MotoGP Round 6: Styria

Another week, and another MotoGP race in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, as promised.  An interesting front row of the starting grid as we get ready to race for a second consecutive weekend here, in Austria at the Red Bull Ring for MotoGP.  Grab your leathers, gloves, and boots, and cinch down your helmet firmly.  Hold on for the ride.  It's time for another epic MotoGP race.  The report from the second encounter in Austria is next!

On the front row of the grid we have Pol Espargaro, Takaaki Nakagami, and Joan Mir.  Stefan Bradl, once again, replaces Marc Marquez while he recovers.  Alex Rins leads off the second row with Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller.  Fabio Quartararo who is the leader of the world championship points table stars on row three alongside Miguel Oliveira and Andrea Dovizioso.  Watch too, for Valentino Rossi on the #46 Yamaha.  The legend will have work to do starting 14th as he is sandwiched on row three between both Brad Binder and Michele Pirro, on the KTM and the Ducati.  Michele Pirro is of course the test and reserve rider for the Ducati team.  

Pol Espargaro, as we have 28 laps to look forward to, is the man hoping to define the slogan of his sponsor, Red Bull energy drink here at their home track.  Red Bull "gives you wings" or so they say.  Well, will Pol Espargaro be flying to the sharp end of this motorcycle race today?  We're about to find out.  Jack Miller on his #43 Pramac Racing Ducati, crashed in Free Practice 3 and hurt his shoulder.  So he will be riding with some discomfort today, but he's out there to win, just like everyone else on this grid.  The revs rise.  Red lights on.  Red lights out!  Away we go!  It's the second MotoGP race in Austria in as many weeks!

Pol Espatgaro is the man who gets the hole shot.  Jack Miller from row two also gets a flyer!  Joan Mir is racing side by side, look, with Espargaro and is going for the lead into turn one.  Mir makes the pass and leads this motorcycle race into the first turn as they prepare to climb the hill for the first time of asking.  Alex Rins on the second factory Suzuki is moving up.  That launch control system the Suzuki's are using is brilliant.  Johann Zarco starts the race from pit lane on his #5 Reale Avintia Racing Ducati. His is of course the 2019 spec motorcycle, the Desmosedici GP19.  Mir still leads as they approach turn three for the first time and Jack Miller got away from the starting blocks well, too.

Whoa!  Franco Morbidelli was out of the seat for a second on his #21 Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha YZR M1.  Morbidelli stays with it, and of course he had a massive crash here in the race last weekend.  Joan Mir meanwhile, forces Pol Espargaro wide.  Espargaro loses third to Takaaki Nakagami, and the two touch!  Easy there, boys!  That was a close one!  Here's your teeth, mate.  OK.  I'll put my teeth back in and can continue commentating.  Thank you.  The stewards are directing Joan Mir to drop one place because of his running wide on exit at turn one.

Andrea Dovizioso gains a spot and moves from eighth to seventh on this opening lap, and another flying start has come from Valentino Rossi.  "The Doctor" has been very good since the start.  He's running well. Now, lap three and Fabio Quartararo has gone the opposite way.  He's dropping like a stone and is running behind Alex Marquez.  Quatararo aboard the #20 Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha has run wide and lost time.  Alex Marquez is up to 12th place and he is currently having a right old dust up with Iker Lecuona of Spain on the first of the Red Bull Tech3 KTM's, bike #27.

Brad Binder has gone by Valentino Rossi as well.  Joan Mir has also gone back around Jack Miller who held the lead briefly.  Nakagami makes a great pass on Miller in turn six.  We wonder, what is Nakagami's pace like?  Can he break away from the rest of the competitors in the lower half of the top ten?  He has to if he wants to challenge for a podium or even a win.  He has to move ahead of the Australian.  Brad Binder, meanwhile, is closing the gap to Alex Rins.  Rins must be tired of seeing the tail of that KTM.

Oh no.  What's happened here?  We have a bike in flames that has gone through the air fence on the side of the track.  What is this all about?  That's Maverick Vinales and he's a rider without a motorcycle.  This is going to bring out a red flag.  The bike is burning.  It's on fire, and the red flag has to come out because of the damage to the air fence.  The air fence has been breached and the motorcycle is absolutely obliterated.  What on earth happened there?  Vinales just inexplicably falls off the motorcycle and it continues on without it's rider as if by remote control!

