthi.
The battle is on into turn eleven, with the riders bobbing and weaving all over the track. Sam Lowes wants by Dominique Aegerter right now. Lowes sweeps around Alex Rins, and looks like he might take Zarco on the inside! He's wide, and Aegerter will capitalize. Rins now leads by 3/4 of a second. Aegerter runs wide as this pack bunches closer together. You might have a rabbit being chased by a pack of hounds here, in the next couple laps. Hafizh Syahrin is up to 12th. Alex Rins is checking out, meanwhile. Lowes cuts back inside Aegerter and makes the pass. This is racing on the ragged edge, early on in Moto2.
Nakagami has his hands full with points leader, Tom Luthi, in a battle for sixth spot. Sam Lowes wants to pass Johann Zarco, as a few bikes are off the road. Hopefully, no one has fallen down. Two riders have jumped the start. Lorenzo Baldassari and Axel Pons will be penalized. Sam Lowes moves to second, and is now going to try hard to chase down Alex Rins, who is ahead by a country mile at this point. Aegerter challenges Zarco, and meanwhile, he is feeling the heat from Jonas Folger. Julian Simon has made a great start, but going the opposite direction, is Simone Corsi. Folger takes Aegerter by surprise and Aegerter has to sit up. Wow! That's close!
Tom Luthi still looks for a way by Takaaki Nakagami. Fastest lap set at the start of lap three by Sam Lowes. 2:09.994. Luthi passes Nakagami. Lowes continues to chase down Zarco. Confirmation then, of Baldassari and Pons, having the visit the sin bin for a jump start. Jonas Folger tries to pass Johann Zarco. It's all getting cramped down in midfield right now. Zarco, runs wide, and, Folger tries to make a move. No dice. Zarco, slams the door in his face. They are queuing up behind Johann Zarco right now.
Folger passes Zarco, but crosses up, and runs wide. Folger is off the road, and Aegerter goes by. Folger also gets passed by Luthi. Baldassari is in the pit lane for his ride through penalty. Simone Corsi has had to recover from a fracas at the first turn. Takaaki Nakagami was going forward, but now, he's sliding down the order again. Game over for two riders. Luca Marini and Robin Mulhauser, are headed for the house, after crashing. Four riders, have to hold station, and not get into a real dogfight. Folger, Luthi, Aegerter, and Zarco, will have to watch their pace. Tom Luthi tries to pass. We have a spill, ladies and gentlemen. Luca Marini skids off the track, ditching his motorcycle.
There is another rider involved. This is a replay, of the shunt between Marini and Robin Mulhauser. Is Johann Zarco managing tires? Or, is he dropping back? Normally, he wouldn't even remotely be 2.5 seconds off the leaders. Nakagami, Corsi, and Julian Simon, are slowly coming back to the fore. Sam Lowes is comfortable in second, and has gapped Zarco. Aegerter goes under Johann Zarco. Simone Corsi also passes Jonas Folger. Corsi is riding a Speed Up chassis, and speed up, is the operative action, here at Circuit of the Americas. Danny Kent is in the lane. Could it be game over for rider #52?
No damage to the Leopard (or leo-pard) Racing Kalex bike. But, the crew will still take a look. All they're doing is checking rear tire pressure. Kent reckons he may have a flat rear tire. Tom Luthi goes inside Johann Zarco. Zarco fights back, but he could be going backwards here. Bad news for Danny Kent fans. It's game over. The team believes that the clutch packed up on the motorcycle. Simone Corsi moves up and Dominique Aegerter is also improving rapidly. Aegerter, on a clear bit of road, puts in his best race lap at 2:10.422. #49 Axel Pons is pitting for his ride through penalty. Luthi passes Zarco in turn one, and Zarco fights back in turn three.
Takaaki Nakagami makes his way past Simone Corsi. Jonas Folger is wheel to wheel with Nakagami. Luthi is trying his best, but still giving Zarco a headache. Alex Marquez moves into 11th spot. Marquez has gone longer than five laps in a race for the first time in 2016. Zarco was the slowest rider of the top seven, on this particular lap. Franco Morbidelli is slowing. He's not running competitive times. Luthi tries drafting by Zarco, and into the braking zone, he's got the inside line. Can he make it stick? No. He runs straight on. Luthi has tried several times to get by Zarco. But, each time, he makes a mistake.
