The FIM MotoGP™ Stewards have had a busy Saturday at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, handing out sanctions to riders in both the premier class and Moto3™ for incidents in Free Practice. Attracting their wrath were Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power).
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Izan Guevara has scored one last pole position in this, the final round of his World Championship-winning Moto3™ season, at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. He set a 1:38.479 late in Q2 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo and Sergio Garcia made it Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team riders first and third on the starting grid, with Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü set to line up between them. The result is a plus for Garcia’s hopes of clinching second in the riders’ standings given his rivals for that honour, Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) and Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), were classified fifth and seventh respectively in the latter 15-minue stanza of the afternoon.
Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) was the initial Q2 pace-setter on a 1:38.875, ahead of Free Practice fast man Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) on a 1:38.927 and Guevara on a 1:38.998. A late crash in FP3 saw Sasaki go into Q1 and while he escaped it with the fastest lap of that session, he was on the floor again on his first flyer of Q2 at Turn 14, and thus back into the pits without a time to his name.
Garcia was sixth-fastest when he made an early start to his second run. The Spaniard was immediately on a fast one before he was out of the seat at Turn 8, but then clocked a 1:38.654 to go provisional pole next time around, as most of the rest rolled out for their next flyers.
With less than a minute to go before the chequered flag was unfurled, Öncü went fastest on a 1:38.525 before Guevara took over top spot by a margin of just 0.046 seconds. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) was classified fourth on a 1:38.697, and will be looking for early track position in Sunday’s race given the Long Lap Penalty which he has to serve following a crash under yellow flags in FP1. Sasaki bounced back from his spills to claim fifth on the grid with a 1:38.761 – thanks, perhaps, to some advice from a certain Fabio Quartararo – with Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) joining them on Row 2.
Row 3 of the grid is headed up by Foggia after ‘The Rocket’ went as fast as a 1:38.856, with his Leopard Racing teammate Suzuki to line up next to him and Yamanaka next to his fellow Japanese rider. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) will start his final Moto3™ race from 10th on the grid, with Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) qualifying 11th. However, both Masia and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power), the latter of whom did not get out of Q1, will have to start from pitlane and serve a Long Lap Penalty as punishment for their physical altercation in FP3.
The Moto3™ field is back on-track for their Warm Up on Sunday at 09:00 (GMT +1), then it’s the final race of 2022 at 11:00!
Moto3™ Q2 Top 10
1. Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) – 1:38.479
2. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.046
3. Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.175
4. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.218
5. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.282
6. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) + 0.318
7. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.377
8. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.396
9. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.448
10. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.470
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Third in the session went to another Ducati rider, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), from Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing), while FP3 fast man Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) took seventh. Michelin’s hard compound looks to be the choice for the race based on FP4 running while most of the field ran the medium on the rear, although some opted for the soft.
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Another session, another Red Bull KTM Ajo one-two, but that does not tell the whole story in Moto2™ at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. As was the case in FP2 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Pedro Acosta edged his World Championship-leading teammate Augusto Fernandez to P1 in FP3, by an even slimmer margin of 0.066 seconds. However, the gap between Fernandez and his title rival, Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura, has also come down, with those two now separated by five positions and 0.453 seconds on the timesheet. The key take-out, of course, is that Ogura is also into Q2 and now he can figure out how he will try and take pole position this Saturday afternoon.
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Francesco Bagnaia has earnt a precious spot in Q2 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana but it was a nervous conclusion to FP3 for the MotoGP™ World Championship leader. Fellow Ducati Lenovo Team rider Jack Miller was the fast man on a 1:29.921 but Bagnaia had been pushed back to ninth after the chequered flag came out at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Fortunately for him, that was as far as he would slip, although he was only 0.064 seconds quicker than P11. Pecco’s only remaining rival for the title, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), finished the session in P5 – after a late front-end scare.
Somewhat low track temperature seemed to catch out several riders in the opening half of the session although, ironically, it was heat being generated less than two minutes in when Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) crashed at Turn 7 and his Ducati caught fire – thankfully, the Italian was clear of the flames. That incident triggered a brief red flag period before a close call between Bagnaia and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) when both ran wide at Turn 2, then separate crashes for Raul Fernandez (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), Brad Binder, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).