The only explanation for Vinales having a runaway motorcycle is that his brakes failed completely.  No brakes on the front or rear wheel.  The bike didn't slow down at all.  Vinales was catapulted off and he landed.  But the bike continued revving and then decelerated and crashed into the gravel trap.  Thank God Vinales got up.  That is terrifying, for the motorcycle to toss it's rider like a bucking bronco and to carry on by itself before it gives itself the coup de gras and crashes... wallop!, into the wall.  No brakes whatsoever for Vinales and his Yamaha YZR M1 absolutely clobbers the barrier!  How scary can it get?  That scary.

Maverick Vinales has had a horrible time in Austria and he will want to erase the events at Red Bull Ring from his memory bank.  This race has been red flagged, folks.  The red flag is out.  Poor old Joan Mir had a two and a half second lead which has now evaporated due to the red flag.  The race has been stopped.  There is a new starting grid with the first two rows being Joan Mir, Takaaki Nakagami, and Jack Miller, followed by Pol Espargaro, Alex Rins, and Brad Binder.  Next up are Miguel Oliveira, Andrea Dovizioso, and Iker Lecuona.  Behind them, we have Fabio Quartararo, Valentino Rossi, and Danilo Petrucci.

We continue to look at the grid for the restart, which will be a 12 lap shootout to the end.  Alex Marquez, Cal Crutchlow, and Aleix Espargaro are next.  Following them are Franco Morbidelli, Johann Zarco, and Michele Pirro.  On the final row for the restart, it is Bradley Smith, Tito Rabat, and Stefan Bradl.  Fabio Quartararo and Valentino Rossi in particular, have been having a bear of a time with front brakes.  Eyes to the lights, for the restart.  Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  We're off and racing once again in the Styrian motorcycle Grand Prix!

Jack Miller and Alex Rins bog down and make horrid restarts, and Joan Mir looks as if he was shot from a cannon!  Pol Espargaro on the KTM is up in the second spot.  So, it is somewhat of a mirror image of the initial start and what we saw.  Cal Crutchlow also ran wide on his LCR Honda.  Mir, meanwhile, is in the pound seats as he and the rest of the pack charge up towards turn three.  Miguel Oliveira passes Takaaki Nakagami for fourth spot and Brad Binder is also in the thick of it.  Miller goes inside of Mir for the lead into turn four and holds it through the braking zone.

Miller runs wide.  Mir has a chance to redress this.  What is he going to do?  Miller and Mir side by side!  It's the battle of the M's.  M&M's, no, not the chocolate candy, folks.  Miller is in the lead as Takaaki Nakagami is hung out to dry and he is going to lose places.  Nakagami is passed by Andrea Dovizioso and Brad Binder in one fell swoop.  Miller leading Mir, Pol Espargaro, and Miguel Oliveira, with Brad Binder fifth.  Oliveira is having a great race as we fast forward in the action with just six laps to run before this motorcycle race is done and dusted.  Now, Miguel Oliveira, he is going to attack Pol Espargaro into turn nine.  Will this work?  Will it end in tears?

Espargaro parks the bike in the middle of the corner, and makes it so Miller has the door slammed firmly in his face.  "Pol, let me in, mate!" he says.  Pol Espargaro says, "no way, sunshine.  I am the leader and you'll have to get back by me."  Uh oh!  Problems for Brad Binder as he's overcooked the final corner and gone way wide up the escape road and fortunately not out onto the paint.  You can see from the helicopter shot, the red and white paint on the outside of the circuit that represents the Austrian flag.  So, Binder is out of contention for a podium, but Pol Espargaro, he is going to maybe just get his maiden MotoGP victory if he can hold it together for another five laps.

Miller takes a good line into the corner at turn three but again, Espargaro closes the door.  "I'm not even going to give you the key, Jack" he is probably thinking.  "You'll have to bust your way in."  Espargaro goes wide.  Will Miller bust his way in?  Will he spoil Espargaro's party as an uninvited guest and nab all the sweets for himself?  That isn't likely.  We are a lap away from seeing a storybook win.  Pol Espargaro might just pull off a hometown win for KTM.  The Austrian motorcycle manufacturer, who also makes the Crossbow sports car, they could very well be on their way to a home victory.  Never count your chickens until they hatch, though.

The fat lady isn't singing yet, nor has the orchestra begun playing Mozart.  This is the lap of his life, for Pol Espargaro, a man who has been champion already in the Moto2 division.  Espargaro has enough traction, enough power to keep Jack Miller on the Pramac Ducati behind him.  Pol Espargaro rides the defensive line, and this could open the door for Miller to steal those sweets and spoil Espargaro and KTM's chances.  Andrea Dovizioso runs wide, and Jack Miller is on a mission.  He's going for it.  Miller, under braking has the preferred line on the inside into turn four!