Alex Rins consolidates his lead, and Sam Lowes, is knocking on the door, but cannot come in. Rins has the key and doesn't want to open up. Rins is not putting a foot wrong. This could be a textbook master class on how to ride a 600cc motorcycle, just as it was done, by Zarco, last time out in Argentina. Twelve laps still to go. Dominique Aegerter is demoted to fifth place. Nakagami goes inside Simone Corsi. Luthi is picked up again, by Johann Zarco. Zarco has lost touch with the leaders. Does he have anything left in the locker? A number of riders see the carrot dangling on the end of the string.
Aegerter wants a podium for the first time since Mugello last year. Nakagami last had a podium at Misano last fall. Luthi passes Zarco. Julian Simon and Marcel Schrotter are ninth and tenth. Julian Simon closes on eighth. Alex Marquez and Sandro Cortese run ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Mattia Pasini. Nakagami steals seventh from Corsi. Aegerter was third a short time ago and wants to claw his way back. Rins and Lowes still lead this race. Lap 10. Halfway home. Simone Corsi pushes his way through. Rins and Lowes are a half a second apart. Aegerter passes Corsi. Another rider has had issues. Miguel Oliveira, on the sister Leopard bike. He, like Danny Kent, has had a fraught race.
It's been a tough race for Leopard Kalex. Sam Lowes has to put in a series of perfect laps. Catching is one thing. Passing is another. Lowes is slightly quicker in lap time compared to Rins. Danny Kent's motorcycle had the clutch go out. Sam Lowes looks like he's running wide. No. He's drifting the rear wheel of the bike. Alex Rins gets into a consistent rhythm and does not make a mistake. Similar to Zarco, and also, Jorge Lorenzo. Nakagami forces Corsi wide. Dominique Aegerter runs his personal best lap at 2:10.3 and he was 6/10ths quicker than Lowes, and 4/10ths quicker than Rins.
Zarco is right on Tom Luthi's tail. Miguel Oliveira's race is run. Nil points for Leopard Kalex. Rear brake issues for Oliveira. No rear brake, on the motorcycle. Could Dominique Aegerter be on for his third fifth place in a row? Maybe. A very consistent start to the season for Aegerter. Jonas Folger has been languishing down in eighth spot. Nakagami runs wide and puts in his personal best lap of the race. Four riders are separated by eight points in the championship table. Sam Lowes is doing everything pressuring the race leader. Rins hasn't blinked as Lowes has been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him.
Johann Zarco is picking up his pace. Nakagami puts the move on Aegerter. Nakagami is running some corners in second gear, while other riders run them in first gear. Lower revs, are kinder to the rear tire. Nakagami is closing on Zarco and he almost crashes into another bike! He came in close to Zarco, missed his braking point, and almost crashed! Xavier Simeon is up to tenth place. Six riders are going for one podium spot, for third. Xavier Simeon has passed Alex Marquez, and Marcel Schrotter has made his way by Sandro Cortese.
Zarco sweeps inside Tom Luthi, and Luthi leans on him a bit. Zarco holds the advantage and comes to third. Will Takaaki Nakagami make a move? No. Dominique Aegerter passes Simone Corsi. Luthi tries to make a move. Can't do it. Jonas Folger has not shown anyone a wheel yet. Folger has not had the speed this weekend. Nakagami, Luthi, and Corsi, three wide! Corsi dives inside, and he taps Nakagami, and Nakagami sails off the road and out of contention! Nakagami did not deserve that bit of rough riding. It was a nudge, but sent Nakagami for a wild ride. Zarco is now third. He has a second or more over Luthi. Incident between Corsi and Nakagami is under investigation by the stewards.
Corsi essentially moved Nakagami out of the way, and Nakagami paid the price. Sam Lowes has given up the charge, and it looks like Alex Rins will dominate this race, from pole. Three laps remain. Johann Zarco is third and a full second ahead of Tom Luthi. It won't be a second straight win here in Austin, Texas, for Sam Lowes. Sam Lowes has ridden really well. But, he's been behind Rins this whole race. Two laps now remain. Folger gets in too hot, after setting a 2:10.490 lap. Zarco passes Luthi, and Luthi falls down the order. If the results stay this way, Sam Lowes will have the thinnest of championship leads. Folger passes Luthi. Luthi could slide outside the top six places. Luthi passes Jonas Folger.