RED FLAG: Bezzecchi’s GP21 explodes into ball of flames
Miller was among the first to go for a time attack when he went out with new soft Michelin slicks and rose from P3 on combined times to P1 for the weekend to date with a 1:30.095 just inside the final quarter of an hour. That was the benchmark until Ducati stablemate Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) set a 1:30.026 in the final couple of minutes before the chequered flag, but Miller quickly responded with the only 1:29 of the morning. Brad Binder moved up to third with a late 1:30.188 and Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) is fourth on combined times thanks to the 1:30.217 with which he topped FP2.
Quartararo needed a few laps to improve his pace when he went out on new Michelins midway through FP3, but eventually did enough to claim P5 with a 1:30.231 on his final run, and Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) jumped from outside of the top 10 to P6 with the chequered flag out courtesy of a 1:30.279. Bagnaia had been briefly outside the top 10 in those final minutes and Marquez’s lap pushed him back down to ninth, as the Italian struggled for pace. He could not improve on his 1:30.324 on his final lap but stayed ninth, although he did need some help to get back to the pits when he apparently ran out of fuel – and this time Zarco was on hand to provide a push.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took P7 on a 1:30.300, a boost for his hopes of third in the World Championship considering Bastianini is classified 12th on the combined timesheet. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) is eighth, one up on Bagnaia, and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is the last rider through to Q2 as it stands, taking 10th at 0.462 seconds off the pace. Bezzecchi finished 18th-quickest after another crash this morning, at Turn 6.
FP4 is due up at 13:30, then it’s the final Q1 of the year from 14:10 (GMT +1)!
MotoGP™ Combined Top 10
1. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1:29.921
2. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.105
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.267
4. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.296
5. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.310
6. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.358
7. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.379
8. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.401
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.403
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.462
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Ryusei Yamanaka is the man to beat after Moto3™ FP3 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Japanese rider clocked a 1:38.482 in the final few minutes of the Saturday morning session at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo to claim Free Practice honours, 0.103 seconds ahead of third-placed MT Helmets – MSI teammate Diogo Moreira. Splitting them on the timesheet was Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) at just 0.055 seconds off the pace, while fourth was Leopard Racing’s Dennis Foggia. ‘The Rocket’ finished ahead of Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team duo Izan Guevara in fifth and Sergio Garcia in sixth.
Leopard Racing’s Tatsuki Suzuki was quickest on Friday with a 1:39.467 and that stood as the benchmark until the new Moto3™ World Champion, Guevara, set a 1:39.318 just past the halfway point of the 40-minute FP3 outing. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) then briefly took over P1 with a 1:39.136 before Guevara was back on top ahead of the final time attacks with a 1:39.037.
Ortola had already experienced an eventful morning when he pulled off in the opening minutes with an apparent technical problem, then had a loose fairing. However, he put it all behind him when he jumped into the ascendancy with a 1:38.537 while in the slipstream of Guevara. Unfortunately for him, Yamanaka was two bikes back in what was a four-bike train and immediately went faster, but no one else was going to better them and both were safely into Q2.
Foggia claimed fourth on a 1:38.627, ahead of Guevara on a 1:38.684 and Garcia on a 1:38.720. Foggia and Guevara are, of course, the two main contenders for runner-up in the World Championship, the former trailing the latter by eight points. The other rider in that fight, Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), has some extra work ahead of himself this afternoon having crashed late in FP3 and been shuffled back to 16th. That left him one position ahead of Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and three ahead of Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power), who engaged in some theatrics at the side of the race track after contact at Turn 11 saw both go down, right at the end of the session. Suzuki, meanwhile, slipped down the order but was comfortably into Q2 in eighth position, and Öncü was classified 13th.
Can Yamanaka convert his practice pace into pole, and will his compatriot Sasaki escape Q1? Find out later on Saturday from 12:35 (GMT +1)!
Moto3™ Combined Top 10
1. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) – 1:34.948
2. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) + 0.031
3. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.180
4. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.606
5. Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.623
6. Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.675
7. Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) + 0.733
8. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.775
9. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.776
10. David Salvador (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.816
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Franco Uncini: “I’m here to announce my retirement and I have a long list of people to thank. For sure Carmelo Ezpeleta is the first, he’s our boss! And a fantastic person. Mike Trimby, and IRTA President Herve Poncharal, and the past Presidents. FIM President Jorge Viegas and his predecessors. Then, the MotoGP Safety Commission. Carlos Ezpeleta! And Loris Capirossi, who I’ve spent the last ten years with! Thank you to, not all but almost, the circuits on which I’ve worked. All the IRTA, Dorna and FIM people. I’ll stop here otherwise I’d be here for hours. I love it and I love this sport. It’s been the centre of my life forever. Thank you FIM, IRTA, Dorna and the Safety Commission, we’ve done an extraordinary job for safety. I’ve had many sleepless nights but I’m happy and satisfied with what we’ve achieved. 30 years doing this job, 20 with IRTA and 10 with FIM. I’m a grandfather to two, I have two daughters, and my wife who has been at my side since 1981 and who still can bear me! Thanks, and thanks to my daughters. I need to slow down and make room for young people. I feel Tomé can continue this excellent job, and as the President said, Tomé was also my choice. He’s the person I believe can continue this job. Thank you very much everybody.”