They rub knees, and Miller leads the motorcycle race into and out of turn four.  This is the money lap.  Give it all you've got.  Espargaro gets stymied.  He's not going to make it and here comes the other KTM Red Bull bike of Miguel Oliveira!  Miguel Oliveira on the second bike for the KTM Tech3 Red Bull satellite team is right there.  One of these three blokes is going to win the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix.  Pol Espargaro is not fooling around anymore.  Miller wants to keep Ducati's golden run alive, but it might not be so if KTM has anything to say about it. 

It's the final sector of the last lap of this race.  Espargaro has the lead.  Here comes Jack Miller!  Miller is nose to nose with Espargaro!  This is it!  Oh!  Oh!  Oh!  They both slip up!  Miller and Espargaro both are blindsided by Miguel Oliveira!  The Portuguese rider comes from nowhere, and takes the lead!  Unbelievable!  Espargaro runs wide!  Oliveira is going to win this one!  Yes!  Miguel Oliveira wins the Styrian MotoGP Grand Prix and the Red Bull KTM Tech 3 crew goes mad in the pit bunker!  They are delirious with joy!  They cannot believe they've just won this motorcycle race!

#88 Miguel Oliveira      ESP.      Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM RC16

These boys and girls tried for two decades with Yamaha to win in all classes in MotoGP and kept coming up empty.  Today, in Austria, in their manufacturer partner's backyard, they win the victory wreath, the gold cup, and the champagne.  Can you believe it?  Have you ever?  No, I've never!  This is a popular win for the KTM crew!  What a race!  What a finish!  I'll say it again.  What a finish!  Two weeks from now we will be in San Marino, for the next two rounds of the championship, on the Adriatic coast of Italy at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.  Will we see as exciting a race in Italy as we've seen today in Austria?  Yours truly can't wait to find out!  Join us for even more MotoGP excitement, next time.  Auf wiedersehen for now, from the mountains of Austria.

 

Moto2 & Moto3 races

Once again, even though yours truly has been keeping tabs on MotoGP, there’s still no real way to know what has been going on with Moto2 and Moto3 for the last few races in the Czech Republic and Austria.  I still wonder where the coverage is and why it has not been posted.  Oh well.  Yours truly still plans to continue writing about motorcycle racing as much as possible.  Stay tuned for more.

MotoGP Round 5: Austria

 Sorry folks.  Yours truly never saw any highlights for the fourth round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship at Brno Autodrom in the Czech Republic.  As much as I'd like to bring that race to you, I am afraid it may be slight to impossible to get a report done on it.  So, with that said, we move on now, to the fifth round of the championship.  We're off yodeling in the mountains of Austria at the Red Bull Ring, for the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix.  Maverick Vinales has pole with Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo alongside.  All eyes on the light gantry as we are ready to race.

Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!  We're racing, in Austria!  Jack Miller on the #43 Pramac  Racing Ducati gets away well and Maverick Vinales also gets a flyer.  Franco Morbidelli, if my eyes are correct, is moving up already.  No.  It's someone else who is making an early move.  Joan Mir is the one moving ahead, however, Miller is the man with the hole shot as we get this motorcycle race underway.  Andrea Dovizioso got a good start but Fabio Quartararo runs wide into the first turn and onto the paint on the outside of the circuit.  He's lost six, maybe seven spots, and this won't bode well for keeping his points lead in the World Championship.  

Alex Rins on the Suzuki is also moving up, going from eighth to sixth place.  Joan Mir also got a blinding start.  So, the two Spanish team mates for Team Suzuki Ecstar are in a good position at the moment.  Two of the Ducati's have gone around Maverick Vinales on the Yamaha.  Ducati are making early and bold moves as they fly down the back straight here at the Red Bull Ring for the first time of asking.  28 laps scheduled for this motorcycle race.  Pol Espargaro also gets a decent start moving up one spot from fifth to fourth, and he is pressing Maverick Vinales and he makes the pass.  It was Yamaha vs. KTM there.

Into turn four, Pol Espargaro is now third.  He's on the podium for the moment.  Poor old Johann Zarco absolutely got swamped at the start.  What on earth happened to the Frenchman aboard the #5 Reale Avintia Racing Ducati?  I wonder, too, where is his team mate on the #53 satellite bike?  That's Spaniard Tito Rabat who has been a MotoGP regular for some years now.  He is on the Hublot watches sponsored Ducati for the same team.  They make really, really expensive Swiss watches.  