Folger comes back. Luthi bounces back. This is for fifth. Some light rain falls in pit lane. It's the last lap now. Alex Rins is 1.6 seconds ahead of Sam Lowes. Luthi cannot stay in the top six. Sam Lowes has done everything in his power to do a double. But, he will fall short. A lot of MotoGP teams are keeping an eye on Alex Rins. The rain, is localized. It's stopped already. Rins may negotiate a MotoGP ride for next year. It's the final lap. Lowes will lead the points by one going into the next race. Rins wins it!
#40 Alex Rins ESP. Kalex
Tom Luthi loses his championship lead. Alex Marquez finishes eleventh. One point for Takaaki Nakagami in 15th. He'll feel cheated after this race. Next up for Moto2, Jerez, Spain, this weekend.
20 corners makes this track, a roller coaster ride, and we've seen that in MotoGP. Moto2, is next! Windy, cloudy conditions. But, a good day, for racing. It's the third race for Moto2. Tom Luthi, of Switzerland, is the championship leader. Luthi, and Johann Zarco, have won races this year so far. Alex Rins earns his first pole of 2016 and it is the 17th of his career. Sam Lowes is third on the grid. Alex Rins won from pole in Moto3 at the inaugural race at COTA in 2013. Franco Morbidelli's motorcycle was totally rebuilt before the race, with a new frame, and swing arm. Tom Luthi finished second in Moto2 in 2014. He has not led in Moto2 since the middle of the 2012 season.
What can Takaaki Nakagami do? He needs a good result. He's been going backwards in races after qualifying well. He was quickest, in the morning warmup for this race. Franco Morbidelli has not had the best weekend at all, as mentioned. Morbidelli started and finished fifth here at COTA, last year. Dominique Aegerter has qualified fourth. 19 laps scheduled for this race. Julian Simon makes his 100th Moto2 start. Marcel Schrotter is 13th on the grid and his scored points in every Moto2 race he's run in here at Circuit of the Americas. Luis Salom was on the podium in Qatar, and finished third in the 2013 Moto3 race here.
Axel Pons fell in turn three on Saturday, rolling off 15th. Hafizh Syahrin has had some great results so far this year. He starts down the order today, in 17th spot. Danny Kent dominated Moto3 here a year ago. But, he's struggling in Moto2. Sam Lowes wants to repeat after winning this race last year, and Alex Rins, wants a podium. Xavier Simeon was on pole for this race last year, and could only muster 15th this time out. 28 motorcycles will start. Efren Vazquez has a fractured right ankle after falling in qualifying. Vazquez, was knocked out cold, in the fall. He is in the hospital, with a fractured ankle.
The riders have the bikes on the warmup lap. Lowes, Zarco, and Rins, may be the top riders in this race. Other riders, will just be tripping over each other for fourth spot, perhaps. Turn one here at COTA is a tricky corner. Will Alex Rins be affected by media pressure, wondering if he'll be a MotoGP rider next year? Johann Zarco wants two wins in a row in Moto2. We are ready, for a start. It's Moto2, in Texas!
Here come the lights. Away we go! Dominique Aegerter gets a good hole shot off the line. A few riders find the going in turn one, treacherous. Just stay on the motorcycles, boys. Alex Rins takes the lead, and Johann Zarco slots into second. Simone Corsi may have touched another bike. Not sure. Jonas Folger is moving up, and perhaps, Sam Lowes, was snoozing when the red lights went out. Folger goes into turn seven hot, and Sam Lowes gets around him. The next group of riders, is a trio with Takaaki Nakagami, Franco Morbidelli, and Tom Luthi.
The battle is on into turn eleven, with the riders bobbing and weaving all over the track. Sam Lowes wants by Dominique Aegerter right now. Lowes sweeps around Alex Rins, and looks like he might take Zarco on the inside! He's wide, and Aegerter will capitalize. Rins now leads by 3/4 of a second. Aegerter runs wide as this pack bunches closer together. You might have a rabbit being chased by a pack of hounds here, in the next couple laps. Hafizh Syahrin is up to 12th. Alex Rins is checking out, meanwhile. Lowes cuts back inside Aegerter and makes the pass. This is racing on the ragged edge, early on in Moto2.
