FIM World Superbike Round 6: Malaysia

Sepang in Malaysia, hosts World Superbike for just the third time.  New pavement has been laid down at Sepang.  No race here, has been won by a margin of more than a second.  Herman Tilke designed this track, and Jarno Safelli, modified it.  It is 5.5 kilometers in length, (3.44 miles) in length.  The straightaways are 850 meters and 920 meters long.  Turn 15, has been modified, for this year.  We look at, the landmark, here at Sepang, which is shaped like the hibiscus flower, the national flower, of Malaysia.  Weather conditions right now, see an ambient temperature of 33 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit) and a track temperature, of 51 degrees Celsius (123 degrees Fahrenheit).  So, it's a hot one, in the tropical climate, of Malaysia, today!

It is hot, and there's no wind.  So, the rider's will be in for a test, today, and tomorrow, in both World Superbike races.  This is the sixth of thirteen rounds in the championship.  So, we are quickly approaching the halfway mark in the season.  That comes up, after the first race, at Donington Park, in England.  Now, a bit of a spoiler alert.  Donington action, has taken place.  But, never fear, as yours truly, will have race reports, from the next race.  For now, we focus on Malaysia.  Tom Sykes has taken pole, but Jonathan Rea, has won 19 races with Kawasaki, and he has won 91% of the races.  He's got a brand new contract, with Kawasaki, and will race in WSBK with them, for the next two seasons.

Rain will come, shortly before race one gets underway.  Jonathan Rea is on his third engine.  He starts third.  Chaz Davies is fastest of the Ducati's, and he won here in Malaysia, last year.  Ducati has won at all the Malaysian tracks WSBK has visited, including, here at Sepang.  Nicky Hayden, has used four engines in his Honda so far this year.  You can toggle between engines you have already run with during the season, if those engines are still in working order.  If you lose a motor, heaven forbid, you will have to change the engine allocation, as a team.  Hayden is flying, and rolls off the grid, fourth, for race one.  Hayden knows this track, because he ran here 13 times in MotoGP.

Alex Lowes, is the sole Yamaha in the races this weekend, with Sylvain Guintoli, still recovering from his injuries.  Alex Lowes has lost two motors from his allocation, due to issues at the beginning of the season, that we saw in Australia, and Thailand.  Lowes is on the second row.  They need race pace.  We may see smoke from the tailpipes of the bikes during the race, because the oil will be moving around, inside the engine, due to the high speeds and stress on these monstrous 1000cc motors.  The crank cases can get pressurized by the compression on this circuit.  The pressure will squeeze the piston rings, and thus, the motor oil will chuck out of the bike, creating smoke.

Ducati, with their engine upgrades, changed the character of the motor, and thus it helped them try to maintain pace with the Kawasaki's.  Tom Sykes is onto his fourth engine of the season, and has withdrawn the second motor, from his allocation.  Sykes takes yet another Super Pole.  He is 8/10ths faster than Alex Lowes.  Jonathan Rea, had an issue with wear on his qualifying tires.  Rea is still on the front row.  So, he can go for a win.  The only two riders to take pole in WSBK at Sepang, have been Sylvain Guintoli (again, recovering from his injuries at Imola), and Tom Sykes.  No rider has won a race from pole, here at Sepang.  Less than a second has always separated bikes here at Sepang.

In 2014, it was the Aprilia team with Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli, and Rea and Sykes on the Kawasaki's, last year.  Pit lane is open.  Five minutes for the riders to get out on their sighting lap, go around the speedway, come back to the grid, and form up for the start.  Markus Reiterberger for BMW starts sixth.  Keep in mind, he is the reigning IDM German Superbike champion.  Behind him, will be Aprilia's Lorenzo Savadori.  The Ducati's are improving.  Chaz Davies has been the strongest Ducati rider this season.  Now, it is up to Davide Giugliano and Xavi Fores to start turning up the wick and getting the other Ducati's into contention for podium finishes.  Fores had a great run at Aragon in Spain.  But, he must show he can race with Davies, and with the green machines from Kawasaki.

Amazingly, Aprilia, who Lorenzo Savadori races for, have had more podiums here at Sepang than any other manufacturer in the field.  Six, to be exact, over the past couple years.  Ducati may have a chance to take the championship this year.  At this stage, though, Davies is 35 points behind Jonathan Rea.  However, he could lead the championship, by the end of this weekend, if everything works out.  Tom Sykes needs to rebound and add to the win he had in Thailand, trying to beat his team mate, and also, to beat Chaz Davies.  Alex Lowes is in the middle of the front row, splitting the Kawasaki's.  Alex Lowes has his second front row start this year.

Here this weekend, to help the Crescent Yamaha team, Yamaha has a few representatives, from the factory MotoGP effort for Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, who have been dominant as of late in MotoGP, as you've read about, on 2 Wheelin'.  It is a big help that Alex Lowes has his front row start.  We have a brand new, repaved track surface here at Sepang, even though the layout has not changed since the track was built in 1998 and opened the following year, in 1999.  Several corners on the speedway have also been re-profiled.  Turn 15 has been changed entirely.  It is the only off camber corner on this track.

Another Tissot watch, for Tom Sykes.  He's got quite the collection, and there aren't enough time zones on planet earth, to set all of them for.  This is Sykes' fourth pole of the year, and 34th of his career.  Markus Reiterberger rolls off sixth.  Anthony West, who has raced in Moto2 and World Supersport, he is in this race, starting 11th.  Chaz Davies receives another best lap award, from Imola, last time out.  Aruba Ducati have posted fastest lap in seven of the ten races we've run so far this year.  Pretty incredible.  The Kawasaki has more speed.  But the Ducati, remains the best overall package for a motorcycle, in a World Superbike race.

Lorenzo Savadori on the Aprilia, starts seventh.  Jordi Torres, starts eighth on the second of the Althea BMW S1000RR's.  Torres was on the podium here last year, when he rode for Aprilia, and the races were run in August, rather than May.  The new asphalt is abrasive, and the riders will have to manage the tires, and the performance of the Pirelli's may drop.  If someone pushes too hard, they'll fall back.  This track actually might have more grip in the wet than it does in dry conditions, as we see Davide Giugliano will roll off ninth on the Ducati.  Michael van der Mark on the sister factory Honda, rolls off in tenth place.

Again, Anthony West, is making his WSBK debut in this race on the #13 Pedercini Racing Kawasaki ZX10R.  Saeed al Sulaiti is still racing for Pedercini.  But, remember, that his team mate, Sylvain Barrier, was hurt, and fractured his wrist in a high side incident at Motorland Aragon.  Lucas Mahias was brought in as a replacement, and he was hurt, in another crash at Imola.  So, Anthony West, is replacing a replacement, as it were, and becomes the third rider, for Pedercini, in WSBK this year.  Leon Camier is twelfth, and he came through Super Pole, but was caught out in qualifying after the rain stopped.  Camier moved through to Super Pole 2.  Alex de Angelis is 13th.  Josh Brookes rolls off in 14th place.

Recall that Milwaukee BMW did have a traction control problem at Imola, and that's what pitched Karel Abraham, (Brookes' team mate), off the motorcycle, in one of the races.  Brookes is coming to grips with traction control, as that is not allowed in the British Superbike Championship, where he raced before, winning the title in the finale at Brands Hatch, last year.  Xavi Fores is 15th.  He's come up through the ranks racing in Italy and Spain, as well as in the IDM series in Germany, where Markus Reiterberger also cut his teeth.  Karel Abraham rolls off 16th.

With respect to tires, Nicky Hayden goes with the A spec Pirelli rear tire.  Davide Giugliano is the only other rider using the softest tire.  Most of the field goes for B spec, slightly harder, tires, on both ends.  In 17th spot, is Italian Luca Scassa.  This is another situation, of a replacement rider, replacing another replacement rider.  For VFT Racing, we had Fabio Menghi originally, who was hurt, and then, replaced by Matteo Baiocco.  But, Matteo Baiocco races in the CIV Italian Superbike Championship, and they race at Vallelunga in Italy, on this same weekend.  So, hence, Luca Scassa was called up and asked, "can you race in Malaysia this weekend?"  The answer is, yes.

Scassa will race here, and next time out, at Donington Park.  Menghi, should be healed up enough, to race, for the first time this season, at Misano Adriatico, in Italy.  Josh Hook is starting 18th for Grillini.  Sykes has pole for this race.  But, the pole man has not won here in Malaysia.  Gianluca Vizziello starts caboose on the field in 23rd spot.  The bikes are on their warmup lap.  We go through some quick race facts.  The first race for WSBK in Malaysia, was in 1990, at the Shah Alam circuit.  Kawasaki has the most podiums here at Sepang, with five, followed by Aprilia with four, and Ducati, with two.  We have raced here in Malaysia at three circuits.  Shah Alam and Sepang, being two.  The series has also raced in Thailand, and in Indonesia.

Five manufacturers will start on the first two rows.  Looking at the weather conditions again before we race.  32 degrees Celsius air temp (89 Fahrenheit) and 47 degrees Celsius track temp (116 Fahrenheit).  It's not uncommon to see incidents at the starts of these races.  In 2014, there was a big wreck between Loris Baz, Tom Sykes, and Sam Lowes.  Last year, Max Biaggi collided with Sylvain Guintoli at the the start of race two.  The curb has been lowered in turn nine by 70 centimeters.  Again, turn 15 has also seen a dramatic change.  Motorcycle racers don't like off camber corners, but they are surely a challenge.

What will the weather do?  2/3rds distance, is the end of lap ten.  Tom Sykes aims for his 20th win from pole.  Jonathan Rea also wants his 20th win for Kawasaki.  Red lights on... red lights on... red lights, out!  Here we go!  Race one in Malaysia for World Superbike, launches!  Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes both get great starts!  16 laps make up the distance of this race.  Into turn one for the first time, and it's Alex Lowes taking the lead, as both Ducati's also have fantastic starts!  Alex Lowes leads with Jonathan Rea second, and Tom Sykes, third.  Davide Giugliano makes an early move on Markus Reiterberger, who stands the BMW up and loses some spots.  Jonathan Rea runs wide.  He makes a mistake out of turn four.

Chaz Davies has gained a spot, at the start as well.  Michael van der Mark, has passed Nicky Hayden.  Hayden tries to move on van der Mark, but it doesn't work.  How long will Lowes on the Yamaha stay in front?  Not for too long, I'm afraid.  Nicky Hayden knows this track well as the riders dive for turn fifteen for the first time.  Sykes passes Lowes for the lead.  Jonathan Rea tries, but thinks better of it.  Alex Lowes runs wide and is now fourth, letting Sykes and Davies go by.  Lowes has to stay calm.  The Yamaha, has a horsepower deficit, compared to the Kawasaki's and Ducati's.  Davide Giugliano has jumped up from ninth, to fifth, in the early going, in race one.

Sykes is very much trying to put some daylight between himself and Rea at the front.  Lowes is the meat in a Ducati sandwich, but, he isn't allowing Chaz Davies to get away.  Nicky Hayden begins pressuring Davide Giugliano.  Meanwhile, Jordi Torres runs eighth, Anthony West has jumped two spots from 11th to ninth.  Markus Reiterberger completes the top ten, with Luca Savadori, Alex de Angelis, Josh Brookes, Xavi Fores, and Leon Camier, completing the top fifteen.  Nicky Hayden makes an aggressive pass on Davide Giugliano and takes the position away.  Tom Sykes sets fastest lap of this race so far at 2:03.6.  2:03.637 is the official time.

