The list of riders Pecco has joined is as follows: Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). 28 World Championship titles between them including Pecco’s 2018 Moto2™ crowning. And in addition to that, Pecco becomes the first rider since Stoner in 2008 to win three in a row – another accolade well worth shouting about.
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“Yeah, a lot. I tried everything. I moved the weight of the… I moved the engine quite a lot during the weekend. I tried everything. I made the bike longer, a lot lower. I tried everything. But this bike doesn’t like the apex. I braked like an animal all race, sincerely, I don’t know why I didn’t make any mistake,” explained Espargaro.
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MotoGP™, the world’s first motorsport Championship, is launching a new AR lens on Snapchat to give fans a new, immersive way to engage with the sport they love, while the 2022 Championship is in full swing. This new activation gives them a chance to show their creative flair, designing their own helmet.
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Joan Mir: “After undergoing several tests, the doctors have advised me to take 15 days’ rest and another evaluation after that period. Unfortunately, I will miss the Misano race, but I am confident I can return in Aragon. I want to thank Dainese and AGV for protecting me and avoiding a more serious injury after the hard crash I had on Sunday. It’s been a tough season, but I’m convinced that we’ll come back stronger to bring more good moments to my team and to all of you who support me”.
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As the dust settles on another fantastic weekend of MotoGP™ action at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, we’ve taken a look at some of the talking points from a busy and very important few days at the Red Bull Ring. Sprint races, a new layout, a new team entering MotoGP™ in 2023… Austria was by no mean quiet.
The breaking news on Saturday morning was the confirmation that Sprint races will be on the menu in 2023 at all Grands Prix. And it’s safe to say Miller was especially looking forward to trying out the new, exciting Saturday format.
“Yeah, definitely. For us as riders, myself personally, on my weekends off I go and race motorcycles. I love racing motorcycles, so another opportunity over the weekend. We have this big build-up of four days, five days here to race once. It’s been great, but I think change is good. Change is inevitable. It’s coming. The fact that the championship is working towards changing the program and willing to try a big step forward or a big step outside of what’s the regular, I take my hat off to them because it’s a gamble but I think it will be a positive gamble.
The new MotoGP™ Sprint Race format explained in detail
“Not only for us as riders, I think the exposure and the racing that’s going to come from a half-race distance, let’s say the points, win or lose, it’s not a massive gain or loss, so you can risk a little bit more. So, that alone is going to create fantastic racing. Like you said, the tire management sort of goes out the window. So, it will be soft. It will be fast. It’ll be definitely a spectacle. I look forward to being a part of it and a part of the history changing in MotoGP.”
Before his stellar race-winning performance on Sunday – as with every rider – Pecco was asked about his thoughts on the Sprint race news. Jokingly, the Italian suggested two races this year might be a good idea too to try and reel in Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) at a faster rate of knots.
“It’s something a bit strange in F1 but in WorldSBK it’s something cool. I have to try. Maybe this year we could have two races in one week, it could help us.”
The first big breaking news story of the weekend came on Friday when GASGAS announced they were entering MotoGP™ for the 2023 campaign, teaming up with Tech3 to form the GASGAS Factory Racing Team outfit. What’s more, Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) was announced as one of the riders, and Brad Binder spoke about how pleasing it was to welcome the Spaniard back to the KTM family.
“Yeah I really like Pol he’s one of my favourite people in the paddock. We had a lot of fun when he was my teammate in 2020 and it’ll be nice to have him back.”
Bagnaia revealed at the British GP that two-time MotoGP™ World Champion and MotoGP™ Legend, Casey Stoner, had been giving him some words of advice. And it looks like it’s helped as Pecco has become the first Ducati rider since Stoner in 2008 to win three races in a row. Speaking after the race on Sunday, Quartararo might give Stoner a quick ring to see if he’s offering his services to the Frenchman.
“At the end, you need to finish in front of your opponents. Clearly, I have two, Pecco and Aleix (Espargaro). Next week I will maybe call Casey. He has also one tip for me? Will be great.”
Another hot topic from the 2022 Austrian GP was the new Turn 2 chicane. Quartararo made a stunning pass on Miller there in the latter stages of the race to grab P2 off the Australian, and the Ducati star could do nothing but take his hat off to the World Championship leader.
Mark of a Champion: analysing Quartararo’s magic Miller move
“So, I was suffering quite a bit in the left-hand corners, which were my stronger point at the beginning of the race. Especially in that chicane, I wasn’t able to attack as aggressively as I would like. I was having to sort of be conservative and prepare and get the exit. Then Fabio came past me and made me look silly through there. Hats off to him.
“The chicane was fun. I think it threw in another aspect of the track. A lot of the corners were very similar. Now at least you’ve got another element there, some slow… It’s probably the fastest change of direction on the calendar. It’s got a lot of grip. You can really whack it coming out. It’s a lot of fun. I think as the race distance went on, I definitely started struggling there. I think it added another element to the track. When the tires get used, the thing sort of gets a bit squirrelly as you’re changing direction. I wouldn’t say it made it less physical. 28 laps around here or around anywhere on a MotoGP bike is always physical. Maybe not for Pecco. He’s Ice Man. But I was getting pretty tired of pulling my brake lever.”