Nakagami has his hands full with points leader, Tom Luthi, in a battle for sixth spot. Sam Lowes wants to pass Johann Zarco, as a few bikes are off the road. Hopefully, no one has fallen down. Two riders have jumped the start. Lorenzo Baldassari and Axel Pons will be penalized. Sam Lowes moves to second, and is now going to try hard to chase down Alex Rins, who is ahead by a country mile at this point. Aegerter challenges Zarco, and meanwhile, he is feeling the heat from Jonas Folger. Julian Simon has made a great start, but going the opposite direction, is Simone Corsi. Folger takes Aegerter by surprise and Aegerter has to sit up. Wow! That's close!
Tom Luthi still looks for a way by Takaaki Nakagami. Fastest lap set at the start of lap three by Sam Lowes. 2:09.994. Luthi passes Nakagami. Lowes continues to chase down Zarco. Confirmation then, of Baldassari and Pons, having the visit the sin bin for a jump start. Jonas Folger tries to pass Johann Zarco. It's all getting cramped down in midfield right now. Zarco, runs wide, and, Folger tries to make a move. No dice. Zarco, slams the door in his face. They are queuing up behind Johann Zarco right now.
Folger passes Zarco, but crosses up, and runs wide. Folger is off the road, and Aegerter goes by. Folger also gets passed by Luthi. Baldassari is in the pit lane for his ride through penalty. Simone Corsi has had to recover from a fracas at the first turn. Takaaki Nakagami was going forward, but now, he's sliding down the order again. Game over for two riders. Luca Marini and Robin Mulhauser, are headed for the house, after crashing. Four riders, have to hold station, and not get into a real dogfight. Folger, Luthi, Aegerter, and Zarco, will have to watch their pace. Tom Luthi tries to pass. We have a spill, ladies and gentlemen. Luca Marini skids off the track, ditching his motorcycle.
There is another rider involved. This is a replay, of the shunt between Marini and Robin Mulhauser. Is Johann Zarco managing tires? Or, is he dropping back? Normally, he wouldn't even remotely be 2.5 seconds off the leaders. Nakagami, Corsi, and Julian Simon, are slowly coming back to the fore. Sam Lowes is comfortable in second, and has gapped Zarco. Aegerter goes under Johann Zarco. Simone Corsi also passes Jonas Folger. Corsi is riding a Speed Up chassis, and speed up, is the operative action, here at Circuit of the Americas. Danny Kent is in the lane. Could it be game over for rider #52?
No damage to the Leopard (or leo-pard) Racing Kalex bike. But, the crew will still take a look. All they're doing is checking rear tire pressure. Kent reckons he may have a flat rear tire. Tom Luthi goes inside Johann Zarco. Zarco fights back, but he could be going backwards here. Bad news for Danny Kent fans. It's game over. The team believes that the clutch packed up on the motorcycle. Simone Corsi moves up and Dominique Aegerter is also improving rapidly. Aegerter, on a clear bit of road, puts in his best race lap at 2:10.422. #49 Axel Pons is pitting for his ride through penalty. Luthi passes Zarco in turn one, and Zarco fights back in turn three.
Takaaki Nakagami makes his way past Simone Corsi. Jonas Folger is wheel to wheel with Nakagami. Luthi is trying his best, but still giving Zarco a headache. Alex Marquez moves into 11th spot. Marquez has gone longer than five laps in a race for the first time in 2016. Zarco was the slowest rider of the top seven, on this particular lap. Franco Morbidelli is slowing. He's not running competitive times. Luthi tries drafting by Zarco, and into the braking zone, he's got the inside line. Can he make it stick? No. He runs straight on. Luthi has tried several times to get by Zarco. But, each time, he makes a mistake.
Alex Rins consolidates his lead, and Sam Lowes, is knocking on the door, but cannot come in. Rins has the key and doesn't want to open up. Rins is not putting a foot wrong. This could be a textbook master class on how to ride a 600cc motorcycle, just as it was done, by Zarco, last time out in Argentina. Twelve laps still to go. Dominique Aegerter is demoted to fifth place. Nakagami goes inside Simone Corsi. Luthi is picked up again, by Johann Zarco. Zarco has lost touch with the leaders. Does he have anything left in the locker? A number of riders see the carrot dangling on the end of the string.