Meanwhile, Joan Mir has gained a place over Maverick Vinales.  Could the Yamaha rider be dropping like a stone?  We'll have to find out.  Vinales is applying the blowtorch here, look, to Quartararo.  In the not too distant future, these two will be team mates.  Next year it should be a Vinales/Quartararo lineup for the factory Yamaha squad in 2021.  Quartararo is the meat in the sandwich.  He's the bratwurst that is about to fly out of the bun, getting squeezed between Miguel Oliveira, and Maverick Vinales.  Yikes!  Oliveira took advantage of that small space to squeeze through on both Vinales and Quartararo and said, "thanks a bunch lads, I'll see you later!  Eat my dust!"

Andrea Dovizioso meanwhile, is scrapping with Joan Mir and Mir goes through on the Italian.  Oh my!  They make contact, and fortunately stay in the saddle!  Two KTM motorcycles are in the top five in their home Grand Prix.  KTM is based right here in Austria.  Now, has Fabio Quartararo got trouble?  Or, has the sound engineer made a mistake and faded out the individual engine noise of his bike?  Is he cruising or is he racing?  We're trying to determine that right now, ladies and gentlemen.  We will keep you updated on the goings on of Fabio Quartararo.  We look at the championship points as of now, with five laps gone in the race out of 28 scheduled.

Fabio Quartararo leads the points with 59 points but is only seven markers clear of second place Maverick Vinales on 52.  Jack Miller is up six places from where he was before, third in points on 45, 14 points out of the lead, and in fourth place, Andrea Dovizioso is 15 points away from the lead with a total of 44.  Quartararo meanwhile, is way down in 22nd spot.  He's dropped like a stone as well.  He is running right behind Ducati test and reserve rider, Italian Michele Pirro on bike #51 who is actually filling in for Francesco Bagnaia who must be injured and cannot ride this weekend on his usual #63 motorcycle.

Meantime, the pressure is on at the front as Pol Espargaro moves into the race lead ahead of Jack Miller, Joan Mir, and Dovizioso.  The top three has a variety of brands represented.  KTM followed by Ducati followed by Suzuki.  On lap eight, we see Pol Espargaro turn the fastest lap of this motorcycle race run so far at a 1:23.827.  Honda have had a humbling race.  They are nowhere near where they could be.  Alex Marquez on the #73 bike is languishing along with German MotoGP veteran, Stefan Bradl, who is filling in for the injured Marc Marquez, Alex's older brother, and the multiple MotoGP World Champion, for the second consecutive race weekend as Marquez is still dealing with his injured arm.

Oh my God!  Oh my God!  A massive accident has just happened with two motorcycles cartwheeling through the air!  This is absolute carnage!  Two motorcycles have been absolutely obliterated!  This is a red flag situation, without a doubt!  Franco Morbidelli, the Italian on the #21 Petronas Yamaha SRT bike is one involved (the team mate to Fabio Quartararo).  Trying to decipher who the second bike is that cartwheeled through the air.  This is as big a crash as we've seen in MotoGP for a long time as these two motorcycles and their riders were catapulted into orbit!

Johann Zarco, the Frenchman is the other rider involved here, on the #5 Reale Avintia Ducati.  What has happened here?  This crash is like an explosion, like a bomb detonating on this motorcycle race.  This happened on the fastest part of the circuit here at the Red Bull Ring, with two bikes absolutely destroyed.  These motorcycles went from high speed, high performing racing bikes, to worthless heaps of junk in mere seconds!  Let's hope these chaps are OK.  Morbidelli's motorcycle went flying through the air causing this commentator to wince and recoil in agony.  

This is a petrifying accident.  There's no question the marshals had to bring out the red flag.  We look to the top center of the TV screen, or whatever mobile device you might be watching this on.  Look at the top center of your screen.  The two bikes have made contact.  Zarco tried to take a defensive line into the corner and fell, and then, Morbidelli's motorcycle catapulted through the air, like it had a fuse attached and was shot from a cannon!  To make matters even worse, Morbidelli's flying projectile that was once a motorcycle, flies like a terrifying weapon, a missile, right in front of the king of MotoGP, Valentino Rossi!

