As panic buying sets in over the coronavirus, bans are placed on large gatherings and northern Italy goes into lockdown, motorcycling looks set to be one of the victims.
Despite all the doom and gloom, there is no need for riders to panic and stay at home.
After all, we wear a face mask of sorts, protective gloves and riding a bike puts us in a type of isolation.
We also usually ride out in the country where there is less chance of big group gatherings.
If you are concerned, use your credit card instead of cash when buying fuel and food and make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. And maybe pack your own toilet paper!
The first two rounds of the MotoGP in Qatar and Thailand have been abandoned and now the third round in Austin, Texas, on 3-5 April 2020 is under threat as the city moves to prevent crowds of more than 2500.
World Superbikes also cancelled their first round this weekend in Qatar and even the Isle of Man TT, from 30 May to 12 June, could be under threat.
Some of these events may still go ahead for TV only, with no on-site crowds as F1 is considering.
Meanwhile, the Daytona Bike Week festivities are going ahead in Florida as planned.
Bike production
Ducati factory
The spreading contagion in Italy — now the worst affected country outside China — also looks likely to affect production of Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and MV Agusta motorcycles and many motorcycle components.
Their factories are near Milan which is an epicentre of the virus in the Lombardi region which is in virtual shutdown.
There are also factories in the region that make automotive components.
Ducati is in Bologna which is just outside the northern contagion regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
Ducati, Moto Guzzi and Vespa have already closed their museum and factory tours.
While the affects of these shutdowns won’t be felt here for some time, we expect there could be some shortage of parts in coming months.
But that doesn’t mean you panic and start clearing the shelves of oil filters!
2016 would prove to be a key year for Nagashima under the tutorship of Aki Ajo, with eight rostrums, including a debut victory at the final round of the year in Valencia, helping him to second in the Championship and, as a result, a seat in the World Championship full-time for 2017. He signed up with the Teluru SAG Team, leaving Aki Ajo’s side for now, where he made gradual progress throughout the year, topped off by a first top ten finish at the penultimate round in Malaysia.
Reigning World Cup winner Matteo Ferrari (Trentino Gresini MotoE) will be back on track as the man everyone will be aiming to beat, with riders like Bradley Smith (One Energy Racing) and Eric Granado (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) aiming to better their 2019 P2 and P3 Cup standing positions in 2020. It will also be a chance for the MotoE™ rookies to get to grips with the Energica Ego Corsa machine, with Dominique Aegerter (Intact GP), Jordi Torres (Join Contract Pons 40), Lukas Tulovic (Tech 3 E-Racing), Tommaso Marcon (Tech 3 E-Racing), Alessandro Zaccone (Trentino Gresini MotoE) and Alejandro Medina (Openbank Aspar Team) joining the ranks.
Tetsuta Nagashima blew the competition away in the final stages of a top class Moto2 race at the QNB Grand Prix of Qatar, claiming his first Grand Prix victory in style – 10 years on from late friend Shoya Tomizawa’s first Moto2 win at the same track.
Tetsuta Nagashima
2019 Qatar GP winner Lorenzo claimed P2, battling it out with Enea Bastianini to the end as the ‘Beast’ picked up his second intermediate class rostrum in third.
It was Luca Marini who took the holeshot from second on the grid, the Italian quickest off the mark as polesitter Joe Roberts slipped back to third, Bastianini also attacking the American to make it an Italian 1-2. The number 33 didn’t take long to attack for the lead either, with the two duelling as Roberts then came under pressure for third from Jorge Martin.
The star of the mid-part of the race was about to take over at the front, however, as Marini moved for the lead and began to push to make a gap. But Roberts was up into second and the closest challenger for some time, with the group behind then descending into varying levels of chaos and genius as the moves came thick and fast.
Lorenzo Baldassarri & Enea Bastianini
Lap 6 then saw Roberts go for an overtake at Turn 1 but the American ran wide, handing the position back to Marini. By Lap 8, just a second and a half split the top eight, with Bastianini, Baldassarri, Xavi Vierge, Marco Bezzecchi and Warm Up pacesetter Nagashima setting similar lap times. However, Marini then started to stretch the field, taking just under half a second out of second place Roberts on Lap 9 and 10 and on Lap 11, the gap was up to 0.9 seconds as another personal best lap was slammed in by the SKY VR46 rider. Could anyone respond?
By Lap 12, the gap was back down to six tenths and Nagashima was starting to look a serious threat in P5 having gone over half a second quicker than Marini that lap. With eight to go the Japanese rider was up to P4 past Bastianini, sat just over a second behind race leader Marini, and the Moto2 race in Qatar was shaping up nicely as the battle entered the final seven laps…
Beta Tools Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro was starting to reel the leaders in too. Just as he did for much of 2019, the Spaniard was coming into his own on used tyres and with little over five laps remaining, a mistake from Marini allowed the leading six to bunch up and Roberts led. Bastianini then snatched the baton with five to go, and suddenly it looked like it was game over for Marini as he began to plummet.
The leading four were now Baldassarri, Bastianini, Roberts and Nagashima with four to go, and the Japanese rider was looking ominous in his mission to the front. The Ajo rider first picked off Roberts for P3 before taking control of the race at Turn 2 with three to go – and immediately starting to creep away..
Baldassarri & Bastianini
The number 45 had three tenths in his pocket as the race entered the final two laps, with the battle for the remaining podium places starting to heat up. Remy Gardner was latching onto the back of Navarro as five riders scrapped it out behind Nagashima, who – by the time he’d clocked onto the final lap – was over then a second clear.