Aegerter wants a podium for the first time since Mugello last year. Nakagami last had a podium at Misano last fall. Luthi passes Zarco. Julian Simon and Marcel Schrotter are ninth and tenth. Julian Simon closes on eighth. Alex Marquez and Sandro Cortese run ahead of Franco Morbidelli and Mattia Pasini. Nakagami steals seventh from Corsi. Aegerter was third a short time ago and wants to claw his way back. Rins and Lowes still lead this race. Lap 10. Halfway home. Simone Corsi pushes his way through. Rins and Lowes are a half a second apart. Aegerter passes Corsi. Another rider has had issues. Miguel Oliveira, on the sister Leopard bike. He, like Danny Kent, has had a fraught race.
It's been a tough race for Leopard Kalex. Sam Lowes has to put in a series of perfect laps. Catching is one thing. Passing is another. Lowes is slightly quicker in lap time compared to Rins. Danny Kent's motorcycle had the clutch go out. Sam Lowes looks like he's running wide. No. He's drifting the rear wheel of the bike. Alex Rins gets into a consistent rhythm and does not make a mistake. Similar to Zarco, and also, Jorge Lorenzo. Nakagami forces Corsi wide. Dominique Aegerter runs his personal best lap at 2:10.3 and he was 6/10ths quicker than Lowes, and 4/10ths quicker than Rins.
Zarco is right on Tom Luthi's tail. Miguel Oliveira's race is run. Nil points for Leopard Kalex. Rear brake issues for Oliveira. No rear brake, on the motorcycle. Could Dominique Aegerter be on for his third fifth place in a row? Maybe. A very consistent start to the season for Aegerter. Jonas Folger has been languishing down in eighth spot. Nakagami runs wide and puts in his personal best lap of the race. Four riders are separated by eight points in the championship table. Sam Lowes is doing everything pressuring the race leader. Rins hasn't blinked as Lowes has been throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him.
Johann Zarco is picking up his pace. Nakagami puts the move on Aegerter. Nakagami is running some corners in second gear, while other riders run them in first gear. Lower revs, are kinder to the rear tire. Nakagami is closing on Zarco and he almost crashes into another bike! He came in close to Zarco, missed his braking point, and almost crashed! Xavier Simeon is up to tenth place. Six riders are going for one podium spot, for third. Xavier Simeon has passed Alex Marquez, and Marcel Schrotter has made his way by Sandro Cortese.
Zarco sweeps inside Tom Luthi, and Luthi leans on him a bit. Zarco holds the advantage and comes to third. Will Takaaki Nakagami make a move? No. Dominique Aegerter passes Simone Corsi. Luthi tries to make a move. Can't do it. Jonas Folger has not shown anyone a wheel yet. Folger has not had the speed this weekend. Nakagami, Luthi, and Corsi, three wide! Corsi dives inside, and he taps Nakagami, and Nakagami sails off the road and out of contention! Nakagami did not deserve that bit of rough riding. It was a nudge, but sent Nakagami for a wild ride. Zarco is now third. He has a second or more over Luthi. Incident between Corsi and Nakagami is under investigation by the stewards.
Corsi essentially moved Nakagami out of the way, and Nakagami paid the price. Sam Lowes has given up the charge, and it looks like Alex Rins will dominate this race, from pole. Three laps remain. Johann Zarco is third and a full second ahead of Tom Luthi. It won't be a second straight win here in Austin, Texas, for Sam Lowes. Sam Lowes has ridden really well. But, he's been behind Rins this whole race. Two laps now remain. Folger gets in too hot, after setting a 2:10.490 lap. Zarco passes Luthi, and Luthi falls down the order. If the results stay this way, Sam Lowes will have the thinnest of championship leads. Folger passes Luthi. Luthi could slide outside the top six places. Luthi passes Jonas Folger.
Folger comes back. Luthi bounces back. This is for fifth. Some light rain falls in pit lane. It's the last lap now. Alex Rins is 1.6 seconds ahead of Sam Lowes. Luthi cannot stay in the top six. Sam Lowes has done everything in his power to do a double. But, he will fall short. A lot of MotoGP teams are keeping an eye on Alex Rins. The rain, is localized. It's stopped already. Rins may negotiate a MotoGP ride for next year. It's the final lap. Lowes will lead the points by one going into the next race. Rins wins it!
#40 Alex Rins ESP. Kalex
Tom Luthi loses his championship lead. Alex Marquez finishes eleventh. One point for Takaaki Nakagami in 15th. He'll feel cheated after this race. Next up for Moto2, Jerez, Spain, this weekend.
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