Valentino Rossi is a lucky chap, who had to be saying his prayers as he nearly gets annihilated by the flying motorcycle!  Dear God alive, will you look at that.  Have you ever?  No I've never!  I kept my eyes open while writing the report on this accident, but oh my Lord, if you're squeamish, look away from your screen on that replay.  You will be absolutely sickened if you don't.  Morbidelli's motorcycle shot straight through the gap between it and Maverick Vinales' bike, like a missile.  This race has been stopped for obvious reasons.  My heart rate is through the roof just watching this carnage!  Oh my God!  That's enough to give anyone the creeps and put a lump in your throat.

OK, everyone.  You may want to get some headache medicine, a glass of water, a cup of tea, something to soothe your frazzled nerves after that crash.  Let's hope that both Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli will be OK and I think they will be.  That was a bad, bad one.   Alright.  It's time for the restart.  Lights out, and away we go again.  Pol Espargaro gets the jump on the restart.  Joan Mir also gets shot from a cannon on the restart.  Jack Miller goes for the lead into turn one but he runs wide and has to regroup.

Joan Mir was electric on that restart and he's into the top three.  Miller runs wide again, look.  It's a tough corner on that uphill left hand turn at turn three.  Blimey!  This is close!  It is hard to watch that corner as we're only 15-20 minutes removed from that mammoth crash we saw earlier.  Everyone, if you took something for a headache or an upset stomach after seeing that crash, the medicine should hold.  Meanwhile, Pol Espargaro leads Jack Miller, followed by Andrea Dovizioso.  Those are the current top three spots.

Thank you tothe marshals for cleaning up the carnage from earlier.  They are heroes and without them, there'd be no motorsports at all, on two or four wheels.  We owe those chaps in either white or orange clothing at the side of the track, a major debt of gratitude for what they do.  Alex Rins has moved past Joan Mir up into fourth place.  Folks, he was down in 11th place when the red flag came out, and so he has been bish bash boshing his way up the race order.  Alex Marquez and Bradley Smith have also moved up and are completing the top ten.  Marquez is ninth and Smith is tenth.  Meanwhile, Jack Miller makes the pass and goes through to the lead of this motorcycle race.

Jack Miller makes a pass on Pol Espargaro and makes it stick.  In the background, look, a battle for seventh and eighth spot, between Brad Binder and Valentino Rossi.  The South African and the Italian motorcycling legend, truly going for it.  Further behind those two, between ninth and 12th spot, we see riders like Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro (Pol Espargaro's older brother), Cal Crutchlow, and Danilo Petrucci.  Could there be issues for Maverick Vinales?  His lap times have been all over the shop, fluctuating between 1:24, 1:25, and 1:27 brackets.  

Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo, our points leader, is 13th just behind Danilo Petrucci.  Jack Miller leads, but will the Australian rider for Pramac Ducati be able to make this gamble pay off?  Alex Rins is really pushing.  He's right behind Andrea Dovizioso and challenging the Italian factory Ducati rider for second place.  Rins of course is on the sister Ecstar Suzuki to Joan Mir.  Dovizioso is a wise man. He said the day before this race, Saturday, "I believe Alex Rins is a sure dark horse for the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix."  Dovizioso may be being proven correct on that assertion.

Dovizioso must be bang on the money, because Rins, he's just cut the fastest lap of the motorcycle race.  1:24 dead.  1:24.007!  He's flying!  Twelve laps to go now, and we've passed the halfway mark.  But the contenders are placing themselves in line to challenge Jack Miller.  He's gone for soft compound tires from Michelin on both front and rear on his motorcycle.  Miller will have to pour on the steam to keep himself ahead of Dovizioso and Rins.  The factory Suzuki as a motorcycle, is set up to manage it's tires really well and Alex Rins is an effective rider at making that happen.

But, Rins almsot wipes out!  He had the front end of the bike nearly wash away, and could have had a low side accident there, very easily.  He's a lucky bloke to stay in the saddle.  Oh dear!  Pol Espargaro has crashed out!  So, KTM will be down to three bikes out of the four they have.  It's very likely game over for Espargaro here.  Uh oh.  This could be worse for the KTM factory squad than they'd hoped!  Two KTM factory riders appears to have gone down!  It's Espargaro but it's also Miguel Oliveira on the #88 Tech3 KTM.  One of the satellite bikes has also wiped out.  So, this means that only Brad Binder and Iker Lecuona are still out there.