It is a new lap record.  Compare Sykes' 2:03.637 to his old record, set last year, at 2:03.654.  So the new record is 17 hundredths of a second faster.  Rea and Sykes both use the B spec tires, as Chaz Davies has a slightly harder front tire.  Alex Lowes has to stay with Chaz Davies and keep himself ahead of the Honda of Nicky Hayden.  Sykes leads Rea now by 1.8 seconds.  It's a scrap between the Althea BMW's for eighth place, and Jordi Torres is ahead of Markus Reiterberger at this moment.  Anthony "Ant" West follows on the Pedercini Kawasaki.  West is making his debut in World Superbike.  But, he has plenty of experience in MotoGP, Moto2, and other championships.

This is the eighth different motorcycle world championship series, that Anthony West, has raced in.  He's run 125s, 250s, 500s, MotoGP, World Supersport, World Endurance, and now, World Superbike.  West has also run both MotoGP formulas with 800cc and 1000cc engines.  Can Michael van der Mark close the gap to Davide Giugliano?  Nicky Hayden has passed Giugliano.  The heat and humidity in Malaysia, is something surely very difficult for anyone, including the riders, to deal with.  Davies, Lowes, and Hayden, are all in this train of bikes, being led by the two factory Kawasaki's.

Can Alex Lowes and Nicky Hayden start a draft, and press their way towards Rea and Davies?  The lap times have fallen by two seconds, down into the 2:05 bracket.  Nicky Hayden is running well here and knows the Sepang circuit from racing in MotoGP for so many years.  They visit here, in October, a race you will hear about, on 2 Wheelin'.  The riders dip through turn five and have to change direction quickly in that little right/left flick.  Lowes runs wide.  Will Tom Sykes whistle off into the distance?  We're waiting to find out.  Rea and Davies seem to be exchanging personal best laps, tossing best lap time around like a volleyball.  Rea can defend from Davies, but maybe his Kawasaki is not at the optimum performance level, to be able to pour on the steam and run after his team mate.

Sykes runs wide into turn 15.  He leads by a margin of 2.8 seconds.  Jonathan Rea has to be more concerned with Chaz Davies, than he does with his team mate.  Oh dear!  As we were watching a replay of the race start, it's game over, for Yamaha!  Alex Lowes, has crashed out of WSBK race one here at Sepang!  Correction.  It isn't game over, because he's rejoined the fight.  Lowes is now behind the battle between the Althea BMW's.  Sykes now has 3.5 seconds over Rea.  Rea and Davies continue their fight for second.  As for the BMW's, Reiterberger moves ahead of Torres.  We will have to watch Tom Sykes, around lap 11, with five left.  It is in the last 1/3rd of a race where the tires drop off.

Jonathan Rea wants his 20th Kawasaki victory.  A 3.3 second lead for Sykes.  But, he lost a quarter of a second to Rea on the last lap.  Game over for Pawel Szkopek as he crashes in turn nine, the uphill hairpin.  We are going to be at halfway next lap around, as Markus Reiterberger has now passed Michael van der Mark on the second of the factory Honda's.  They are two seconds behind Davide Giugliano, who in turn, is two seconds in arrears of Nicky Hayden.  Hayden could get a podium still.  He was on the podium at Assen in Holland, last month of course.  At the end of lap eight, we'll be halfway home.  van der Mark and Jordi Torres will scrap for seventh place.  Alex Lowes is ninth after his earlier fall.

Luca Savadori runs tenth.  In 11th, still, is Anthony West.  Josh Brookes is 12th, Alex de Angelis 13th, Xavi Fores, 14th, and Karel Abraham, 15th.  Alex de Angelis is now sinking like a stone, as Giugliano catches up to Hayden.  Hayden's soft front tire, might be fading.  Game over for Alex de Angelis.  He's crashed his Aprilia.  Giugliano is catching Hayden.  So is Markus Reiterberger.  Hayden could be eaten up by the Ducati and the BMW.  He's struggling for pace, and his tires are too soft of a compound, and are fading.  Alex Lowes is making a good recovery as van der Mark and Torres fight for seventh.

Torres is inside van der Mark.  Remember back to last fall, in October, and the MotoGP race here in Malaysia where Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez had their tussle.  Markus Reiterberger makes the pass and Nicky Hayden loses another place.  Reiterberger is impressive in this race!  He's able to put the motorcycle right where it needs to be on the road.  He tries to make a move, but Davide Giugliano cuts him off and says, "no way, sunshine.  I'm keeping the place."  Torres and van der Mark could work their way into this fight before too long as well.  Hayden isn't letting Markus Reiterberger get away.  However, he'll pass Giugliano soon.

Uh oh.  Someone else has crashed.  It's a red motorcycle, meaning either Lorenzo Savadori's Aprilia, or, one of the factory Ducati Panigale's.  Ah.  Savadori did ditch his Aprilia.  What a shame!  Both Aprilia's have now retired from race one in Malaysia along with the Toth Yamaha YZF R1 of Pawel Szkopek.  Reiterberger goes really wide to pass Giugliano and does it!  Reiterberger is a very good rider, because he's adapted well to WSBK and has ridden some very smart races as of late.  Sykes leads by 4.5 seconds, and Chaz Davies has fallen a second behind Jonathan Rea.  Could this be Sykes' race to lose?  Reiterberger would give BMW it's third top five finish in succession, and match their best result of the year at Imola which was at the beginning of this month of course.

Markus Reiterberger can be compared to former multiple champion MotoGP rider Casey Stoner from Australia, because he's a very methodical rider.  Sykes and Rea are running identical lap times at 2:05.1.  Sykes leads by just under five seconds.  Jonathan Rea has to make up a second a lap with five laps left.  There's no way, unless the tires really drop off.  Jordi Torres moves ahead of Nicky Hayden.  Alex Lowes has now recovered to a point where he is challenging Michael van der Mark.  Can Jordi Torres pass Davide Giugliano?  Will Giugliano begin to fade?

The BMW performs better on a more worn tire than brand new ones.  Oh my!  Markus Reiterberger, for all the talk about him, he's out!  Jordi Torres, his Althea BMW team mate, picks up two places, and now passes Davide Giugliano as well.  Alex Lowes tries Nicky Hayden, but Lowes slams the door in his face.  Reiterberger simply lost all drive out of his BMW.  Game over.  Lowes makes a move on Hayden and makes it stick.  Alex Lowes crossed the gravel, and he didn't actually crash.  The bike is not damaged.  Alex Lowes passes Davide Giugliano.  Three laps to go in race one at Sepang.

Kawasaki is on for a 1-2 in this first race in Malaysia.  Sykes still runs quicker than Rea.  There will be no tire wear to worry about.  Kawasaki won race one here last year, and Sykes, has never won here.  Sykes would pick up some points and be 62 behind Jonathan Rea, while Chaz Davies would be 39 points behind.  Two laps now remain.  Sykes has managed this first race beautifully.  Torres and Lowes continue their battle as Giugliano, Hayden, and van der Mark, run behind them.  Anthony West remains ninth, and now, into the top ten is Leon Camier on the MV Agusta 1000 F4.  Hayden loses a spot to his team mate, as the Honda riders, swap.  van der Mark has gotten the better of Hayden in seven of the ten races held so far in WSBK 2016.

Luca Scassa is now up to 13th place on the VFT Racing Ducati.  Once again, we hope to see Fabio Menghi back at Misano, coming up in June.  Xavi Fores runs 14th and in 15th, hoping to score his first WSBK world championship points, is Josh Hook.  van der Mark passes Hayden on the inside, into turn seven.  Torres, Lowes, and Giugliano still fight for fourth through sixth place.  van der Mark indeed passes Hayden.  Anthony West, will end up ninth, and he's had quite the outing here in Sepang, as a sub.  It is now the final lap.  Hayden's tire choice was a major mistake and it hasn't worked.

Tom Sykes is on target for his second win of the year, and his first in Malaysia.  No rear tire errors for Tom Sykes today.  Sykes makes up for disappointment here in Malaysia, last year.  It's a KRT 1-2 and Sykes creams the opposition in race one, by 5.5 seconds!  Rea beats Davies to increase his championship lead, and Torres gets another fourth for BMW!  Giugliano, van der Mark, Hayden, West, Camier, Brookes, Abraham, Scassa, Fores, and Hook, complete the top fifteen.

#66 Tom Sykes     GBR.     Kawasaki ZX10R

Race two action, from Sepang, is coming up.

Can Tom Sykes, do the double?  We have a fully wet race, coming up.  Alex Lowes starts on the front row.  Althea and BMW finished fourth in race one.  Tom Sykes, wants to do the double.  There is an air of tension in Malaysia for this Sunday race, as we have had significant rainfall.  The air temperature is now 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit).  Track temperature is at 32 degrees Celsius, (89 Fahrenheit).  The wind speed is three kilometers, one mile, per hour.  The World Supersport race, has not taken place at all yet.  It should follow WSBK race two, and of course, it will be all be highlighted, here, on 2 Wheelin'.  So, stay tuned, fans.

16 laps scheduled for this race.  The humidity is high, and it strains everyone.  Some rain is being lifted by the heat.  Track conditions will change every lap.  Pit lane opens in four minutes, as people move to the grid.  But, there will be two sighting laps.  Chaz Davies qualified fifth for this race.  Super Pole results determine the grids for both races of the weekend.  Everyone has to adapt.  Every  few minutes, the conditions change.  Pit lane opens in less than a minute.  Alex Lowes has his best ever qualifying spot of his career.  The pit lane is open.  Gianluca Vizziello crashed in practice on Friday.  Josh Hook, though, got his first points in race one, riding for Grillini Kawasaki.

The new surface is very grippy in the wet, and does not toss up as much spray in the rider's faces.  Riders use the sighting lap to look for water, finding where the puddles are and where the grip is.  At the moment, the skies above Sepang International Circuit, are darkening.  The pit intervention time is 61 seconds.  Most riders are coming straight through pit lane.  Saeed al Sulaiti, Markus Reiterberger, and Jonathan Rea, they have gone straight to the grid.  You have 61 seconds between pit in, service, and going out of the pits.  Gregoire Laville is the WSBK Sporting Director, and he himself is a former rider, with over 100 starts to his credit.

The minimum 30 seconds, plus the delta time in pit lane, is 61 seconds.  The World Supersport race, will start, an hour and a half from now, and it's the original distance of 14 laps.  If this race is delayed, it will have a further effect on proceedings.  Folks, stay tuned, for the Supersport race, which will be blogged, later on.  After his win yesterday, Tom Sykes has 28 career WSBK wins.  Nicky Hayden did well in the dry.  Jonathan Rea starts third.  Alex Lowes, starts second.  Riders and teams say that it is too wet to ride.  Leon Camier pointed to the garages, and riders will be talking to Franck Vassierre and the safety commission.

