Former world champion Tim Gajser has earned his fourth-consecutive victory at Kegums’ ninth round of the 2019 MXGP World Championship in Latvia.
In a bizarre round where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Jeffrey Herlings and Antonio Cairoli were ruled out with injury, Gajser reigned supreme in a podium that saw all three riders level on 40 points.
It was a race two triumph that ultimately handed the factory Honda pilot the victory ahead of Romain Febvre (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) and Monster Energy Wilvo Yamaha Official MXGP’s Arnaud Tonus. The top five was rounded out by Jeremy Seewer (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing) and Jeremy van Horebeek (Honda).
In the MX2 category, reigning champion Jorge Prado (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was triumphant once again, strengthening his points lead in the process.
The Spaniard defeated Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha Official MX2’s Jago Geerts and Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Thomas Kjer Olsen, followed by Ben Watson (Monster Energy Kemea Yamaha Official MX2) and Bas Vaessen (Hitachi KTM).
Australians Jed Beaton (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing) and Mitch Evans (Team Honda 114 Motorsports) were 10th and 15th overall respectively. Compatriot Caleb Grothues (SDM Yamaha), contesting the EMX250 category in the European Motocross Championship, was 15th overall.
The MXGP World Championship now heads to Teutschenthal in Germany this weekend for round 10 of the series.
It says that “half of all speeding crashes happen at just 1 to 10km/h over the limit”.
Of course most accidents happen at that speed, because most people now drive within 10km/h of the speed limit!
Herd mentality
With everyone driving within 10km/h of each other, it takes vehicles ages to pass slower traffic.
We also have a breed of arrogant motorists who think it is ok to hog the right lane because they are doing the maximum legal speed.
Consequently, our highways and major multi-lane roads have a constant herd of motorists travelling in all lanes at roughly the same, legal speed.
But has it created an even and orderly flow of traffic that delivers motorists safely to their destination?
No.
The road toll is still too high, traffic snarls are getting worse while road rage and motorist frustration levels are through the roof (if you have one!).
Riders at most danger
Brisbane traffic
While motorcyclists can now avoid some of the snarls and frustration by legally lane filtering, they are also the most vulnerable vehicles in this deadly mix.
Hemmed in by motorists who won’t move over, motorcyclists are in danger of becoming invisible in the traffic.
Clearly the continuing road safety strategy of greater adherence to strict speed limits and frequently changing speed zones is not working.
These strategies only serve to force us to gaze at our speedos instead of the road which means drivers can easily miss a motorcyclist darting through the traffic.
Lane discipline
One effective safety strategy is more lane discipline on multi-lanes roads as practised in Europe.
Why don’t police patrol for drivers illegally hogging the right lane?
Josh Brookes retained his King of Brands crown by claiming a stunning double victory at Brands Hatch at the fourth round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship, ensuring he’s in with a fighting chance of securing the Integro Triple Crown after winning the opening two of the six-race contest.
Josh Brookes celebrates victory at Brands Hatch
Brookes delivered a masterful performance in the first race of the weekend to stake his claim on the Integro Triple Crown. The race was declared wet, but with the potential of a drying track pole-sitter Scott Redding opted for an intermediate rear tyre and on lap one he dropped straight through the pack. Despite changing conditions during the race, the Donington Park triple race winner had to nurse his Be Wiser Ducati home in 22nd place.
Brookes was sitting eighth on the opening lap after a steady start off the line, but at the front Dan Linfoot was leading Tommy Bridewell before the pair changed positions on the second lap as the Oxford Racing Ducati rider emerged ahead.
Bridewell and Linfoot were inseparable as they continued to edge an advantage but then Linfoot was ready to try and make a break, passing his Ducati rival into Paddock Hill Bend on lap 15 to reclaim the lead as Brookes continued to carve his way up the order.
Dan Linfoot leads Tom Bridewell
Brookes had dispensed with the pack ahead of him and was closing down the leading pair and by lap 17 the 2015 champion had bridged a nine-second gap from the midpoint of the race to tail Bridewell before making a move at Druids.