Pol Espargaro went wide and it looks like Oliveira went wide, and didn't see him, before... crunch!  He's down in the gravel trap as well.  Oliveira and Espargaro have indeed crashed out at turn four.  We'll have to pick the bones out of that shemozzle and see what the heck went wrong.  Andrea Dovizioso has the power on the front straight, and in bringing more power, he moves around Jack Miller for the race lead up the hill into turn one.  He moves to the lead on lap ten, going for a hat trick of victories here at the Red Bull Ring.  

Alex Rins, too, is closing in on second place and wants by Jack Miller, putting Brad Binder into fifth spot, just behind Joan Mir.  It's a race now between two Ducati's and two Suzuki's.  Oh no!  Alex Rins is down.  He's fallen off the Suzuki!  This is a low side accident as he's skittered into the gravel trap.  But is this game over for the Spaniard?  This race is turning into yet another MotoGP demolition derby.  A two wheeled demolition derby!  Unreal!  Suzuki team boss Davide Brivio cannot believe what he is seeing.  He's absolutely gutted.  He just loses the front of the motorcycle and rotates right off the bike.  It spins like a top and leaves him in the gravel along with the bike.

Dovizioso leads, and we see that Maverick Vinales has had trouble with his Yamaha as now, Jack Miller and Joan Mir are the other two podium contenders.  Maverick Vinales may have had a tech problem with his Yamaha as he languishes down in 13th spot.  He had trouble at the most recent round of the championship last weekend at Brno in the Czech Republic.  Now, once again, yours truly hopes to cover the action from Brno, but is not sure.  So stay tuned.  Meanwhile, Dovizioso leads Miller by 9/10ths of a second and Joan Mir is pressurizing Jack Miller for second spot.  Mir is looking for his first podium.  He can't afford to do anything rash or silly at this point.

Poor old Brad Binder is losing steam and losing ground to the top three.  Ducati wants to go 1-2.  Dovizioso is a second clear of his pursuers.  Should "Dovi" hold on, it will be his third win in five races in Austria, and will be the fifth successive Austrian triumph for Ducati.  They will also score a landmark, as they'll earn their 50th world championship win in MotoGP.  It's the final lap before the finish.  Checkers will wave next time by.  Mir wants to make a move but he knows the risk.  He knows he can't make his move too soon or he'll wipe out.  Miller takes a tighter line going into the corner.

Thus, he is still able to slam the door in Joan Mir's face.  I think Miller has Joan Mir covered.  The Suzuki has good cornering speed and good braking, but will that be enough to beat the Ducati?  Now, Andrea Dovizioso is in the clear.  He's going to win here in Austria.  Miller tries to run the defensive line.  Now, he thinks he's got it.  He thinks he has Mir beat.  Not on your life!  Miller runs wide!  Boom!  Mir goes by for second place as the checkered flag waves!  Andrea Dovizioso is going to win the Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix!

Dovizioso wins over Mir and Miller.  Binder is fourth coming from 17th.  Valentino Rossi fifth, followed by Takaaki Nakagami and Valkentino Rossi.  What a great race!  

#04 Andrea Dovizioso     ITA.     Ducati Team Ducati Desmosedici GP20

The next race is also at Red Bull ring, next weekend.  Excited to bring that one to you, and still hoping to cover the race at Brno in the Czech Republic, too.  This one was wild!  What will the next one have to offer?  Stay tuned here on 2 Wheelin' and we'll find out together, fans.  So long, for now.  See you next week for more MotoGP!

 

   

FIM World Superbike, Round 2: Angel Nieto Circuit, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain

The second race of the 2020 FIM World Superbike Championship, is upon us, five months after the first race, due to the global Coronavirus pandemic.  It's been a long time since we've seen the gladiators of the World Superbike Championship and their compatriots in World Supersport, and World Supersport 300, race.  We are in Jerez de la Frontera, in Spain's sherry producing region.  This weekend we have the second and third of six races in eight days.  So, there will be more World Superbike content coming.  For this race report, we shall focus on the Superbikes, only, as they come to Spain for the first of a total of four times in the next six to eight weeks or so.  Such are the scheduling changes, that all forms of motorsport, not just World Superbike, have put in place, due to the pandemic.

