The 2020 MotoGP™ World Championship title race took a decisive swing on Sunday afternoon at the Gran Premio de Europa. A ninth winner rose to the fore and it was in the form of title race leader Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) as he bagged an absolutely monumental 25-point haul to place one hand on the coveted trophy. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) crossed the line second to hand Suzuki their first 1-2 since the 1982 German GP as Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) picked up a fantastic rostrum in P3. A Lap 1 crash for Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) saw the Frenchman eventually take P14 as Mir now holds a 37 point advantage with just two races to go.
Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge made the dream start from pole position but immediately had Joe Roberts attacking him at Turn 4. The Tennor American Racing man went wide on the exit though, with the Spaniard reclaiming top spot at Turn 5. It didn’t stay that way for long, however, with Roberts storming through moments later to hold the lead at the close of lap one. Then disaster struck with the front end of Roberts’ Kalex folding from beneath him at Turn 2. The Californian was unable to join another stateside Joe in celebrating this weekend.
Then, yet another title hopeful crashed. After starting P28 and getting himself up to P16, Masia crashed out and the Spaniard limped away relatively unscathed. A situation then occurred where Arenas was back on track, a few laps down and mixing it the podium battle where Ogura and Arbolino were scrapping it out. After a lap, Arenas did drop back to behind fifth place Binder but then overtook the South African again. Arenas was getting the blue flags, meaning he needs to let the other riders through and then, unfortunately, the inevitable happened – black flag for Arenas on Lap 13 and his race was done as Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) took a long lap penalty from inside the top 10. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) then crashed unhurt at Turn 2 after contact with Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3).
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro has been handed a three-place grid penalty ahead of this afternoon’s Gran Premio de Europa. The Spaniard was adjudged to have not respected the blue flag when exiting pitlane during Q2 on Saturday and, as a result, interfered with Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Franco Morbidelli.
The most important session of the season so far? Arguably yes. MotoGP™ Warm Up provided the riders with some crucial dry track time ahead of the Gran Premio de Europa battle and it was Championship leader Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) who led the way with a 1:32.251. Second place went to Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who finishes just 0.041 off Mir’s time, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completed the top three as 0.552 covers the top 16.
Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) topped a dry Moto2™ Warm Up at the Gran Premio de Europa, the Italian beating Championship leader Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) – who crashed unhurt at Turn 14 – by 0.066 with a 1:35.944. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) was third fastest, 0.146 off his compatriot’s time.
Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia Moto3) were in the top five on Sunday morning, in a 20-minute session that was pivotal ahead of a potentially Championship-defining race. Jason Dupasquier (CarXpert PrüstelGP) suffered a mechanical issue towards the beginning of Warm Up, the Swiss rider was forced to miss the rest of the session.
“The funniest memories I have are from the first year, it was all new to me, the working method, the circuits, the protocols… I was shocked by the amount of people employed in this Championship compared to the motocross paddock where I was there.” But, to accompany her to discover the characteristics of this world, Amy has found two very special travel companions: Nick Harris and Matt Birt. “They are veterans of this Championship, especially the first year, they were happy to show me new places and to share with me the peculiarities of the countries that welcome this sport.”
Esponsorama Racing has officially confirmed that Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini will join the team in the 2021 season in the MotoGP World Championship.
Raul Romero – Esponsorama Racing
“Esponsorama Racing demonstrates once again the evolution carried out in recent years, going from being the tail of the category to fighting for front positions thanks to the technical and sporting restructuring of the team added to the arrival of Johann Zarco and the evolution of Tito Rabat in recent years. Time has shown that things well done pay off and we only have words of thanks to our partners such as Ducati, Öhlins or Brembo and all our sponsors. Having Luca Marini with us next year and the structure of the SKY VR46 is a source of pride since, to this day, it is one of the strongest structures in the championship in all categories. Next year we will make a leap in quality in which we have high expectations of continuing to show that we are a benchmark team in the MotoGP World Championship.”
The two young Italian riders will make their debut in MotoGP in 2021 with the Ducati Desmosedici GP bikes entrusted to the Andorra team.
Luigi Dall’Igna – Ducati Corse General Manager
“We are very pleased to have reached this agreement thanks to which two young Italian talents will be able to make their debut in MotoGP next year on our Desmosedici GP bikes entrusted to the Esponsorama Racing team. This year Raul Romero’s team has shown that it has reached an excellent level of professionalism. Thanks to the renewed technical support that we will provide to the Andorra team in 2021, we are sure that it will support Enea and Luca in the best possible way in their first rookie season. Both Bastianini and Marini have shown to be highly competitive in Moto2 this year, and we are sure that the time has come for them to move up to MotoGP. We will provide them with all the necessary support to accompany them on their way to the top category. With this decision, Ducati intends to continue with its strategy to enhance the young talents, that has already led Pecco Bagnaia to make his debut in MotoGP with Pramac Racing in 2019 and to reach an important goal for 2021: to wear the colours of the official Ducati team“.
Esponsorama Racing 2021
The structure will feature with two Ducati GP19s with improvements throughout the season, which will allow the two young riders to fight for the title of ¨Rookie of the year¨ in the category.
Born in Rimini in 1997, Enea Bastianini participated in his first season in Moto3 in 2014 after two victories in the Rookies Cup in 2013. In his debut year in the World Championship, Enea conquered three podiums taking his first victory the following year together with other five podium finishes and ending third in the overall standings his second season in the class.
2016 Moto3 runner-up in the Championship with six additional podiums to his credit, including one victory, the rider from Romagna raced two more seasons in this class picking up several successes.
In 2019, Enea stepped up to Moto2 taking his first podium in Brno, Czech Republic. In the current season, in his second year in the intermediate class, Enea has so far scored three wins and seven podiums and is fighting for the title: he occupies the second position in the overall standings, just 7 points behind the championship leader.
Enea Bastianini
“I am very happy to get into MotoGP with Ducati and Esponsorama Racing. Now I have to concentrate on finishing the season, since I would like to go up as World Champion although I know it will not be easy. The following season, several riders made the leap to MotoGP, we started a new adventure together with the fastest riders in the world in which I think that together with the team I will be able to achieve good result.”
Enea Bastianini
Luca Marini, born in Urbino in 1997, joined Moto2 in 2016 after having distinguished himself in Moto3 in the Italian and Spanish Championships. After two seasons of apprenticeship, Luca joined the SKY Racing Team VR46 in 2018, and took his first victory, together with four other podiums and two pole positions. The rider from Marche continued with the same team in Moto2 the following year, adding two more victories and four podiums to his tally. This year Marini has so far achieved three wins and five podiums in total and, with 155 points, occupies the third position in the Championship, just 23 points from the top of the standings.
Luca Marini
“Getting to MotoGP is the dream that every rider has had since childhood. Having this great opportunity and being able to share it with Sky Racing Team VR46, Esponsorama Racing and Ducati is even better. In these years with the team I have accumulated a lot of experience, I have grown, and I have achieved the first important results. We are in a crucial phase of the season; we will continue to work hard to reach the maximum goal before taking this big step together.“