Vassiere is the WSBK safety officer.  Manny Carrera is the WSBK Championship Director, based at Dorna headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.  Gregoire Laville, former racer, is also at Dorna, working as the Sporting Director for WSBK.  Chaz Davies starts fifth.  Alberto Colombo has been crew chief for Chaz Davies for the last five years.  Tom Sykes took the Pirelli Best Lap Award, in yesterday's race.  Chaz Davies has taken six fastest laps, and Aruba Ducati has had seven in 11 races.  Tom Sykes takes his 28th pole.  He is on pole ahead of back-to-back, two-time WSBK champion, Doug Polen, who was champ in 1991 and '92.  Colin Edwards, has 31 poles.

Jordi Torres rolls of eighth.  Now, a lovely piece of trivia.  The numbers eight and one pop up in the WSBK stats.  181 wins for Great Britain, 118 for Australia and the U.S., and after Chaz Davies finished third, 818 Ducati podiums.  Ducati has been the only make to finish at all the Malaysian race tracks including Shah Allam, in 1990, Johor, in 1992 and '93 and Sepang.  Raymond Roche and Doug Polen won the Johor races in 1992, and the great Carl Fogarty, did the double, at Johor, in 1993.
Lorenzo Savadori starts seventh.  Davide Giugliano starts ninth, and on the third row.  He missed this race last year in August, after a bad crash at Laguna Seca last year.  Michael van der Mark starts tenth.  It has been confirmed, we will have a wet race.  We knew that already.

We hope it will be a 16 lap race.  Anthony West starts 11th.  It's clear, but it's still raining heavily.  Leon Camier starts 12th.  We have five minutes, to the race start.  Alex De Angelis is 13th on the grid.  Josh Brookes is 14th.  The race will not be stopped due to changing conditions.  Stand by for drama, with rain falling, and soaking wet speedway.  Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes, and Tom Sykes are on the front row.  The main issue, as the riders set off on the warmup lap for race two, isn't track conditions.  It is visibility.       

Current weather is, air temperature = 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit), and track temperature = 31 degrees Celsisu (87 degrees Fahrenheit).  We may see a very different result, in this Sunday race. No rivers puddling across the track here at Sepang, because a new drainage system has been installed.  Plus, there is the camber change at turn 15.  Some riders have chosen full wet tires, others have chosen a combination of intermediate and wet Pirelli's.  The intermediates have two grooves cut into them with an iron, and the full wets, obviously have treads all the way across.  Look how much wetter it is on the track now.

Race two for WSBK in Malaysia, is, on!  Lowes and Hayden make flying starts, and he wants to go outside of Sykes on the Kawasaki into turn one!  Eek!  Nicky Hayden runs wide as Xavi Fores is scything through the field already.  Michael van der Mark is on the outside, and he almost makes contact, with Jordi Torres.  Sykes and Rea lead as Nicky Hayden runs side by side with Alex Lowes.  Anthony West, has had a fabulous start!  West is the bloke to look out for in the wet, as Alex Lowes runs wide into turn four.  Chaz Davies makes the pass.  Rea holds the lead over Sykes, and Nicky Hayden is challenging for second spot.

Lowes is not through yet.  Rivers begin to develop on the road.  Hayden passes Rea back through turn four.  Nicky Hayden, leads his first World Superbike race, here in Malaysia!  "The Kentucky Kid" is out in front.  Anthony West has his hands full with Alex Lowes at the moment.  West stays ahead of Lowes.  Jonathan Rea has to be careful.  Everyone else has everything to gain.  Jonathan Rea, has everything to lose.  His championship rival, Chaz Davies is right on his back door now.  Anthony West is also racing in the Asian Superbike Championship.  Plus, he raced MotoGP here at Sepang last year, and earned a point in World Supersport, in Australia, back in February.

Davide Giugliano makes a pass on Alex Lowes into turn 14.  West dives inside Tom Sykes!  They nearly touch!  Giugliano is the meat in a Kawasaki sandwich, making a move down the inside of Anthony West.  Anthony West's win in Moto2 in 2014 came at Assen, when he and Maverick Vinales were battling for the win.  Nicky Hayden runs fastest lap so far at 2:21.224.  Italy wants their 100th win as a nation in World Superbike.  Davide Tardozzi, won the very first WSBK race at Donington Park in England in 1988, and Tardozzi still works with Ducati, on their MotoGP squad.  Here's your top fifteen so far.

1. Nicky Hayden
2. Jonathan Rea
3. Chaz Davies
4. Tom Sykes
5. Davide Giugliano
6. Anthony West
7. Alex Lowes
8. Michael van der Mark
9. Alex De Angelis
10. Markus Reiteberger
11. Luca Savadori
12. Xavi Fores
13. Leon Camier
14. Jordi Torres
15. Gianluca Vizziello

West slides past Giugliano as Giugliano tries to pass.  Giugliano passes West and Sykes.  Michael van der Mark tries passing Alex Lowes, but it doesn't work.  Lowes takes advantage and makes a pass on the Dutchman instead.  Watch out in turns two and three on the downhill, because there is a big bump there that never used to exist before the modifications were made.  Nicky Hayden is faster than Jonathan Rea at the moment.  What will it be like if Hayden wins this race?  West was the quickest Kawasaki, beating the factory bikes in Friday practice.  We go on to lap five and Nicky Hayden has another fastest lap time, moving 2.2 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea.

Sykes is falling into van der Mark's clutches.  Hayden is now almost a full second quicker.  2:19.063 for Hayden, and 2:20.012 for Rea.  Twelve laps left.  Can Davies catch Jonathan Rea?  This is critical for the championship.  If you subtract Nicky Hayden's fast lap from the equation, it is Davide Giugliano who is the fastest bloke on the speedway right now.  van der Mark runs deep into the corner, squaring it off.  Alex De Angelis, meanwhile, is doing his best, to pressure Tom Sykes, at the moment.  Earlier on, Alex De Angelis made a pass on Michael van der Mark, and then, van der Mark went back around him.

De Angelis passes van der Mark back.  Tom Sykes is just tooling around in sixth at the moment.  The race one winner, is not really getting anyplace.  Jonathan Rea is now running faster (slightly), than Nicky Hayden.  But, Hayden is closing.  Jonathan Rea will be four points up on Chaz Davies, after this race.  Alex De Angelis, has had podiums here in Malaysia before on a 250cc bike, including in 2005 when he finishd behind Casey Stoner, in a 250cc race.  The track surface is very good, and the pace is only 14 seconds slower than in the dry in the Saturday race.  The track is drying out, and it's not raining at the moment.

There is a lot of puddling and standing water in the runoff areas.  Leon Camier for MV Agusta completes the top ten.  Reiterberger and the other BMW's are struggling.  Game over for Karel Abraham.  Imre Toth is the last bike circulating.  Hayden still leads and has set fastest lap of this race at 2:17.978.  He leads by 2.7 seconds over Jonathan Rea, building up the gap.  Since 1988, 71 riders have won World Superbike races.  The most recent new winner, was Jordi Torres at the end of race one at the 2015 finale in Qatar.  Will Nicky Hayden become the 72nd new winner?  We complete lap eight and are halfway home.  Chaz Davies aims for a podium place.

If Davies gets overtaken by Davide Giugliano, he'll have two more points taken out.  Davies became the 20th rider to earn his 40th career podium finish.  Davies sets fastest lap, and then, Giugliano, immediately betters the time.  2:17.872 for Giugliano.  Davies runs wide close to the curbs and has to back off a little bit.  Davies and Giugliano continue their scrum for the final podium place.  Lorenzo Savadori has not had the best weekend here in Malaysia at all.  He may get one point.  But, it will be a lonely, 15th place finish, for him.  Giugliano resets fastest lap at 2:17.616.  Rea trails Hayden by 2.7 seconds and the two Ducati's are the sharks in the water.  They can smell blood, and it's the green Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea they want to take a chomp out of.

This battle is pivotal for the 2016 WSBK world championship.  No matter what, Rea will maintain his points lead.  He leads Davies by 43 points, currently.  Giugliano is sixth overall in points and has no chance at the championship.  After what happened earlier in the year at Argentina for the MotoGP Ducati team, no taking your team mate out!  Rea goes defensive.  He's been on the podium in every race so far this year.  Giugliano goes inside Davies and has a massive moment!  That was eerily similar to the Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone MotoGP clash!  Team bosses Paolo Ciabatti, Gigi Dall'igna, and WSBK boss Ernesto Marinelli, had their hearts in their throats!

Davies wants to slide by, and make a move on Tom Sykes.  Jonathan Rea takes a place from Giugliano.  Nicky Hayden still leads, and is still fastest on the track.  2:17.570 for Hayden, and he leads by four seconds.  Davide Giugliano seems more than willing to put a move on Chaz Davies.  Just don't repeat the Dovizioso/Iannone incident!  Hayden has given up three seconds to the Ducati's in one sector of the track.  Michael van der Mark passes Tom Sykes.  Five laps now remain in race two.  Chaz Davies is now second, as Giugliano posts a new fast lap.  Hayden could win this race.  P.J. Jacobsen became the first American to win a World Supersport race, here at Sepang, last year.

Davies slides past Giugliano around a tight left hand turn.  Nicky Hayden laps the slow Yamaha of Imre Toth.  Giugliano does set fast lap at 2:17.419.  Alex De Angelis has now passed Tom Sykes, and Sykes is down in ninth.  Ooh!  Giugliano very nearly makes contact with Davies!  They touch!  Davies runs wide and Giugliano goes around him.  Fast lap keeps fluctuating, as Jonathan Rea resets it.  Anthony West for Pedercini Kawasaki is in the top five.  It'll be their best finish since David Salom ran sixth at Aragon last year.  It is confirmed that Jonathan Rea resets fastest lap at 2:17.160.  Lots is at stake.  Davies has more to lose than Rea does.

Davies is not afraid of losing points.  Hayden wants to win his first race and so does Giugliano, who also wants the 100th race win for an Italian rider.  Giugliano has eaten a full second out of Hayden's lead, and the Rea and Davies battle is still sizzling!  Alex Lowes is now beginning to tumble down the order.  It's game over for Lowes, as he's crashed out.  The gap is down to two seconds and Giugliano sets another fastest lap!  Neither of these chaps at the front have won a race in World Superbike yet.  This is going to be a stunning finish!  Hang on to your hollyhocks here, boys!  Honda is also looking to break a losing streak.  They haven't won since 2014 when Jonathan Rea rode for them.

Hayden just needs to hit his marks, and bring it home.  Be consistent.  The gap is 1.8 seconds, meaning two riders are fighting for the win.  Rea is closing on Davies.  Sykes is eighth, and Markus Reiterberger on the BMW has set his personal best lap of the race, and could catch Team Green.  Two laps left.  The battle for third rages on.  Someone will have their maiden WSBK win.  It looks to be Nicky Hayden.  Hayden runs slightly wide.  You have to go back a decade, this month, to Hayden's last race win of any sort in MotoGP at Laguna Seca in 2006, when he won the championship.  Hayden did run wide at turn nine, losing time.

He is one full second over Giugliano.  Giugliano isn't out of this fight by any means.  It is the last lap.  We have Honda vs. Ducati, Hayden vs. Giugliano.  Hayden has to sit up and squirt power out of the corner.  Hayden now opens the gap.  He didn't run wide.  He's just taking a different apex to not abuse the tire.  The infamous turn 15 lies ahead.  Will Nicky Hayden make it?  Will he win in World Superbike for the first time?  Ten years after winning the MotoGP World Championship, Nicky Hayden scores his first ever World Superbike win!