Brookes then had Linfoot in his sights with three laps remaining and a lap later he fired the Be Wiser Ducati ahead at Clearways to hit the front of the pack for the first time and then hold the advantage to the chequered flag. The win gives Brookes the first of the six race wins in the Integro Triple Crown and the chance to bag a potential £75,000 prize.
Linfoot became the eighth different podium finisher of the 2019 season to claim the first top three finish of the season for the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha team, with Bridewell crossing the line third to move to the top of the championship standings.
Danny Buchan had been another rider to scythe his way through the pack to move up into the top five before making a move on Peter Hickman with four laps to go to claim fourth place, with the Smiths Racing BMW rider completing the top five at the chequered flag.
The Tyco BMW pairing were battling for sixth place with Keith Farmer getting the better of his teammate Christian Iddon on the final lap and Jason O’Halloran dropping to eighth after starting the race in a potential podium position. The lone McAMS Yamaha rider had been running in third until the midpoint of the race, but he was forced to hold off an attack from Andrew Irwin on the leading Honda Racing Fireblade and Glenn Irwin on the Quattro Plant – JG Speedfit Kawasaki who completed the top ten.
Race Two
2019 BSB Round Four – Brands Hatch
At the start of race two Brookes launched off the line to lead the pack into Paddock Hill Bend for the first time ahead of Redding and Linfoot with Bridewell also in close contention. The Oxford Racing Ducati rider was on a mission and he made a move on race one podium finisher Linfoot on lap four to move into third with the Be Wiser Ducatis ahead of him.
Bridewell was pushing to make a move on Redding and by lap ten he was on his back wheel, with the Donington Park triple race winner running wide into Paddock Hill Bend, giving Bridewell the opportunity he needed to take the advantage into Druids.
Bridewell was reeling in Brookes and shadowing him for the lead but it wasn’t enough for the 2015 champion to be displaced from the lead and he withstood the pressure from his championship rival to take the chequered flag first and claim the Bennetts Rewards King of Brands title.
Redding was able to return to the podium after the disappointment of race one in third place but behind there was another intense battle between Buchan and Linfoot with the FS3-Racing Kawasaki rider taking the place at half race distance and holding off the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha to the finish.
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Brands Hatch, Race 2 Results
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.238s
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +10.248s
Iddon was embroiled in a battle of the BMWs from which he emerged the victor, getting the better of Hickman and Farmer after a race-long duel with the Tyco BMW pairing split by the Smiths Racing BMW.
O’Halloran was ninth on the sole McAMS Yamaha with Glenn Irwin holding off Luke Mossey, Andrew Irwin and Xavi Forés for tenth place. It was a disappointing race for Brands Hatch local Bradley Ray who crashed out unhurt at Hawthorns.
Josh Brookes
“It’s great to get a couple of wins towards that big cash prize but I’ve got to be focused on the championship – that’s my main concern, main goal, my main focus, I’m championship orientated so that’s why I’m most pleased with today’s results.
“It’s been a tough weekend. Fortunately I’ve been able to be at the front for most of the weekend, most of the sessions, and that final race I got away to a good start, pulled a small gap for a few laps and then it snuck out to about 1.5 I got on my board and I was thinking ‘okay, this is good, I might be able to control the race and not have to risk too much and not destroy the tyres too much and just work with that’.
Josh Brookes
“And then all of a sudden my board showed Tom was second and then that I only had .3 of a gap so that plan had to be dropped, and I started going quicker and quicker.
“On our bikes it shows our best lap time we’ve done, so you each lap you can use that as a reference whether you’re going quicker than your previous best lap or slower – and I was almost exactly zeros on the dash almost every lap.
“If I did make a little mistake in the early part of the lap and lost a couple of tenths, I just tried harder and squeezed a bit more out and got it back at the end of the lap. Even doing that Tom just stayed with me the whole race, like he said our bikes are so evenly matched.
Brookes leads Redding and Linfoot
“Everything I tried to do to break away from him, he could match it with his speed. I was thinking to myself, as long I don’t make any mistakes he can’t ride faster, he can’t physically make something happen different than what we’re already doing. I did actually make once mistake, but it was a bit earlier in the race and he wasn’t able to capitalise on that.