There are many holes in the schedule, to be determined, or to be confirmed dates.  We have seen four winners in the opening four races of the season thus far.  Could we see a fifth different winner.  We are actually set, for the highlights of the qualifying race.  Let's look at the grid.  Scott Redding has the pole position, alongside Johnny Rea and Tom Sykes.  It's Ducati, Kawasaki, and BMW on the front row of the grid.  Michael van der Mark has the Yamaha fourth quickest alongside Toprak Razgatlioglu, the Turkish rider, and Loris Baz.  This is actually the second race of the weekend being covered.  In race one, it was Scott Redding taking the checkered flag first.  He and his Ducati team at Aruba.it Racing Ducati, would dearly love to do the double.  Will his fellow Brit and team mate, Chaz Davies, the vastly experienced rider have anything to say?

What about the factory Ducati team with bike #33 for veteran Italian racer Marco Melandri?  As we look at the rest of the starting grid, we see Chaz Davies joined by Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam, who's father, Ron Haslam, known as "Rocket Ron" was a star of the 500cc Grand Prix races in the '80s and '90s.  Row four finds Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Eugene Laverty (another WSBK veteran), and Sandro Cortese, the German rider with an Italian sounding name.  This is a ten lap dash for cash, and we have cooler track temps out there than we've seen all weekend here in Jerez. 

Continuing down the starting grid, it's Federico Caricasulo, Alex Lowes, and Garrett Gerloff.  Caricasulo and Gerloff are team mates at the Yamaha Junior Team in World Superbike for 2020, two rookies in the championship.  Gerloff having moved over from MotoAmerica, and Caricasulo having moved up from the World Supersport class.  On row six, it is Javier Fores from Spain aboard the #12 Pucetti Racing Kawasaki ZX10R.  Next to hium, Alex Lowes on the sister factory Kawasaki ZX10R, and #23 Christophe Ponsson, the French rider on the lone Aprilia in the field, the RSV4 1000 for Nuova M2 Racing.

We have a glance at the final two rows of the grid through position 23.  Marco Melandri is way down aboard the second Barni Racing Team Ducati, bike #33.  Next to him is Leandro Mercado of Argentina on the #36 Motocorsa Racing Ducati, all of which are the relatively new Panigale V4 R model.  Ducati used to run V Twin engines almost exclusively. But now, they are in the game with everyone else including the best from Japan, running four cylinder, 1000cc bikes.  Sylvain Barrier of France is the last bike on row seven, on the #20, another Ducati Panigale for Brixx Performance and a single bike team.  The duo on the final row is Italian rider, #63, Lorenzo Gabellini for MIE Racing Althea Honda Team, and his team mate, Takumi Takahashi of Japan.

So, the Honda bikes, bring up the rear of the field.  This race, at ten laps, is going to be tough.  Lowes and Melandri are going to have a tough go of it.  Lights out, away we go for the Tissot Superpole race!  This will determine the starting grid for the feature.  Tissot, in case you are wondering, is the Swiss watch company that sponsors FIM World Superbike, is one of their major sponsors for the championship.  Marco Melandri lifts the front wheel of his motorcycle, as we see Jonathan Rea hit the lead already.  Scott Redding is in second.  Toprak Razgatlioglu is making a move on Michael van der Mark into turn two.

The Dutchman aboard the Pata Yamaha YZF R1, bike #60, wasn't expecting that. Three wide for second place, look, as Michael van der Mark wants by Scott Redding.  Razgatlioglu has bolted, and will he open a margin on everyone else in this short sprint that is the qualifying race?  Loris Baz is probing Michael van der Mark.  Baz sees an opportunity and wants to grab it.  Through turn five they go, down the back straightaway.  Redding makes a move on Razgatlioglu.  In race one on Saturday, we saw the same thing happen.

This is the qualifying race, the heat race, if you will, for the second points paying event of the weekend here at Jerez de la Frontera.  Eugene Laverty has fallen out of the top ten and he has seen both Leon Haslam and Garrett Gerloff go by.  Scott Redding comes through as Toprak Razgatlioglu has a mechanical issue with his bike.  His hand was in the air to signify, "boys, I've got trouble", and this could be game over for the Turkish rider on the #54 Pata World Superbike Team Yamaha, the team mate to Michael van der Mark. 

Jonathan Rea, meanwhile, he is looking for the win.  Scott Reding is closing up on Jonathan Rea, but it won't be enough.  Rea is going to whittle into Redding's points lead as he wins at Jerez!

#1 Jonathan Rea     GBR.   Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR

Scott Redding and Michael van der Mark round out the podium places.  Loris Baz, Chaz Davies, and Tom Sykes round out the top six.  Completing the top ten are Alex Lowes, Garrett Gerloff, Leon Haslam, and Alvaro Bautista.  Don't go anywhere.  Race two is on deck.  This is the feature event, for all the marbles.  Are you ready?  The riders are ready.  Riders in position.  Green flag at the back.  So, this race is going to start on time.  Red lights, on.  Red lights, out!  Away we go!