#69 Nicky Hayden     USA      Honda CBR1000RR

van der Mark narrowly beats Alex De Angelis for sixth!  Sykes is eighth.  Markus Reiterberger completes the top ten, and it looks like, in 15th, will be, Pawel Szkopek, scoring a single point!  Honda is back on top, and, we have an American back on top in WSBK!  From joy, to heartbreak for Pawel Szkopek!  He's wrecked right at the end, going down, and giving the final point, to Josh Hook!  Jonathan Rea beats Chaz Davies, and he maintains his 100% podium rating, and he increases his championship lead, by seven, to 42 points.

Hayden becomes the tenth American rider to win in World Superbike, joining names such as Colin Edwards, Ben Spies, Fred Merkel, Doug Polen, Scott Russell, John Kocinski, Doug Chandler, Ben Bostrom, and Tom Kipp, to be an American rider who has won in WSBK.  Ben Spies was the last American to win in WSBK in 2009.  The next World Superbike race, in fact, it has already been run.  It was at Donington Park in Leicestershire, England, over the weekend.  Stay tuned, for all the race highlights from Donington Park in the English midlands, where WSBK all began in 1988, coming soon.

More race updates on the way

Will have coverage of more races, that have already been run, for both MotoGP, and World Superbike, on the way.  Stay tuned, for further details, and the race reports.

Kawasaki confirms two-year contract extension with Rea

Jonathan Rea, will continue as a Kawasaki factory rider in FIM World Superbike, for the next two seasons.

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/kawasaki-confirms-two-year-contract-extension-with-rea-735410/?s=1

World Superbike news update

Have to catch up with a couple of the FIM World Superbike races.  But, here is some of the latest news from the series.

Melandri planning 2017 WSBK return with Pata backing

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/melandri-planning-2017-wsbk-return-with-pata-backing-729481/?s=1

West to make World Superbike debut at Sepang

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/west-to-make-world-superbike-debut-at-sepang-734894/?s=1

Injured Guintoli ruled out of WSBK Sepang round

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/injured-guintoli-ruled-out-of-wsbk-sepang-round-735040/?s=1

Kawasaki confirms two-year contract extension with Rea

http://www.motorsport.com/wsbk/news/kawasaki-confirms-two-year-contract-extension-with-rea-735410/?s=1

Morais Takes On Dual Role In MotoAmerica And World Superbike

For the rest of 2016, rider Sheridan Morais will be racing on both sides of the pond.

http://www.motoamerica.com/sheridan-morais-takes-on-dual-role-in-motoamerica-and-world-superbike

Moto3: France

It is now time, for the lightweight bikes, and the junior riders, of the Moto3 World Championship, to conquer the Bugatti motorcycle circuit at Le Mans, in France.  This is the home, of the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans car race, and the Circuit de la Sarthe.  But, motorcycles have run their own 24 hours here since the '70s and it has also been a fixture on the world championship schedule, for a good number of years now, as the French round of the championship.  We have seen great races in MotoGP and Moto2.  What will Moto3 hold in store?

This is the 17th visit for MotoGP contenders to Le Mans.  At this point, temperatures are at 19 degrees Celsius air, (66 Fahrenheit), and 21 degrees Celsius track temperature (69 Fahrenheit).  Moto3 is the first race of the Sunday.  It's the last race update, of this MotoGP series.  It's been a party, a carnival, here at Le Mans.  Lots to play for in Moto3 as the riders exit pit lane, readying for the race.  After coming from the back of the grid at Jerez last time out, Brad Binder is the bloke leading the championship for the lightweight class at the moment.  But, here at Le Mans, at the Bugatti track, there isn't a clear favorite.  Niccolo Antonelli has pole for this race.  It is his fourth career Grand Prix motorcycle pole.

Antonelli had pole last fall at Sepang in Malaysia, as well.  It is going to be hard to predict this championship, because we've seen five different winners in the first five races of the 2016 season.  No one has won from pole, since Enea Bastianini managed to do it, last September, at Misano Adriatico on the Adriatic coast of Italy.  Antonelli needs a good result.  He's retired twice in the last two races that have been covered here on 2 Wheelin'.  Brad Binder, starting second, this chap has been on a roll!  Four races, and four podiums!  He's earned his first career victory as well.  He flew at Jerez, to win, from 35th on the grid, to first place.  How about that!  Binder had tech issues in the morning warmup. 

His Red Bull KTM Ajo team, has built what is almost an essentially new motorcycle for him, since that time.  He is almost on a totally new bike.  Aron Canet, the rapid young rookie, is third.  Canet, won here at Le Mans, a year ago, in the Junior Moto3 championship, on these same types of motorcycles.  Canet is making just his fifth start at the world championship level, but he's scored his first ever pole.  Jakub Kornfeil did not have the qualifying session he expected.  He ran well in practice.  Kornfeil says, "I made a small mistake, and crashed, but I expect to push as much as possible." Romano Fenati starts in fifth, the position, matching the number on his motorcycle.

Nicolo Bulega is sixth.  Bulega, is again, one to watch.  Bulega is Fenati's team mate at Sky VR46 Racing.  He's strong, but nursing bruises after wrecking in qualifying.  Bulega had a vicious high side at the Dunlop chicane.  Juanfran Guevara qualifies seventh.  That's impressive.  Guevara has his best qualifying effort in a long while.  Near the end of 2014, he qualified on the front row at Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia.  For the first time in his career, Guevara is starting three successive races inside the top 15 places.  He did so in Argentina, Texas, and Jerez.  So, he continues the streak, here at Le Mans.  Fabio Quartararo is eighth.  The Frenchman is in his home Grand Prix, but also, he's looking to rebound, because he's had a really bad start to the season.

This Moto3 race at Le Mans, equals exactly 100 kilometers (62.5 miles), run in a distance of 24 laps on this 2.6 mile layout.  Starting ninth, is a race winner in Moto3 this year... Khairul Idham Pawi.  This is Pawi's best qualifying effort since his win in Argentina.  Plus, he's been a podium finisher, here at Le Mans, before.  He was second in the same Moto3 Junior race here, a year ago, that Aron Canet, won.  Jakub Kornfeil, he completes the top ten, even after that big wreck that he highlighted in an interview, with MotoGP's Dylan Gray.  Livio Loi is 11th on the grid.  We look to the back half of the top 15.  Loi wants better than eighth place, which has been his finishing spot on a couple occasions in 2016 so far.

Tatsuki Suzuki of Japan, starts 12th, riding a Mahindra motorcycle.  Suzuki is the best qualified Mahindra bike on the whole grid.  An interesting twist, as we get ready to race.  More often than not, all Moto3 riders start these races on the same tires.  But, for Le Mans, it's different.  Niccolo Antonelli has the softer option front.  Jorge Navarro has also done this.  Others in the top six, are on the same tires.  Lucky 13th place goes to Italian Fabio Di Gianntonio.  He is the lone rider for Gresini Honda in Moto3.  Enea Bastianini won't start this race, because he has a fractured right wrist.  He sustained the wrist injury training in Rimini, Italy, on a Motocross bike.  14th on the grid is Andrea Locatelli.  Frenchman Alexis Masbou, in his home race, completes the top 15 starters.  It is his home race, and also, for his Peugeot motorcycle team.

Canet, Binder, and Antonelli on the front row.  We're ready, to go racing, with the junior riders, of Moto3, at Le Mans... next!  The riders are on their warmup lap.  A good number of riders need good results here in France, and also, at our next race in Mugello, Italy.  No spoilers.  That race, will be coming your way, soon, here on 2 Wheelin'.  Stay tuned for it.  Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia, was fourth here, two years ago in Moto3.  Braking stability is crucial here at Le Mans, as we revisit our weather forecast, for an update.  Temperatures now are 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit) air, and 22 degrees Celsius (71 Fahrenheit) on the track surface.

Conditions are marginally cooler for today's race.  To win here in Moto3, make your move before the final corner (turn 14 at Recordement).  Valentino Rossi looks on.  His rider, from his motorcycle racing academy, Niccolo Antonelli, has pole.  Here come the lights!  Round five of Moto3, in France, is on!  Niccolo Antonelli gets a great start as the riders accelerate to turn one for the first time.  Brad Binder, Jorge Navarro, and Khairul Idham Pawi are making moves already!  Watch out for the Dunlop chicane, where anything can happen.  Niccolo Bulega is sinking like a stone right from the start.  Romano Fenati also got a good getaway.  Livio Loi is charging, as Alexis Masbou went straight through a corner, and Adam Norrodin has hit trouble.  Game over for Norrodin after crashing at turn four.

Brad Binder takes the race lead, as we lose another bike!  Somebody in the back half of the top ten, dumped their motorcycle.  Aron Canet forces his way past Khairul Idham Pawi.  Jules Danilo is th rider who got caught out, and he's had a nightmare weekend in his home race.  Niccolo Bulega has fallen to 11th spot.  Actually, he's gained one place and is now tenth.  Niccolo Antonelli chases Brad Binder, race leader, and points leader, down into Recordement to complete another lap.  Antonelli is trying his best to close up on Brad Binder.  None of his competitors will want to let Binder get away.  If he does, look out!  Czech rider Karel Hanika, has crashed out.  Navarro and Canet for Estrella Galicia, are chasing down third place man, Fenati.

Jakub Kornfeil passes Khairul Idham Pawi for sixth.  The top three championship contenders, are in the top four places in the race so far.  Binder leads, and wants to clear away from everyone, to have a trouble free, Sunday cruise.  But, that's far from the case now.  Nico Antonelli is closing, and fast.  Fenati runs third, and the two Estrella Galicia bikes are the sharks hunting down the tiny fish.  Valentino Rossi, watches his riders' progress.  Fenati has set fast lap, talking of progress, at a 1:43.360.  Fenati looks inside, and takes, BOTH Binder and Antonelli!  Whoa!  Fenati now leads.  What a move!  Keep in mind, Fenati won this Le Mans race, last year.  So, he's looking to repeat.

Sometimes into corner one here at Le Mans, you can turn your Moto3 bike into a bowling ball!  But, that was smooth sailing for the Italian.  We some riders to tell you about, who jumped the start of this race.  Gabriel Rodrigo was one.  Joan Mir has made up a number of places, going from 24th to 16th.  Mir, also jumped the start, though.  So his hard work will be for naught.  Mir and Rodrigo will have to visit the sin bin.  Jules Danilo remounted his motorcycle after crashing, but has now packed it up and retired with mechanical problems.  Romano Fenati leads a mob at the front of this field through Recordement on to the front straight to start another lap.

The top ten riders down to Andrea Migno in 11th are within 1.8 seconds of the leader.  It's Romano Fenati, followed by Brad Binder, Niccolo Antonelli, Jorge Navarro, Aron Canet, Jakub Kornfeil, Khairul Idham Pawi, Fabio Quartararo, Juanfran Guevara, and Niccolo Bulega.  Livio Loi is a second or so behind Migno, leading another large group.  It's Migno, Livio Loi, Gabriel Rodrigo, Hiroki Ono, and Tatsuki Suzuki.  Jorge Navarro gets around Niccolo Antonelli for third.  Aron Canet has passed Niccolo Antonelli, and the pole man drops to fifth, and Jakub Kornfeil is next to try and pass Antonelli.  Maybe Antonelli is trying to keep grip in his soft rear Dunlop tire for the end of this race.