“Fortunate to get the win and bring it home, it was really a tough race and he pushed me to the end and to get the King of Brands trophy again is great.”
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Brands Hatch, Race 2 Results
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati)
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.238s
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) +10.248s
Dan Linfoot
“I’m leaving Brands Hatch much happier, I’m a lot more relaxed knowing my bike is back to normal. Obviously, the podium in race 1 was mega! It was wet but it was a hard race, I rode well and we had good pace so that has got me smiling! Then with the second race being dry I’m just really happy that we made it to the flag and I could push every lap and not have the chatter issues I’ve had previously and throughout the whole first part of the season really. It’s nice now I know that I can build every lap and get to the flag without any technical issues. The season starts here and with a second and a fifth in the bag I’m taking away a good handful of points which was what my target was at round one. We’ve got a little bit of catching up to do now to try and challenge for a Showdown spot.”
Dan Linfoot
Peter Hickman
“It’s been a very good weekend for both myself and the team and although it was a bit of a culture shock coming back to the short circuits after the TT, I had two good races. I struggled a bit in practice initially but made a breakthrough in qualifying and went on to pick up some good points. Race one saw very changeable conditions and although it would have been nice to have got a podium, fifth place was a good result especially as I haven’t ridden the new Smiths BMW much in the wet. Seventh in the second race was ok and I have moved up from 12th to eighth in the rider standings and a lot closer to the top six so we’re slowly but surely getting close to where we want to be.”
Peter Hickman
Jason O’Halloran
“After qualifying on the front row yesterday, we were expecting a lot better than what we got today. The first race was really tricky in the wet conditions, I started quite well but I had a problem with a lack of feeling at the front end and slowly drifted back. I started the second race on row four, which was always going to be difficult. The first lap was something else, there were people left, right and centre and I ended up 15th on lap one. I got back up to ninth and then didn’t have any more pace to close down the gap, so we had to bring it home for some points. We have some work to do; we have to improve the feeling with the bike. We’ll put our heads together and try and improve our race pace. I need a better feeling in race conditions.”
Jason O’Halloran
Bennetts British Superbike Championship
Brands Hatch, Race 1 Results
Bennetts British Superbike Championship standings after Knockhill
Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) 145
Scott Redding (Be Wiser Ducati) 131
Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) 124
Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) 108
Danny Buchan (FS3-Racing Kawasaki) 94
Xavi Forés (Honda Racing) 75
Supersport 600
Alastair Seeley took victory in the opening Dickies British Supersport race at Brands Hatch, powering past title rival Jack Kennedy on the run to the line. It was the EHA Racing Yamaha of Seeley who grabbed the holeshot, but the GP2 machine of Kyle Ryde had sliced his way through as they crossed the line at the end of lap one.
Seeley, Ryde, Kennedy and Brad Jones traded places throughout the opening five laps before spots of rain saw the red flag deployed. Declared a wet race, the restart began in dry conditions and saw the quintet again battling at the front but as the rain returned it allowed Bradley Perie and Ben Wilson to both take turns leading the race.
Coming down to the final lap, Seeley led at the start but Kennedy moved through to lead on the run into Clearways. Coming onto the straight Kennedy held the lead but Seeley was able to power through to take the win by just 0.026s. On his debut ride on the GP2 machine, Mason Law took the win ahead of Jamie Perrin and Kyle Ryde.
Integro Yamaha’s Jack Kennedy was back to winning ways in the Brands Hatch Dickies British Supersport Feature race, cruising to his fifth victory of the season by 2.103s. As he did in yesterday’s Sprint race, Kyle Ryde stormed to the lead off the line on his GP2 machine to control the race for the opening laps. A fast charging Seeley took over front running on lap five, moving from third to first in one move however just one lap later saw Kennedy take over front running.
A series of fast laps from Kennedy saw him able to extend his lead, eventually climbing to two seconds by the chequered flag. Brad Jones again finished third place, eventually passing Ryde on track in the closing stages.