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Now in its sixth season of existence, the MotoGP™ eSport Championship is still riding a crest of a wave after a brilliant 2021. Throughout last year, the series continued to attract new fans from around the world. After a total of 27 Online Challenges, eight onsite events and seven virtual events since its inception in 2017, the series has been shown by 16 broadcasters, has amassed 103 million video views, 467 million web impressions and 13.2 million online engagements.
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The commentary boxes were so small you had to sit sideways at right angles to the track watching the action on the television monitor. You could see into all the other commentary boxes and there were some furrowed brows and counting on fingers going on. It had been a fantastic race to commentate on that summed up the quality and excitement of the 2004 season. Valentino Rossi, Makoto Tamada, Max Biaggi, Loris Capirossi, Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden swapping podium positions and the leads, when the clouds started to role in over those Tuscan Hills. Then I started to worry. How many laps would the riders have to complete of the scheduled 23 before the race could be stopped with maximum points being awarded. If they stopped before the cut off how many laps would the new race be and would the times from both races be added together. I was lucky because my fellow commentators Gavin Emmett and Matt Roberts were on the ball. As always, they had done their homework and checked the rules, but others were not so lucky.
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The race was decided on the run into the line when Tatchakorn Buasri, the 21-year-old Thai ran wide and Piqueras stole the drive. Points leader José Rueda flashed across the line third but Buasri had exceeded track limits at that final corner and was thus demoted a place behind the 16-year-old Spaniard.
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“Mir made a quick start and was getting in the mix when he was launched into the air and landed heavily. He went directly to the medical centre where X-rays confirmed fractures and bone fragments in his right ankle. He will undergo further checks on Monday, including an MRI scan to rule out ligament damage,” said Team Suzuki Ecstar in a press release after the race.
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It’s absolutely game on in the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup after the LCR E-Team’s Eric Granado made it two wins from two races at the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich. The Brazilian’s double triumph at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg means he trails Dominque Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) by just 17.5 points with 50 on offer in the sixth and final round of the season at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Aegerter finished third in Race 2 in Austria thanks to a final-corner pass, while Miquel Pons helped the LCR E-Team to a one-two in the seven-lap contest.
Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) got the holeshot from the middle of the front row and Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) passed pole-sitter Granado for second at Turn 1. Kevin Zannoni (Ongetta SIC58 Squadracorse) lunged at both Granado and Pons at Turn 3, but Granado had the better exit and would emerge still in third place. Down at Turn 4, Aegerter very nearly crashed under brakes, but held on to his Energica Ego Corsa and also to sixth spot.
Granado overtook Ferrari at the start of Lap 3, and was quickly onto the tail of Casadei in the battle for the lead. He made his move through Turn 6 on Lap 4, but Casadei stuck with him. The man who fell – literally – two corners short of victory in Race 1 on the afternoon prior then tried to reclaim first position from Granado at the start of the seventh and final lap of Race 2, nosing ahead but unable to make the pass stick.
In the meantime, Aegerter had climbed to fourth, despite running well wide at Turn 1 on Lap 6 – showing all of his usual late-race speed. Still, Granado could take comfort from the fact that LCR team-mate Pons had himself risen to third, and was therefore soaking up precious World Cup points. Pons would have another four points of his own when he eventually completed a final-lap pass for second place on Casadei through Turn 6.
However, that was not the end of the story. Aegerter was searching for a podium result of his down and while Casadei was defensive when they arrived at Turn 9, he could not keep the Swiss rider behind him at the final corner of the race. Aegerter claimed third and a solid 16 points, with Casadei fourth and Ferrari taking the chequered flag in fifth. The latter would officially be classified ninth though, due to a three-second penalty for exceeding track limits, meaning Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing) inherited fifth in the classification.
Rounding out the top 10 were Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing), Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE™), Hector Garzo (Tech3 E-Racing), Ferrari, and Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40). All 15 riders who took the start made the finish, but Xavi Fores (Octo Pramac MotoE™) was a DNS after his bike was pushed off the starting grid just before lights went out, and Bradley Smith (WithU GRT RNF MotoE™ Team) had already been declared unfit following a crash in Race 1.
For Aegerter and Granado, there is still everything left to play for when the FIM Enel MotoE™ World Cup heads to the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini for the final round of the season. See who will take ultimate MotoE™ glory on September 2-4!
MotoE™ Race 2 Top 10:
1. Eric Granado (LCR E-Team)
2. Miquel Pons (LCR E-Team) + 0.248
3. Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE™) + 0.428
4. Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) + 0.482
5. Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing) + 2.641
6. Xavi Cardelus (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) + 2.769
7. Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE™) + 3.082
8. Hector Garzo (Tech3 E-Racing) + 3.311
9. Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE™) + 3.952
10. Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) + 4.455
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