Brad Binder moves inside Romano Fenati at the Chemin aux Boeufs chicane.  Fabio Quartararo is now in this fight, having passed Khairul Idham Pawi.  Antonelli has to manage his tires, according to Dunlop, who says there is a drop off with their Moto3 spec front tire.  No worries about drop off for Navarro.  Meanwhile, Romano Fenati closes on Brad Binder, as Jorge Navarro moves to second around Romano Fenati.  Another crash.  Phillip Oettl is out here at Le Mans.  The lead group is now eleven riders strong, back to Andrea Migno.  Phillip Oettl has had his first wreck of the 2016 season in Moto3.

Kornfeil passes Antonelli, and Fabio Quartararo, nudges Niccolo Antonelli.  Aron Canet gets past Jorge Navarro for third.  Here are the quickest lap times among the top four.  Brad Binder runs 1:43.526.  Aron Canet musters second fastest time at 1:43.555.  Navarro lays down a 1:43.564, and Romano Fenati puts in the slowest of the four at 1:43.867.  Aron Canet, the Spaniard, lowers fastest lap to a 1:43.320!  He's cooking around this Bugatti track.  Fenati tries Binder on the inside and can't get there.  Canet has been Spanish motorcycle champion in a number of divisions, and didn't quite pull off the Junior Moto3 championship last year.  But, he was close.  Fenati wants to beat Binder here, for a second race win, and to close the gap in the championship points table.

Binder rides defensively into Chemain aux Boeufs, as he knows if he drops spots, he'll get swallowed up by a number of riders.  New fast lap for Fabio Quartararo.  1:42.960.  Fenati takes another defensive line, and slides inside Brad Binder to retake the lead.  Fabio Quartararo passes Niccolo Antonelli for sixth spot.  Binder wanted a look at Fenati into Museum corner.  Museum is where Jules Danilo crashed, earlier.  Fabio Quartararo runs behind Jakub Kornfeil at the moment.  Fenati leads Brad Binder.  Nothing has changed at the front.  Joan Mir has not served his penalty for jumping the race start.  He only has a few laps left to obey the stewards.  Ah.  As yours truly says that, Mir is in the lane, to serve said penalty.  Jakub Kornfeil makes a daring move!  He goes from fifth, to third!  Now, the Czech rider is on a roll!

But, he runs wide on the exit of the turn, as Quartararo and Canet are fighting each other.  This Moto3 race won't be over 'til the fat lady sings!  Aron Canet is not intimidated by other riders, and he'll push you out of the way if need be.  Kornfeil gets sucked in behind Brad Binder, loses his spot on the speedway, and tries to take the escape road to get back on course.  It is the cone diversion at Chemain aux Boeufs.  Kornfeil drops to 11th.  Fenati leads this race, still.  Kornfeil tried passing Navarro, was in way over his head, and sped down the escape road, costing him three seconds.  Gabriel Rodrigo completes his ride through penalty.  Fabio Quartararo has fended off the challenges of Aron Canet successfully.  Aron Canet and Fabio Quartararo are having quite the battle for fourth spot.

Quartararo... bash..., makes contact, with Canet.  Canet was wide, after Kornfeil dove underneath him.  Navarro looking to pass Brad Binder.  Meanwhile, Brad's brother, Darryn Binder, has crashed out.  Quartararo wants to move past Navarro at La Chapelle as we have 15 laps left, working lap nine.  Three laps to halfway in this race.  Andrea Migno is now seventh, right up behind Niccolo Antonelli.  Migno is overshadowed by both Romano Fenati and Niccolo Bulega.  But he is running well today, inside the top seven spots.  Fenati leads Binder, both riding KTM motorcycles.  Navarro is third, with Quartararo fourth, followed by Canet.  We see a good move shaping up, as Binder dives past Fenati for the race lead into turn eleven.

Fenati tries passing Binder.  Binder, slams the door in his face.  Fenati can't go through, as Canet challenges Quartararo again.  Andrea Migno passes Nico Antonelli.  Andrea Migno could have his best finish of the season so far, here at Le Mans.  As we reach halfway, shortly, will Antonelli's tires come back to him?  Darryn Binder retires from the race, after his crash, due to his bike having a bent right handlebar.  Completing lap 11, Aron Canet has turned the fastest lap of this race at 1:42.923.  Bulega runs wide at the Dunlop chicane.  Andrea Migno is putting pressure on Fabio Quartararo.  Aron Canet does not want to make a move that could make him crash into his team mate, or take a big risk.

Canet passes Navarro at Chemain aux Boeufs.  Fenati wanted to pass Brad Binder, but couldn't.  Fabio Quartararo comes under pressure from Andrea Migno.  Romano Fenati takes the lead from Brad Binder on the run down to Chemain aux Boeufs.  This corner, is where the action has been, all race.  We're halfway home this lap.  Fenati leads Binder, Canet, and Navarro.  Canet tries getting drive onto the start/finish straight.  Aron Canet sets up a pass on Brad Binder, and makes it stick!  The rookie racer is now second.  Fabio Quartararo's challenge is wilting, as he has gone down to fifth place.  Niccolo Antonelli makes another pass on Niccolo Bulega.  Romano Fenati leads.

Has Antonelli let the lead four get away?  Antonelli is slowing down a bit.  We begin lap 16 with Fenati ahead of Binder and Canet.  Brad Binder blocks Canet.  Navarro would like to win this race, chiefly as a confidence booster.  Aron Canet, has a large question mark, on the back of his helmet.  Antonelli struggles to pass Migno.  Hiroki Ono, meanwhile, has crashed in turn eight.  Fabio Quartaro leads a second group of riders, from fifth spot.  Niccolo Bulega has pushed Antonelli back a further spot, to eighth.  If Fabio Quartararo finishes fifth, it will be his best of the season thus far.

Antonelli's decision running the soft rear tire won't work.  Migno tries Quartararo, but Quartararo fights back through the Dunlop chicane.  Migno moves to fifth.  Navarro has passed Aron Canet.  If Romano Fenati wins, he could get back in the championship, as the three Sky VR46 riders move inside Quartararo.  Two of them, move by, and three are in the top six.  Romano Fenati wants to beat Jorge Navarro for the second time.  No dice for Navarro, who wants his first win.  Will Aron Canet challenge Brad Binder?  Navarro tries inside Fenati, and thinks better of it.  Navarro is fastest of the top four at 1:43.411, followed by Fenati's 1:43.740, Binder at 1:43.885, and Canet at 1:43.919.  Navarro wants the perfect line through turn eight, trying to overtake on the back straight.

These riders hold station, as Brad Binder wants to pass Navarro for position.  Navarro is desperately trying to go for the lead.  Brad Binder sweeps inside as Navarro can't get close enough to Fenati.  Five laps left at Le Mans.  Three contrasting lines going through the chicane, from the top three riders.  Brad Binder makes a clean pass on Navarro for second.  Canet has fastest lap of the top four now at 1:43.591 followed by Binder at 1:43.621, Navarro at 1:43.659, and the leader, Fenati, at 1:43.703.  Binder looks inside Fenati into Chemain aux Boeufs.  No dice.  Aron Canet is watching the top three, and has nothing to lose.  So, if one of the top riders makes a mistake, he could pounce.

Binder looks inside Fenati into the fastest first turn on the MotoGP calendar.  Fenati runs the defensive line.  Navarro has a look.  Fabio Quartararo takes second place back from Andrea Migno.  Fenati has control of this race, with just four laps left.  Fenati wants a win here, to boost his confidence and close on Brad Binder, and boost confidence going into his home race.  Niccolo Bulega has now passed Quartararo and Migno.  Bulega is up to fifth, amazingly, after his qualifying crash.  Fenati, Binder, and Navarro, will go for the race win here at Le Mans.

Jakub Kornfeil has not recovered from his earlier mistake and will settle for eighth place or so.  He has made no impression on the leaders after his earlier off.  Two laps remain.  Navarro leaves the door open, and Binder, walks right through, into the next room.  Fenati holds the advantage.  No one is showing a front wheel to Fenati yet.  But that will change as we close in on the finish here in Moto3 at Le Mans.   Is Aron Canet biding his time?  He could be.  Canet loses some drive coming out of Museum.  He is fastest of the top four on the lap time chart at 1:43.413, followed by Navarro's 1:43.466, Brad Binder at 1:43.509, and slowest (but still leading) is Fenati, at 1:43.518.  Brad Binder is now in the slipstream of Romano Fenati, looking for the lead.

He'll pull out, and he tries, but can't quite get there going to turn nine.  Jorge Navarro's mid corner speed is much quicker than the riders in front of him.  But, wait.  Ladies and gentlemen, here's the move!  Into turn eleven, on the inside, Brad Binder, nudges Fenati wide!  Jorge Navarro is going to try a move on Fenati, too, demoting the Italian from first to third.  Fenati just manages to hold second behind Binder, and ahead of Navarro.  On the last lap, four riders will duel for the win in France.  Fenati is close enough and strong enough to attack Brad Binder approaching the Dunlop chicane.  He's going to try!  Fenati sweeps around for a second, but late on the brakes, with a great line through the corner, Binder takes the lead back.

Aron Canet hangs on in fourth, and is still in this thing.  Binder is the points leader, and he's going for it.  Fenati could set up for a pass down the back straightaway into turn nine.  Binder has the edge into Garage Vert.  Binder is going for it as Fenati will be trapped behind the South African.  Fenati tries into turn eleven, but Binder is defending.  Fenati has one more shot.  Navarro and Canet could pick up something if these two wreck.  But, Binder has ridden a perfect last lap.  No way will any of his challengers get to him.  Canet goes inside Navarro!  Ohhh!  They almost touch!  But, smooth sailing for Brad Binder!  Binder, wins again, for the second race in a row!

#41 Brad Binder     RSA.     KTM

Are we looking at the Moto3 world champion?  That could be.  Niccolo Bulega finishes fifth ahead of Fabio Quartararo.  Andrea Migno gets a career best finish in seventh.  Antonelli got it wrong, and has a bad finish, after starting on pole.  A final note, before we look ahead.  Juanfran Guevara, was demoted to 13th spot, for exceeding track limits, coming out of the last turn.  Guevara was way out wide onto the astro turf.  It is written in the rule book.  If you are a repeat offender on exceeding track limits, you surrender, one position.       

The Moto3 riders raced recently, in Italy, at the Mugello circuit, which counted as the most recent round of the championship.  Yours truly, will have highlights of that event, coming up soon.

Moto2: France

We are ready, for Moto2 at Le Mans, in France.  Record crowds are here.  Le Mans, will host MotoGP and it's sister classes, over the next few years.  In qualifying, Tom Luthi, who has won at Le Mans four times, (two 125cc and two Moto2), gets pole, ahead of Alex Rins.  Simone Corsi is third.  Alex Rins had some tire pressure issues.  Lorenzo Baldassari has had to move back on the grid.  Alex Rins could capitalize as Johann Zarco, Jonas Folger, and Sam Lowes, have not had the luck they've wanted, here in France.  Simone Corsi has his first front row start since Silverstone in 2014.  Johann Zarco is looking to become the first rider, to win an intermediate class motorcycle race, on home soil, here in France, since 1982, when Jean-Louis Tournadre did it.  Tournadre won when the French GP was held at Nogaro, in the 250cc class. 