Loris Baz wants to go for it off the second row of the grid already.  Chaz Davies wants to move up, but he's boxed in.  Some argy bargy, some bumping and boring already.  Marco Melandri is pushing.  Jonathan Rea leads Scott Redding.  Chaz Davies sweeps around Loris Baz.  He has Toprak Razgatlioglu on his rear tire.  Razgatlioglu has rocketed his way from tenth spot on the grid up to fifth.  20 laps scheduled for this race, by the way.  Alex Lowes sends it, making a pass on former team mate Michael van der Mark. These two raced together at Yamaha some years ago, and Lowes of course, is now team mates to Jonathan Rea at Kawasaki.

Meanwhile, Chaz Davies is under attack from Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Alex Lowes has his hands full with Michael van der Mark, who we might as well call "The Flying Dutchman".  Razgatlioglu dives around Davies into turn 13.  Redding looks for a way past Rea into turn one and yes, he makes it stick.  Scott Redding now leads and Toprak Razgatlioglu is now in third.  He is bish bash boshing his way into a potential podium place.  He has picked up seven spots on the opening lap of this motorcycle race, alone!  Isn't that something?  He's motoring indeed.

Poor old Eugene Laverty is having a lonely race and mechanical woes for his factory BMW Motorrad BMW S1000RR.  He was nearly in the top ten before going off the road.  A terrible weekend for Laverty and the BMW Motorrad squad.  Things are not going much better for former World Champion Tom Sykes either.  He's in 13th.  BMW is not having a good showing here in the sherry region of Spain at all.  Chaz Davies makes a move around Jonathan Rea and is successful.  Scott Redding maintains his lead over Jonathan Rea as well. 

Poor old Jonatahan Rea, a former World Champion, he has Razgatlioglu and Lowes both ready to pounce, just behind him.  Loris Baz is also falling down the order like a stone.  Toprak Razgatlioglu wants to move up into third place.  He wants a podium.  Redding has bolted.  Alex Lowes wants by Jonathan Rea.  Loiwes puishes into turn six and Rea cuts back as his team mate runs deep in turn six.  Alex Lowes is also moving back, and down and out, Loris Baz has catapulted into the gravel trap.  It could be game over for Baz.  He wants the opportunity, pushes too hard, and low sides through the corner. 

Seven laps now remain in race two.  Jonatahan Rea continus his march through the field as he goes by Michael Ruben Rinaldi.  The Italian is too late on braking into the turn.  Alex Lowes wants by both of them.  He is thinking, "if those two blokes wipe each other out, then I can move ahead."  Rinaldi wants to make a move, but his energy seems to be wasted.  Tun nine is a good overtaking place here at Jerez, but the deal is Rea gets him back.  Rinaldi desperately wants to pass Rea, and he's going to try another inside move.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi has the job done, but Rea will fight back as they scream toward turn one another time with just half a dozen laps to run in this motorcycle race.

Michael van der Mark wants to make a move on Alex Lowes as well.  But that battle is secondary to the one we are watching at the moment.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi now, has cleared the defending World Champion and he wants to sprint towards that top three battle that sees Scott Redding leading, Chaz Davies in second, and Toprak Razgatlioglu in third spot.  It's the final lap of the motorcycle race.  Scott Redding can keep his points lead, with a win.  The Ducati team will be very happy.  One turn remains.  Turn 13 for the final time.  Scott Redding, in his debut season in World Superbike, has six straight podiums and two wins.  Redding does the double at Jerez de la Frontera!

#45 Scott Redding     GBR.    Aruba.it Racing - Ducati Ducati Panigale V4 R

Chaz Davies second, and Toprak Razgatlioglu gets a second podium.  Michael Ruben Rinaldi fourth.  Alex Lowes, fifth passing Jonathan Rea, who comes home in the top six.  Michael van der Mark in seventh place.  Alvaro Bautista, Marco Melandri, and Garrett Gerloff, complete the top ten.  Jonathan Rea will still hav second spot in the points. 

The next World Superbike event is next weekend.  We will be coming to you, from Portugal, and the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal, for more action in the World Superbike Championship.  Looking forward to that race.  Stay tuned for a race report.  Adios, from Spain.  We'll see you in Portugal.  Take care, everybody.