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Friday Free Practice is done at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana and, fittingly, there is almost nothing between the two MotoGP™ World Championship combatants at #TheDecider. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) set the pace in FP2 with a 1:30.217 during the time attacks at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, but the back end of the top 10 makes for very interesting reading in the context of the title fight. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) secured P8 for the session and the day, just one position and 0.005 seconds ahead of the man he is trying to overhaul in the Championship standings, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team).
Quartararo had set the fastest lap of FP1, a 1:31.399, but it took only minutes into FP2 before Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) bettered it with a 1:31.238 and then Quartararo himself moved the marker even further to a 1:31.149 with a new Michelin hard front slick tyre and medium rear. The opening 10 minutes of FP2 also saw a spate of crashes, first Franco Moribdelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) at Turn 5 then Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) at Turn 2, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) at Turn 1 – his second tumble of the day after going down at Turn 2 in FP1 – and Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) at Turn 5. Fortunately, rider okay in each case.
Marini was next to take over P1 when he set a 1:31.110 in the 27th minute of the session – but, on used medium tyres, he was only warming up. Still, he remained the fast man at the beginning of the final runs, by which time Bagnaia had crept up to seventh despite a couple of detours into run-off areas, and Quartararo had emerged unscathed from a close call going past Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) at Turn 13 on the half-hour mark.
Then we moved into the time attack phase of the session, and there were new soft rear Michelin tyres everywhere! Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) clocked a 1:30.608 to go P1 inside the final five minutes of proceedings, but then Marini fired in his 1:30.217. Bagnaia got as high as P2 when he set a 1:30.447 with less than two minutes to go, but would be shuffled back several positions by the time the music stopped.
Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) would claim second on a 1:30.322 and Miller made it an all-Ducati top three when he improved to a 1:30.345, ahead of Marc Marquez on a 1:30.390 and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) in fifth on a 1:30.394. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took sixth on a 1:30.422, ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) on a final-lap 1:30.424.
Quartararo got down to a 1:30.442 in his time attack and Bagnaia finished ninth on that 1:30.447, while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who had been sampling a radical new chassis spec on Friday, rounded out the top 10 on a 1:30.519 – only 0.302 seconds off the very best pace! That means that the likes of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Aprilia Racing duo Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro will certainly need to find more time if they are going to go straight into Q2, given they currently occupy 11th through 13th respectively. Cal Crutchlow (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™) sits 19th with a 1:31.345 which he set after a spill at Turn 2 at the halfway mark.
One more Free Practice session remains before the first 10 Q2 riders are locked in, and neither of the Championship contenders are safe yet. Tune in for a crucial FP3 session on Saturday from 09:55 (GMT +1)!
MotoGP™ Top 10 on Friday
1. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – 1:30.217
2. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.105
3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.128
4. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.173
5. Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.177
6. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.205
7. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.207
8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.225
9. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.230
10. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.302
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
It’s time for #TheDecider and, naturally, there was plenty of focus on the fight for the MotoGP™ World Championship between Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo. We got the inside word from the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ camp thanks to Maio Meregalli in the Last on the Brakes podcast, and heard from Quartararo about his post-season surgery plans. However, that was not all the news from the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with even on-track action in MiniGP on the Thursday before the Grand Prix field is let loose for the final round of the season.
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Izan Guevara (GASGAS Aspar Team) has already wrapped up the Moto3™ title, and that will be one of a host of achievements recognised after another thrilling season of racing. This year’s FIM MotoGP™ Awards will also be the first when the new Agostini Fan Award for best overtake of the season is handed out, and the future stars of the sport from the Red Bull Rookies Cup, FIM Junior GP, and FIM MiniGP World Series will also get their time in the spotlight. (See below for full list of awards).
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