Zarco is fourth on the grid.  Will cool conditions help the performance of the riders?  Lorenzo Baldassari had his qualifying time disallowed and cancelled after a technical infraction.  The rear tire was not up to spec pressure.  Jonas Folger has qualified eighth.  Folger, will move into MotoGP with Tech3, next year.  Sam Lowes has qualified well.  But, this weekend, he is dealing with a cold.  More statistics.  After his win at Jerez in Spain, Sam Lowes became the first British rider to win two straight races, at the same track in successive years, since Chas Mortimer did in 1975.  Mortimer had a 15 year career, spanning from 1969 to 1984.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_Mortimer

We are five minutes away from the start of this 26 lap race.  Pole position is a place at Le Mans, where you want to get a good start.  Axel Pons starts 11th and his team mate Marcel Schrotter, is 12th.  Dominique Aegerter qualifies 13th.  He finished fourth at Le Mans in 2013, and has one win at the Sachsenring.  Up next is Miguel Oliveira.  We look again, at the front row.  Simone Corsi, third.  Alex Rins, second.  Tom Luthi, is the pole man, and he wants his second win of 2016 in Moto2, here at Le Mans.  We are ready for Moto2 at Le Mans.  Xavier Simeon, the Belgian, he makes his 100th Grand Prix start, in this race, today.

Danny Eslick, the American rider, who has been so successful on our shores, will start caboose on the field, riding in place of Efren Vazquez, who is injured.  Sandro Cortese, is at home, watching this race, recovering from a knee ligament injury.  Hopefully he'll be back in Italy at Mugello, next time out.  Edgar Pons is also not racing.  Amazingly, in Moto2, only 25 points cover the top five riders in the championship.  Track and air temperatures, look like this, for the Moto2 race.  21 degrees Celsius air temperature (69 degrees Fahrenheit), and 27 degrees Celsius, track temperature (80 degrees Fahrenheit).  Racing in Moto2 won't come down to tires, because each rider is on the softer front and the option rear tire.

Johann Zarco may have a future, with Suzuki.  He will race with them in the Suzuka 8 Hours motorcycle endurance race in Japan later this summer, and be offered a test ride with them.  Don't be surprised, if by next year, we may see Johann Zarco, in MotoGP, on a Suzuki.  Alex Rins is also looking to get a ride in MotoGP.  Will the championship picture come into play?  How will this race, affect it?  We are ready, for Moto2, at Le Mans!  26 laps of the Bugatti circuit for Moto2, are, go!  Tom Luthi flies off the starting line, from pole!  Alex Rins, meanwhile, bogs down a bit.  Franco Morbidelli is now up to second, and we also see a solid start from Takaaki Nakagami.

Luthi leads with Franco Morbidelli second, and Takaaki Nakagami, third.  Sam Lowes, started ninth, but has been sinking like a stone.  They run through the Dunlop chicane for the first time.  Alex Rins pushes his way around Takaaki Nakagami.  Jonas Folger runs wide.  He runs ahead of countryman Marcel Schrotter.  Zarco runs wide, and Sam Lowes is right on top of him now.  They fly through Chemain aux Boeufs, and Lorenzo Baldassari is another rider who is really pouring on the steam early on in this race.  Baldassari moves past Dominique Aegerter.  Unless someone runs him down, Tom Luthi will say "au revoir" to the rest of the field, and be out for a Sunday cruise.

Sam Lowes has passed Johann Zarco.  Oh dear!  Jonas Folger, is down!  He's wrecked, sliding along the pavement as the motorcycle heads for the gravel trap.  Game over for Folger.  But, it is wonderful news that he moves to MotoGP next year.  Simone Corsi, passes Franco Morbidelli.  The front end washed away from Jonas Folger, causing him to crash his motorcycle.  Folger, like he did when he fell in Qatar at the start of the season, must not have a good feeling on the bike, when it has a full fuel load aboard.  Of course, in motorcycle racing, pitting for fuel, is irrelevant, unless you are an endurance racer.

Fast lap of the race so far, is set by Alex Rins at a 1:37.637.  Rins is second, behind Luthi.  Johann Zarco is languishing in 11th place.  He'll have to charge quickly if he wants to earn a podium here in France, in his home race.  Sam Lowes runs just behind Marcel Schrotter at this point.  Luthi leads rins followed by Corsi, Morbidelli, and Baldassari in the top five.  Takaaki Nakagami of Japan runs sixth.  Luca Marini is the last rider in the top ten at this point, and is having a career best outing in this race.  Marcel Schrotter shoots inside Sam Lowes to take a spot away.  New fast lap.  Tom Luthi lays down a 1:37.442.  Luthi is the man to beat, but Alex Rins definitely wants 20 points, which he will earn, if he finishes second.

Rins is closing up, and he brings fastest lap down further, to 1:37.297.  He is working on getting by Luthi for the lead, and then leaving the rest of the field in the dust.  Rins passes for the lead in Museum corner on lap five.  The lead is short lived, as Rins runs wide, and allows Luthi to take it back.  Guess what?  Simone Corsi, also wants a piece of this.  Corsi is bringing Franco Morbidelli along for the ride.  Lorenzo Baldassari tries to get by Franco Morbidelli, but can't make it stick.  Rins tries to put a move on Luthi in La Chapelle.  But, he's waiting, actually, to set Luthi up for a pass.  Rins tries making it by Luthi.  Luthi says, "no way, Alex", and it turns into a see saw battle.

Simone Corsi, is watching all this, and he has great incentive, to start pushing, trying to find a way past Alex Rins.  Lorenzo Baldassari and Franco Morbidelli have a scrum of their own, and Morbidelli squeezes Baldassari, into the turn!  Clearly Baldassari and Morbidelli touched in turn 12.  Rins and Corsi take advantage of this little tussle.  Corsi does not need an open door to crash a party.  He'll slam it down and join the fun, anyway.  Takaaki Nakagami holds on in sixth spot.  Johann Zarco has done nothing but go backwards.  He qualified fourth, but is now languishing in 11th.

Zarco is stuck, at his home race, and cannot get by Luca Marini, Dominique Aegerter, or, Marcel Schrotter.  Zarco is most definitely looking for a MotoGP ride in the not too distant future, and this won't help that cause.  Alex Rins does not have a MotoGP ride yet, either.  However, with his performances as of late, he should get one.  Rins leads Luthi by 4/10ths of a second, but Luthi, meanwhile, has Simone Corsi all over him, like a rash.  Corsi nabs the spot from Luthi who tries fighting back on the inside.  Corsi runs in the 1:38 bracket, while everyone else is running mid-1:37 lap times.  It's close racing here in Moto2.

Lorenzo Baldassari now makes a move on Tom Luthi.  Julian Simon has crashed his motorcycle, and it's game over in France for the 2009 125cc world champ.  Simon spilled the bike, at La Chapelle.  Alex Rins has 6/10ths over Corsi.  Luthi is running a second slower than Rins.  He's got grip issues at the moment.  Sam Lowes is seventh, 2/10ths down on Takaaki Nakagami.  Nakagami finds grip in the latter part of these Moto2 races.  He could put the cat among the pigeons.  Johann Zarco has made up one spot and inside the top ten.  Zarco and Miguel Oliveira have made clean passes.  Hafizh Syahrin and Xavier Simeon have also made passes.

Zarco moves ahead of Dominique Aegerter as Rins leads by half a second.  Oliveira makes a clean pass on Aegerter.  Zarco moves past Oliveira.  He is now eighth.  Jonas Folger has crashed, on a full fuel tank, a few different times this year already.  That's not good.  He may also be having issues with the shock package on his motorcycle.  The team tried new shocks in the morning warm up here at Le Mans. Folger has had trouble getting a feel for the front end of the motorcycle.  Bradley Smith had five crashes at the Sachsenring in 2014.  Simone Corsi needs to get on terms with Alex Rins.  How will Rins fight him?  Corsi is not a championship threat.

Zarco has taken a second out of Marcel Schrotter, and Schrotter loses a plac to Miguel Oliveira.  Alex Marquez runs way down in 15th.  He is in a fight with Axel Pons for position.  Pons wants the last point, and Marquez, has the place right now.  Hafizh Syahrin goes inside Miguel Oliveira.  Rins and Corsi have gapped Baldassari and Luthi.  If Luthi wants a second consecutive Le Mans win in Moto2, he'll have to pass Lorenzo Baldassari ASAP.  Franco Morbidelli cannot keep up with the leaders.  Simone Corsi is running very well in second spot.  Baldassari looks for another podium.  Simone Corsi is doing a very good job riding today.

Moto2 debuted as a division in 2010.  Simone Corsi, has never won a Moto2 race, in six years.  The last time he won was in 125cc competition, in 2008.  Corsi has made a fabulous transition from the Kalex chassis to the Speed Up chassis.  Corsi is pushing Alex Rins.  Luthi is getting desperate to get around Baldassari.  Jeepers!  A crash for Alex Marquez.  He's out of this thing.  Smash!  The bike slides away, and he has now wrecked in four of the last five races!  Marquez, ironically crashed this time, in the same place, where he spilled the bike in the Moto2 morning warmup.  Luthi tries Baldassari, but no.  Corsi runs fastest lap in the lead group at 1:37.605.  He is followed by Rins at 1:37.647, Luthi at 1:37.668, and Baldassari at 1:37.672.  Of only eleven career wins, Tom Luthi has won at Le Mans, four times.

Rins continues to lead, and Corsi still isn't close enough to the Spaniard.  Luthi tries Corsi on the inside, and can't do it.  Rins is managing this race, just as he did at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, last month.  Luthi still fends off Baldassari.  Luthi has to guard the place, with everything he's got.  Ten laps to go.  Does Luthi have anything left in the locker?  Could Tom Luthi's shift light on the motorcycle be malfunctioning?  He could be missing his shift points.  Rins leads Corsi by 3/10ths of a second.  Poor old Johann Zarco!  The world champ, crashes out of his home race!  Zarco restarts his Ajo Motorsports Kalex, but will be out of contention, here in France, much to the dismay of his fans.

Zarco lost the front end of the bike, clipping the curb, and down he went.  Rins continues to stretch his lead, and Luthi is losing time.  Eight laps to go.  Rins leads Sam Lowes in the points headed to the next race.  Details, shortly, after this one ends.  Alex Rins is riding an immaculate race.  Tom Luthi is losing a shade more time.  Takaaki Nakagami may be closing in on Franco Morbidelli.  Sam Lowes is running seventh right now, trying to pick up points.  Simone Corsi looks like he'll have a go at Alex Rins anytime now.  Simone Corsi is now closing on Alex Rins.  Luthi will not win a third Moto2 race at Le Mans.  He is two seconds behind this scrap for the lead between Rins and Corsi.  Alex Rins, has quite the drive out of Garage Vert onto the back straightaway.

Oh dear!  Lorenzo Baldassari, has wrecked his bike!  He was fourth, and crashes, in turn three!  Franco Morbidelli has moved to fifth, and Sam Lowes is sixth, after Baldassari fell.  Rins is now just doing enough to keep Simone Corsi at bay.  Sam Lowes hopes Takaaki Nakagami can get up there to battle Franco Morbidelli.  Sam Lowes has found his pace, but would he be able to take advantage if Nakagami and Morbidelli got into a dust up?  Only three laps to go.  Alex Rins has control of this race, but Simone Corsi has been amazing, challenging at the front in Moto2.  Rins is able to preserve his tires, and it looks like he'll win his second race of the season.  The dog may have let go of the bone, for Corsi.  However, Luthi might still nab him.  If Johann Zarco will retain the Moto2 championship, he'll have to do it the hard way.