Kyle Ryde took his seventh British GP2 victory of the year, finishing fourth overall, just ahead of fellow GP2 rider Jamie Perrin. Sam Wilford completed the podium, seventh overall just one place behind Harry Truelove.
[/vc_column_text]
Pos
Rider
Gap
1
Alastair SEELEY
0.000
2
Jack KENNEDY
0.026
3
Brad JONES
0.629
4
Ben WILSON
1.763
5
Charlie NESBITT
1.833
6
Bradley PERIE
2.367
7
Richard KERR
4.135
8
Mason LAW
14.281
9
Jamie PERRIN
15.767
10
Harry TRUELOVE
25.559
11
Kurt WIGLEY
29.341
12
Ross TWYMAN
29.804
13
Ross PATTERSON
30.740
14
Kyle RYDE
30.763
15
Josh OWENS
32.862
16
Jorel BOERBOOM
35.651
17
Sam WILFORD
39.671
18
Jake ARCHER
39.989
19
Phil WAKEFIELD
43.045
20
Tomás DE VRIES
46.475
21
Thomas STRUDWICK
47.464
22
William WHITE
1:00.587
23
Alan NAYLOR
1:23.029
DNF
Dominic PETTIT
6 Laps
Pos
Rider
Gap
1
Jack KENNEDY
0.000
2
Alastair SEELEY
2.103
3
Brad JONES
12.223
4
Kyle RYDE
12.287
5
Jamie PERRIN
20.673
6
Harry TRUELOVE
26.188
7
Sam WILFORD
30.205
8
Charlie NESBITT
35.915
9
Ben WILSON
38.808
10
Richard KERR
38.880
11
Bradley PERIE
38.935
12
Rory SKINNER
45.364
13
Kurt WIGLEY
47.147
14
Ross PATTERSON
48.860
15
Ross TWYMAN
55.665
16
Thomas STRUDWICK
56.651
17
William WHITE
56.985
18
Phil WAKEFIELD
1:05.972
19
Jorel BOERBOOM
1:06.434
20
Jake ARCHER
1:07.254
21
Tomás DE VRIES
1:17.926
22
Louis VALLELEY
1 Lap
23
Alan NAYLOR
1 Lap
24
Dominic PETTIT
1 Lap
DNF
Mason LAW
2 Laps
DNF
Josh OWENS
6 Laps
Pos
Rider
Points
1
Alastair SEELEY
175
2
Jack KENNEDY
145
3
Brad JONES
132
4
Harry TRUELOVE
79
5
Richard KERR
68
6
Ben WILSON
67
7
Tom OLIVER
57
8
Bradley PERIE
55
9
Kurt WIGLEY
54
10
Charlie NESBITT
45
11
Rory SKINNER
43
12
Lee JOHNSTON
37
13
Ross TWYMAN
33
14
Ross PATTERSON
26
15
Tatsuya YAMAGUCHI
19
16
Eugene McMANUS
18
17
Matt WIGLEY
16
18
Ian HUTCHINSON
14
19
Phil WAKEFIELD
13
20
William WHITE
6
21
Alan NAYLOR
4
22
Ryan DIXON
3
23
Grant McINTOSH
3
24
Dominic PETTIT
2
25
Jason LYNN
1
26
Paul JORDAN
1
[/vc_column][/vc_row]
British Superstock 1000
Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson shared the victories from the opening Pirelli National Superstock 1000 race at Brands Hatch, with the Buildbase Suzuki man losing out on the double on the line in the second-half.
It was Cooper who grabbed the best leap from the line in the opening 16 lapper, and led the opening lap. FS-3 Racing’s Lee Jackson quickly came past and started to pull a gap on the chasing pack.
The Buildbase Suzuki man quickly got back into a rhythm and found a way past Jackson with ten laps to go, however Mackenzie was lurking behind in third.
After a bunch of exciting overtakes between the leading three, it would be Championship leader Cooper who took the first-half victory from Jackson and Mackenzie.