Simply stunning latter race pace for the Japanese rider made victory suddenly seem a done deal, and Nagashima would make no mistake on the final lap to take an emotional first Grand Prix victory – 10 years since Tomizawa, who was “like a brother” to him, made history in 2010.
Tetsuta Nagashima
“It’s like I’m in a dream. Yesterday in qualifying I made a small mistake and my grid position wasn’t perfect, and from the beginning I hard to push hard, I thought about nothing else. Last year I was close to the podium but I didn’t get there, so I forgot everything else. Win or crash! Shoya was like a brother to me. When I started racing we were always together and he taught me a lot. I remember it well when he won the race here. My first time winning is unbelievable, thank you to Shoya, my family and my team. I’m very happy.”
Tetsuta Nagashima
Behind him, it was a close but clean fight to the flag. Baldassarri and Bastianini battled it out with some brutality to decide the podium, crossing the line with almost nothing to split them, as Roberts took his best Grand Prix finish in fourth after an impressive weekend – including going fastest on Friday and taking pole. Fifth went the way of Gardner after the Australian made up some impressive ground in the latter stages, ahead of Navarro, who was forced to settle for sixth.
Remy Gardner
“Qualifying could have been so much worse following my two crashes and considering how we ended the opening day. I was riding with a bit of pain in my back and ribs so to put it on the second row for the opening round was good damage limitation you could say. I didn’t make the perfect lap, but Sunday is when it counts. We had had good pace all weekend and, in the test, so I was confident for the race. We lost a lot of time in the first ten laps and I dropped all the way down to twelfth, but I never gave up and kept fighting and in the last few laps I thought we had a shot for the podium. One more lap and it could have been a trophy, but I can’t be unhappy with the work done, the team did a great job and it feels like a podium even if it’s not. Already looking forward to the next race, wherever it is and to pushing hard as ever.”
Remy Gardner
Marcel Schrötter took seventh after a solid performance on race day, with Aron Canet once again the fastest rookie and once again doing plenty to impress as he debuted in the intermediate class in P8. Xavi Vierge and Tom Lüthi completed the top ten.
Bo Bendsneyder slipped back from his second row qualifying on Sunday, but nevertheless brought home a good haul of points in P11, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi by the flag. Fabio Di Giannantonio was 13th, just beating Jake Dixon to the line by 0.016. The Brit was involved in the late race incident that put paid to Marini’s chance at points too as the two got a little close and the Italian crashed out, rider ok. Stefano Manzi therefore completed the points.
The MotoGP™ paddock mourned the tragic loss of Tomizawa later in 2010 as a rising star lost his life too soon at the San Marino GP, with Nagashima a close friend of Tomizawa’s as they rose through the Grand Prix ranks together. Up until Qatar 2020, Nagashima hadn’t tasted podium success but the stars aligned in Doha as we witnessed a masterclass from Nagashima – a ride Tomizawa would have been proud of. Immediately after taking the chequered flag, Nagashima pointed to the skies as he remembered his late friend, and the Japanese rider was emotional in parc ferme when speaking to motogp.com pitlane reporter Simon Crafar:
It was polesitter Taiyo Furusato who once again took the holeshot from the front, the Japanese rookie putting in another stunner off the line, but this time those just behind him were able to stay in slightly better touch from the off. And from that off, a lead group of five emerged as it became clear Race 2 was going to be more than a duel – with Hamada, Azman, Gun Mie and Voight all able to make it a five-man contest.
The first intermediate class victory for KTM came in the capable hands of Hiroshi Aoyama in 2006, when the Japanese star stood on the top step at the Grand Prix of Turkey after fending off Hector Barbera and Andrea Dovizioso for the win. The 50th win was tallied by Romano Fenati at Jerez in 2014, with 77 of KTM’s 100 wins coming in the lightweight class. To this date, Brad Binder is KTM’s most successful rider in Grand Prix racing with 15 wins to his name, with Miguel Oliveira and Mika Kallio boasting 12 apiece.
The first intermediate class victory for KTM came in the capable hands of Hiroshi Aoyama in 2006, when the Japanese star stood on the top step at the Grand Prix of Turkey after fending off Hector Barbera and Andrea Dovizioso for the win. The 50th win was tallied by Romano Fenati at Jerez in 2014, with 77 of KTM’s 100 wins coming in the lightweight class. To this date, Brad Binder is KTM’s most successful rider in Grand Prix racing with 15 wins to his name, with Miguel Oliveira and Mika Kallio boasting 12 apiece.
Back at the front, Marini and Roberts were now one and two, with Martin sitting in close pursuit. Lap 6 saw Roberts go for an overtake at Turn 1 but the American ran wide, handing the position back to Marini as 1.5 seconds split the top eight heading onto Lap 8, with Bastianini, Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40), Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Warm Up pacesetter Nagashima setting similar lap times. However, Marini then started to stretch the field, taking just under half a second out of second place Roberts on Lap 9 and 10 and on Lap 11, the gap was up to 0.9 seconds as another personal best lap was slammed in by the SKY VR46 rider – could anyone respond?
Five laps were left and a leading five were just starting to break clear. Arenas was still at the front, with Arbolino, Suzuki, Binder and Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) queuing up behind. The five were unable to break clear though because as they came across the line to make it four laps left, Arenas was shuffled backwards as Arbolino hit the front. Suzuki pounced seconds later though, retaking the lead at Turn 2. McPhee was starting to make his move too, diving under Binder to sit third. The Scotsman wasn’t done there, calmly swooping past Arbolino to move second moments later.
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Ducati factory