Zarco won the 2015 championship.  But, he's not been in contention for most of the season so far.  It is the final lap, and Rins is half a second quicker than Corsi.  Franco Morbidelli will hold fourth over Takaaki Nakagami.  Alex Rins will have his 12th win.  He's been on the podium in Moto3, and never a win.  He's had a podium in Moto2 at Le Mans.  But now, he's wiped the floor with his championship rivals.  Simone Corsi will get his best finish in some time.  Alex Rins will take his second win of 2016!  He takes the championship lead!

#40 Alex Rins     ESP.     Kalex

The next race for Moto2, has happened.  But, stay tuned, for highlights from the Mugello circuit in Italy, coming soon.  

 

Moto2 & Moto3 from France

Stay tuned, later in the week, for coverage of the Moto2 and Moto3 races, from France, more World Superbike action, and also, all the action from Mugello in Italy for MotoGP.  Yours truly is catching up on blogging the motorcycle races, and will have full race reports, as soon as possible.

MotoGP Round 5: France

A race has happened, since this one took place, folks.  Playing catch up, with some of these races.  Right now, stay tuned for highlights of MotoGP in France, at Le Mans, along with Moto2 and Moto3 to come later, and then, stay tuned, for the most recent event, in Italy.

***

We are at the Bugatti circuit, the motorcycle circuit at Le Mans in France. This will be a 28 lap race. Jorge Lorenzo has scored his first pole at Le Mans, and he's won in MotoGP here, four times.  Everyone seems to be booing Jorge Lorenzo.  It is disrespectful and uncalled for.  Marc Marquez starts second for this race.  Pol Espargaro rolls off in fourth place.  Bradley Smith, is sixth, on row two of the grid.  Valentino Rossi is seventh.  He has a number of podiums and three wins at Le Mans in 2002, 2005, and 2008.  Maverick Vinales will roll off sixth.  Dani Pedrosa starts 11th.  Maverick Vinales is eighth.  Aleix Espargaro is 12th.  Hector Barbera is 13th.  Cal Crutchlow rolls off in ninth place, as we continue to randomly highlight riders on the starting grid, before we get set to go racing, in France.

14th is Scott Redding.  He is a former winner at Le Mans, in Moto2.  Yonny Hernandez completes the top 15.  Andrea Dovizioso is fifth.  Eugene Laverty is 16th.  He has had a tougher time at Le Mans.  17th is Stefan Bradl on the Aprilia.  Alvaro Bautista matches his bike number, starting 19th.  There is a record crowd ready to witness MotoGP at Le Mans.  Jack Miller is 18th, and his ankle is giving him pain.  He's been limping.  Tito Rabat is 20th.  Andrea Ianonne is on the front row.  Ducati team manager Davide Tardozzi mentions that the wind has picked up.

Almost every bike has winglets on it.  The wind is blowing them into turn one from the rear.  Danilo Petrucci has a damaged right hand, but he has come back to racing, here at Le Mans.  All riders on row two are using medium and soft compound tires.  Medium, hard, and medium front, and all soft, rear tires, for each rider, on the front row of the starting grid, including Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, and Andrea Ianonne.  Five minutes to go before this race starts, as the BMW M2 safety car, moves away from the grid.

Who will win?  We'll find out.  Despite crashing at the end of qualifying, Andrea Ianonne starts third.  Marc Marquez will be a contender.  Jorge Lorenzo wants to go two in a row at Le Mans, from his 63rd career pole position.  21 riders will contest this race.  Marc Marquez has a 17 point lead in the championship.  Racing conditions are essentially perfect.  The majority of the field are at medium and soft compounds on their Michelin tires.  Some have harder front tires, aiding in braking, taking away grip.  We wait for the red flag to be taken away from the front of the grid, and MotoGP will be racing, in France!

The 17th successive running of the French motorcycle Grand Prix, starts, now!  Lorenzo flies away from everyone, bursting into the race lead!  Pol Espargaro and Andrea Dovizioso, have both swept in front of Marc Marquez.  Lorenzo leads into the Dunlop chicane for the first time.  The perfect start, from Jorge Lorenzo, means that he might sail away from everyone, in this race.  Into La Chapelle corner for the first time.  Off to the left is the track, for the car version of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.  Now, the motorcycles, make their way through Museum corner.  Andrea Dovizioso makes a move on Pol Espargaro.

Through Garage Vert (green garage) corner, for the first time, and Marc Marquez is moving to the front, in a hurry.  Pol Espargaro and Valentino Rossi head for the Chemain au Boeuf s curves.  Rossi gets roughed up by Aleix Espargaro and Bradley Smith.  Smith, makes a move on him.  Lorenzo leads Dovizioso by half a second.  Rossi moves on Aleix Espargaro and makes it stick through the Dunlop chicane.  Rossi will next try passing Pol Espargaro, Aleix's younger brother.  Jorge Lorenzo continues to lead this one.  Through Garage Vert another time, where Marc Marquez had issues during both practice and qualifying.  Lorenzo is pulling away.  Can the Ducati's hang on to the Yamaha?

Bradley Smith runs ahead of Maverick Vinales, who got away poorly out of the starting blocks.  Rossi goes inside Pol Espargaro.  Rossi makes a classic block pass on Espargaro, as we see Lorenzo lay down the first fastest lap of this race at 1:33.724.  Aleix Espargaro moves around Bradley Smith.  Valentino Rossi now has the task of running down Marc Marquez.  Catching is one thing.  Passing, is another.  Lorenzo continues to lead, back into the S curves again.  Andrea Dovizioso continues to hang on at the front, right behind Jorge Lorenzo, hoping for a chance to pounce and bring the Ducati to the front.

Andrea Ianonne now steals fast lap at 1:33.512.  Cal Crutchlow now begins pressuring Bradley Smith.  Into La Chapelle again, it's a sibling rivalry on the speedway for the two Espargaro brothers.  Whoa!  Into Museum corner, Pol Espargaro is out of the seat, and almost gets launched off his bike, into orbit!  He fortunately, saves it!  Maverick Vinales takes advantage, as well.  It seems Pol Espargaro locked the front brake and that messed up his run into La Chapelle.  The gap is 9/10ths of a second, as we wait for the Rossi and Marquez show to start.  Will these two have a major dust up?  We're going to find out.

In a scrap of their own are Bradley Smith, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, and Scott Redding.  Rossi brings fast lap down to 1:33.293.  Lorenzo leads, but the Ducati's are hot on his heels.  Lorenzo is waiting to have the fuel load lighten and for the Michelin tires to bed themselves in.  Then, he knows he can fly.  He'll then say, "hey boys, can you touch this?"  To quote MC Hammer, he'll say, "no, dude... can't touch this!"  It is well documented that there is a sour off track relationship between Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi.  Will those sour lemons continue on the track?  Rossi is trying to take time out of Marquez.

Lorenzo leads through the double Recordement right hand turn at the end of the lap, where the Ford Chicane would be for the Le Mans car race.  Andrea Ianonne passes Andrea Dovizioso, saying, "let me lead this second pack."  Or maybe, he's just saying to Dovizioso, "in yo' face!"  Ianonne is wide through Museum.  These two are fighting for one open spot on the Ducati factory squad, next year, and perhaps one of them, may join Jorge Lorenzo there.  Rossi is losing time to Marquez.  Marquez is closing on the Ducati's, and motoring away from Rossi.  Fastest lap to Marquez that time at 1:33.576.  He's the fastest bloke on the road right now.

Game over for Scott Redding, with mechanical woes on the Pramac Ducati.  Oh dear, oh dear!  Andrea Ianonne has wrecked the Ducati!  So, that's another one, headed for the house.  Ianonne ditches the bike at Garage Vert.  More carnage.  Cal Crutchlow has crashed out of his fourth of five races!  In the blue esses, he'll be gutted.  Valentino Rossi has made it up to fourth.  Lorenzo looks to be in the pound seats to take win number two on the year.  Lots of racing left in this one, though.  Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro battle for fifth.  It's another episode of, The Suzuki Show!  Another crash.  Tito Rabat, falls at turn six.

Vinales runs wide at Chemain aux Boeuf.  Jorge Lorenzo is steaming along, in the lead.  He's 2.2 seconds up on his competition.  The top seventeen or so riders that are still left in this event are Lorenzo leading, followed by Andrea Dovizioso, Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales, Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Dani Pedrosa, Danilo Petrucci, Eugene Laverty, Stefan Bradl, Hector Barbera, Jack Miller, Alvaro Bautista, and Loris Baz.  It's a battle attrition.  Ianonne is back on track.  Yonny Hernandez is also out.

The gap is shrinking between Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez.  Scott Redding, has stopped.  The motor died on his bike.  Marc Marquez closes on Andrea Dovizioso between Museum and Garage Vert.  We aren't even at half distance through this race yet, folks.  Jorge Lorenzo continues to whistle off into the distance, while Andrea Dovizioso and Marc Marquez, begin to battle for best of the rest.  Marc Marquez has the harder compound front tire, however, Cal Crutchlow and Tito Rabat, who chose the hard tires, crashed.  Ianonne is out.  Game over.  The front end washes away, and he's down, and out, sliding painfully across the pavement and the gravel trap.

The trouble is, with his crashes, Andrea Ianonne's issues, are down to being self inflicted.  He has not had bad luck.  He's just wrecked so many times, and this means, his chance to partner Jorge Lorenzo at Ducati next year, are becoming slimmer.  Valentino Rossi begins closing on Marc Marquez.  Hang onto your seats, ladies and gentlemen!  This race is going to get wild, fast.  Rossi looks inside into Museum, letting Marquez know he's there.  These two have had a falling out, and they are not best of friends at all.  Rossi smells blood, at Garage Vert, the shark takes the fish, and the crowd goes bonkers!

Rossi is now on the podium.  Can Marc Marquez challenge?  Jorge Lorenzo is on a Sunday cruise.  Rossi is now right on Andrea Dovizioso.  Rossi is the quickest of the three riders in this battle.  Lorenzo sets his best lap of the race at 1:33.432.  Rossi runs inside Dovizioso at Museum.  Rossi is second, and will try chasing down Lorenzo.  Marc Marquez is slowing down, because he is abusing his front tire.  Halfway home as they cross the line once more.  Your running order at halfway is (in the points paying places), Lorenzo, Rossi, Dovizioso, Marquez, Vinales, Aleix Espargaro, Pedrosa, Pol Espargaro, Smith, Petrucci, Barbera, Laverty, Miller, Bautista, and Bradl.

Dovizioso wants to pass Rossi, but knows that Marquez is wanting to swallow him up in one big gulp.  Rossi has not been able to pull away.  Marquez is having time eaten out of his gap, to Dovizioso, meaning he's got to take more risks.  Scratch that, folks!  It's all for naught!  Dovizioso and Marquez have both crashed!  Game over!  Battle null and void!  These two crashed in tandem!  Unbelievable!  That was synchronized crashing!  We saw this, in World Superbike, sometimes.  But, has this ever occurred in MotoGP?  Um... possibly.  Yours truly can't remember.