The second-half saw once again Cooper, Jackson and Mackenzie battle it out at the front. The trio swapped places all race long, but it was Jackson who nicked the second-half victory from Cooper on the line with Mackenzie third.
Bathams Racing’s Taylor Mackenzie took his first victory of 2019 in wet conditions on Sunday, storming ahead of Richard Cooper and Lee Jackson.
It was Cooper who grabbed the holeshot, and he and Taylor Mackenzie pulled a gap on the chasing pack. However, the duo were quickly caught by Lewis Rollo who posted the fastest lap of the race in the process.
Rollo crashed out with eight laps to go leaving Mackenzie and Cooper to battle it out at the front, and it would be the Bathams Racing man who crossed the line for the victory with Cooper second and Jackson third.
South Australian Levi Day scored two top-ten finishes.
A 2015 US motorcycle industry study found that the availability of demo rides not only improved customer satisfaction of dealerships but also increased motorcycle sales.
The ninth annual Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index (PSI) US Motorcycle Industry Benchmarking Study found that test rides were offered 63% of the time to mystery shoppers compared with 34% five years earlier.
It also found sales staff encouraged customers to sit on a bike 81% of the time, up from 70%.
A good dealer experience also translated to improved sales, with dealerships ranking in the top quarter selling 22% more motorcycles than dealerships in the bottom quarter.
It found Harley-Davidson, BMW and Ducati the most aggressive in offering test rides.
It is no coincidence that every Pied Piper study for the past decade or more has been led by those same three companies.
Aussie test rides
While there is no equivalent study in Australia, the results are perhaps indicative of strict global manufacturer training standards of dealer staff and attitudes to offering demo rides.
The lack of demo rides is one of the biggest complaints about dealerships we receive at MotorBikeWriter.com.
But many of these are for popular new models where demand outstrips supply and every bike that comes into the dealership is already sold.
Perhaps the most aggressive brands offering test rides in Australia are Harley-Davidson, BMW and Indian.
Harley not only offers test rides to licensed riders, but also offers a static ride to unlicensed riders with their Jump Start program.
It’s rare for any dealer to offer test rides of off-road or adventure bikes because of the risk of damage, but BMW even hosts annual GS demo ride days around the country.
And Indian throws in free fuel and accommodation on their weekend demo ride offers!
We only have our own experiences and anecdotes of readers to go on, but it seems Japanese brands are the worst at allowing test rides.
Maybe that has to do with complacency because they are the four biggest sellers.
Sales trends
But with their sales down between 6.8-17.4% in the first quarter, they need to pick up their act.
It may cost more to have demo bikes available, but the results speak for themselves.
The motorcycle industry grapples with this basic sales technique.
Some dealers just see the cost of bike depreciation, fuel and staff time to take riders on escorted demo rides, rather than looking at long-term customer goodwill.
It also requires the manufacturers or importers to back them up with demo bikes and allow them to later sell them at a discount.
Riders see buying a bike as a lottery unless they can actually throw a leg over and feel the bike.
They need to evaluate the ergonomics for their body size, hear the noises, test the power and handling, and even feel the heat from the engine.
Have you ever been denied a demo ride? What did you do? Did you go elsewhere and buy the same bike or another brand? Leave your comments below.
The push for mandatory traction control in motorcycles seems to be starting already with a VicRoads safety campaign emphasising it is a key to rider safety.
The campaign features an erroneous online quiz which suggests that traction control will “prevent you from falling off”.
VicRoads is not alone in suggesting traction control and other electronic rider aids are the key to safety.
So we wonder how long it will be before traction control becomes mandatory on motorcycles.
After all, ABS became mandatory in European and Australian cars in 2003 while electronic stability control (incorporating traction control) became mandatory six years later.
ABS becomes mandatory in November on new motorcycles over 125cc (bikes with lower engine capacities must have either combined brakes systems or ABS), so maybe traction control will follow in six years!
While the introduction of mandatory hi-tech in motorcycles has not yet been discussed, the examples of emissions controls and ABS show that motorcycles generally eventually follow suit.
In its online survey, the first question asks: “If something unexpected happens while you’re riding and you have to brake, which of the following can help prevent you from falling off?”