There were no distractions. Those two wrecked at the same moment.  Unbelievable!  Lorenzo and Rossi lead at Le Mans for Yamaha, and this could also put Maverick Vinales on course for his first MotoGP podium, with Suzuki!  Lorenzo tries to win the race.  But he does not know that he's the world championship leader, by eight points!  Unreal!  Looking at the Dovizioso/Marquez wreck, they lost it at precisely the same moment, if you'd timed it with a stopwatch.  This could have happened once before, in the 500cc days, with Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan spilling their bikes at the same moment in the same corner, at the Nurburgring.

Jorge Lorenzo is going to take the points lead, with Valentino Rossi in second.  This'll be crazy, going into Mugello in Italy.  Disclaimer.  Yours truly knows that the Mugello race, has happened.  Haven't looked at anything yet.  So, stay tuned, later on, for Mugello action in Italy.  Let's resolve this contest, first.  Please be careful, boys.  Marc Marquez is just riding for a single point right now.  It is incredible.  The Ducati team management, their hair must be on fire, because they've let so many podium places slip through their fingers, already, in 2016.

Lorenzo is invincible, because his lap times are totally consistent, and have not deviated by 2/10ths or 3/10ths of a second.  Oh dear.  The war of attrition continues.  Crash, and game over, for Jack Miller.  If he keeps going, Marc Marquez will finish 14th in this Grand Prix.  Dani Pedrosa now runs fourth, 2.5 seconds in-arrears of Maverick Vinales.  If Maverick Vinales gets third place, it will be the first Suzuki podium in MotoGP, since 2009, when Loris Capirossi rode to third, for them, at Brno in the Czech Republic, a track MotoGP visits, later this summer.  Another fall.  Bradley Smith, down and out.

Museum corner catches another one.  With Smith's tumble, it puts Marc Marquez up to 13th spot.  Danilo Petrucci and Hector Barbera now run seventh and eighth, with six laps to go.  The Espargaro brothers run fifth and sixth and Pol Espargaro leads his older brother.  We watch Loris Baz running in 12th spot.  Eugene Laverty is having a solid run in 11th, the next spot up the road.  Stefan Bradl runs ahead of Laverty, in tenth.  Alvaro Bautista is gaining, and is 2.2 seconds clear of his Aprilia team mate.  Rossi is 3/10ths behind Jorge Lorenzo.  Rossi needs 20 points for his championship challenge.  Keep the pace going, and stay in a rhythm.  Six laps to go now.

Tito Rabat is OK.  But, Jorge Lorenzo is crushing the field at Le Mans.  He has 8.7 seconds over Rossi.  Maverick Vinales will earn his first podium finish.  Will Vinales stay at Suzuki, or join Yamaha next year?  Will the podium for Suzuki sway Vinales' decisions about 2017?  Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio looks on.  Danilo Petrucci runs seventh, with Hector Barbera, eighth.  Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl, come next.  Two laps left, as Jorge Lorenzo will take his 42nd MotoGP win.  He will have his 139th podium, and his fifth win out of nine MotoGP races here at Le Mans.

Final lap for Lorenzo.  He's comfortably ahead of Rossi.  Maverick Vinales will get his first MotoGP podium.  Dani Pedrosa wrecked in qualifying, but has recovered well.  Last time out in Jerez, was the first 1-2 for Yamaha since Catalunya last year.  Back to back 1-2 finishes for Yamaha.  Hector Barbera tries to go inside Danilo Petruci, and can't quite do it.  Petrucci has the advantage, for seventh spot.  Petrucci takes it in hot into Museum.  Barbera dives inside at Garage Vert!  Oh boy! Barbera tries to block, runs wide, and Petrucci will get the spot.  But, Jorge Lorenzo, dominates at Le Mans, and wins the French Grand Prix!

He is now the championship points leader!  Valentino Rossi second, and first career MotoGP podium for Maverick Vinales!  Suzuki gets their first premier class podium, in seven years!

#99 Jorge Lorenzo     ESP.     Yamaha

Bautista and Bradl finish tenth for Aprilia.  Marc Marquez finishes 13th.  The next race, has happened, at Mugello in Italy.  But, the race, will be highlighted here, in due time.  Stay tuned.

    

MotoGP news before the French Grand Prix

News from MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3, before the French Grand Prix.

Bastianini injures right wrist in training accident

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/28/bastianini-injures-right-wrist-in-training-accident/199909

Four winners in four races, will it be five in France?

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/02/four-winners-in-four-races-will-it-be-five-in-france/199870

Lowes leads into Le Mans
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/02/lowes-leads-into-le-mans/199878

No clear favourite in ever tightening MotoGP championship

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/no-clear-favourite-in-ever-tightening-motogp-championship/199891

Petrucci plans Le Mans return
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/04/29/petrucci-plans-le-mans-return/199930

Classics: Relive three of the best French GPs

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/02/classics-relive-three-of-the-best-french-gps/199897

#StatAttack: A number of Moto2 podium contenders

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/statattack-a-number-of-moto2-podium-contenders/199925

#StatAttack: Binder's Incredible Charge
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/statattack-binder-s-incredible-charge/199926

Smith: "We all have to be prepared for rain"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/smith-we-all-have-to-be-prepared-for-rain/199980

Binder: "At first it was hard to believe"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/binder-at-first-it-was-hard-to-believe/199982

Marquez: "We suffered a lot with front grip in the race"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/marquez-we-suffered-a-lot-with-front-grip-in-the-race/199981

Laverty:"My aim is to make another top ten finish"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/laverty-my-aim-is-to-make-another-top-ten-finish/200006

Espargaro: "I'm not under any illusion that it will be easy"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/espargaro-i-m-not-under-any-illusion-that-it-will-be-easy/199999

Pedrosa: "Normally, this isn't a 'super-grippy' track"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/03/pedrosa-normally-this-isn-t-a-super-grippy-track/200000

Redding interview: "Every week we get something new"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/redding-interview-every-weekend-we-get-something-new/199959

Advantage Yamaha in Le Mans
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/advantage-yamaha-in-le-mans/200029

Miller: "I am getting stronger in MotoGP"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/miller-i-am-getting-stronger-in-motogp/200028

Michelin heads home as Le Mans hosts the French GP

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/michelin-heads-home-as-le-mans-hosts-the-french-gp/200030

Bradl: "We'll have some upgrades"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/bradl-we-ll-have-some-upgrades/200031

Lorenzo: "It's going to be crucial to keep scoring"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/lorenzo-it-s-going-to-be-crucial-to-keep-scoring/200033

Rossi: "There are many factors you must be careful of"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/04/rossi-there-are-many-factors-that-you-must-be-careful-of/200037

Dovizioso: "Every race weekend is completely different"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/dovizioso-every-race-weekend-is-completely-different/200074

Vinales: "We are much more competitive than last year"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/vinales-we-are-much-more-competitive-than-last-year/200068

Espargaro: "My confidence with the GSX-RR has grown a lot"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/espargaro-my-confidence-with-the-gsx-rr-has-grown-a-lot/200085

Tech3 to join forces with German star Jonas Folger

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/tech-3-to-join-forces-with-german-star-jonas-folger/200083

Vinales talks MotoGP future
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/vinales-talks-motogp-future/200098

Iannone: "Last year it was a positive race"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/iannone-last-year-it-was-a-positive-race/200095

The Moto3 junior world championship arrives at Le Mans

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/the-moto3-junior-world-championship-arrives-at-le-mans/200100

#FrenchGP: Braking the difference in Le Mans

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/05/frenchgp-braking-the-difference-in-le-mans/200103

Meet The Wildcards: French Connection
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/meet-the-wildcards-french-connection/200094

Navarro leads sunny Free Practice 1 in France

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/navarro-leads-sunny-free-practice-1-in-france/200146

In form, Pedrosa takes control in Free Practice 1

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/in-form-pedrosa-takes-control-in-free-practice-1/200155

Late charge puts Corsi on top
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/late-charge-puts-corsi-on-top/200162

Binder grabs top spot on Friday with final lap

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/binder-grabs-top-spot-on-friday-with-final-lap/200175

Lorenzo the man to beat after Friday
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/lorenzo-the-man-to-beat-after-friday/200187

Zarco gives home fans something to cheer about in Le Mans

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/zarco-gives-home-fans-something-to-cheer-about-in-le-mans/200196

Lorenzo: "It wasn't just one lap"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/lorenzo-it-wasn-t-just-one-lap/200265

Rossi: "I wasn't fast enough"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/rossi-i-wasn-t-fast-enough/200270

Marquez: "Today was demanding"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/marquez-today-was-demanding/200274

Iannone: "We've still got some work to do"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/iannone-we-ve-still-got-some-work-to-do/200278

Pedrosa set for Yamaha switch?
http://www.motogp.com/en/in+the+media/2016/05/04/pedrosa-set-for-yamaha-switch/200013

Kornfiel drops into the 1:42s to lead Moto3

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/kornfeil-drops-into-the-1-42s-to-lead-moto3/200384

Home Heroes: A day to remember
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/home-heroes-a-day-to-remember/199978

Italian Dalla Porta takes pole in Le Mans
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/06/italian-dalla-porta-takes-pole-in-le-mans/200372

Ianonne steals top spot in Free Practice 3
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/iannone-steals-top-spot-in-free-practice-3/20038

Luthi feeling at home in Le Mans
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/luthi-feeling-at-home-in-le-mans/200399

Fourth pole for Antonelli in crash filled session

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/fourth-pole-for-antonelli-in-crash-filled-session/200409

Usual suspects on top in FP4 as Lorenzo leads
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/usual-suspects-on-top-in-fp4-as-lorenzo-leads/200417

Lorenzo destroys record to take first Le Mans MotoGP pole

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/lorenzo-destroys-record-to-take-first-le-mans-motogp-pole/200430

Espargaro and Petrucci advance to Q2
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/espargaro-and-petrucci-advance-to-q2/200425

LaLiga look to learn from MotoGP
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/laliga-look-to-learn-from-motogp/200427

FIM CEV Repsol Round 2: Le Mans

http://www.motogp.com/en/youtube_update/2016/05/07/fim-cev-repsol-2016-round-2-le-mans/200294

Lorenzo: "I'm very happy with the pole"
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/lorenzo-i-m-very-happy-with-the-pole/200473

Rossi: "Unfortunately I made a lot of mistakes"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/rossi-unfortunately-i-made-a-lot-of-mistakes/200469

Iannone: "A light went on and suddenly I crashed"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/iannone-a-light-went-on-and-suddenly-i-crashed/200489

Marquez: "I'm still not quite as fast as Jorge"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/marquez-i-m-still-not-quite-as-fast-as-jorge/200503

Dalla Porta dominates on way to first victory

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/dalla-porta-dominates-on-way-to-first-victory/200548

Espargaro: "We definitely deserve it this weekend"

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/07/espargaro-we-definitely-deserve-it-this-weekend/200555

A numerical look at the #FrenchGP in the premier class

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/08/a-numerical-look-at-the-frenchgp-in-the-premier-class/200514

#FrenchGP: Moto3 race guide
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/08/frenchgp-moto3-race-guide/200539

#FrenchGP: Moto2 race guide
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/05/08/frenchgp-moto2-race-guide/200522