It provides these answer options: ABS, traction control and stability control or all three.
Their “correct” answer is all three: “ABS stops wheel lock, traction control senses traction loss and stability control monitors the way you’re riding. These technologies work together to keep you on your bike.”
They got one thing (partially) right: ABS does stop wheel lock.
As for whether traction or “stability” control are activated during braking is debatable.
To assess this part of the question, we need to know what they mean by those terms.
In cars, traction control was an early technology that simply cut engine power when the wheels started spinning.
Stability control is a lot more elaborate and involves sensors that detect pitch, roll and yaw, controlling it with a variety of measures that include throttle, brakes and even some steering input.
No motorcycle has true stability control, although some call their traction control “stability” control, even though it’s not.
So VicRoads firstly need to get their terms right. As it is, the mention of stability control is simply confusing.
Also, traction control would not activate under braking unless you are accelerating at the same time.
Key to safety?
But is traction control really the key to motorcycle safety as VicRoads and other safety “experts” suggest?
The idea of traction control is to prevent rear-wheel spin from too much power for the road surface by cutting engine power.
It helps to prevent power slides, but also wheelies and burnouts!
As a motorcycle journalist, I have experienced traction control on many different motorcycles.
On one early incarnation, it hesitated in identifying the slip and then abruptly stopped the engine power, nearly throwing me over the high side.
However, traction control has improved dramatically and many modern bikes now offer varied controls for varied conditions.
For example, some have an off-road setting that allows some rear-wheel slide before a “soft” cut to the power.
This allows the rider to use power to turn the bike by sliding the tail to a certain degree before intervention.
Traction control will also help prevent slides on wet tarmac or bitumen roads with corrugations or slippery debris.
But it is wrong to think that traction control will prevent crashes.
You can still crash with traction control.
The problem is that if you do crash on a bike with traction control, it will most likely be at higher speeds than if you had no traction control!
Having traction control on your bike may also provide a false sense of confidence that makes riders careless with throttle use.
If traction control were made mandatory, how many manufacturers would simply add a cheap system that could be more dangerous than not having any traction control?
You can guarantee that these cheap systems would be included on the cheaper, learner bikes.
* Should traction control be mandatory on motorcycles? Leave your comments below.
La mejor manera de terminar el domingo! Doble victoria, doble felicidad! 😃
The best way to end this sunday! Double victory, double happiness!
#CatalanGP
Alex Márquez
Sho Nishimura took the holeshot from pole, but Takuma Matsuyama was quick to attack back and the two headed up a five-rider fight at the front, with Thongnoppakun, Shoki Igarashi and Adenanta Putra in the mix. There was a small gap back to Tatchakorn Buasri on the chase, and eventual winner Afridza Munandar was soon challenging too.
Incredibly, at just his first visit to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya aboard a Yamaha M1, the Frenchman finished inside the top two of all seven premier class sessions. That, of course, included a second pole position and a debut podium finish, meaning the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya was nothing short of being a dream weekend for the rookie sensation.
Massimo Rivola, Aprilia Racing CEO: “This is undoubtedly a difficult time for us and Aleix’s injury is the most pressing issue right now. He is a supporting pillar of our team and we hope to see him back in the saddle as soon as possible. Even more disappointing is the fact that it was Bradley who caused the crash, who is working on developing the bike. These episodes should not occur. Andrea rode a good race, positive in the early stages and then dropping off toward the end, probably due to tyre wear. We are making significant efforts to grow our project, but at the moment, the results are not very comforting. We have an important test tomorrow for development in view of the future and this injury was the last thing we needed, but we are absolutely united in our determination to reverse the trend. It does not matter who hard and how long we need to work. We’ll get there.”
All the full-time MotoGP™ riders will be back out on track putting in the work, but there’s one exception. After a crash during Sunday’s race at Turn 10, Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) has been diagnosed with a bone edema on the left knee, with further information being published tomorrow as doctors wait for the swelling to go down. The Spaniard will sit out Monday’s test, with testing duties being left to Smith and teammate Andrea Iannone.
