TSR Honda France stands atop EWC podium in Le Mans 24 Hours
Section: Competition
Endurance victory to Australia’s Hook alongside Foray and Di Meglio.
Image: Supplied.
Australian Josh Hook’s F.C.C. TSR Honda France team has taken a triumphant victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, round three of the 2020 Endurance World Championship (EWC).
As a result of the fickle weather and constantly changing track conditions, the teams were under pressure for the entire 24 hours.
It’s the second win from TSR Honda – led by Hook alongside Freddy Foray and Mike Di Meglio – in the famous French endurance event, capturing victory ahead of Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar and current points-leader Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.
The tricky track conditions deprived Suzuki Endurance Racing Team of the second place they had looked sure of claiming two hours from the finish. A crash made them lose their two-lap advantage over Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar.
Image: Supplied.
Following a crash early on in the race, pole-setters YART Yamaha pushed hard to get back into the leading pack, as Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz and Niccolo Canepa finished in fourth place, but five laps behind the winners.
The BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team was a late non-finisher, which benefited VRD Igol Pierret Experiences Yamaha as that team inherited fifth place, ahead of 3ART Best of Bike Yamaha and Broc Parkes’ Wojcik Racing Team Yamaha in P7.
Le Mans also threw the championship wide-open, since five of the six factory teams are now grouped together at the top of the provisional standings ahead of the the final round, which will play out on Saturday, 26 September, at the 12 Hours of Estoril in Portugal.
Three-time World Superbike champion and current co-owner of ASBK team DesmoSport Ducati Troy Bayliss, needs little introduction, while his son Oli, only 16, is already rising through the ranks of racing. Last weekend Oli tried the DesmoSport Ducati V4R superbike for the first time, here’s Troy and Oli Bayliss’s take from after the Pirelli Southern Downs meet at Morgan Park, Australia.
Troy & Oli Bayliss Interview
Oli, you’re only 16, but this weekend you made your debut on the V4R superbike at the Pirelli Southern Downs series. How did the weekend go?
Oli Bayliss: “It was a really good weekend. We started off doing OK times and progressing every session. In the last race of the day we got the bike sorted. I had the best feeling on the bike over the weekend and everything turned out good.”
What was it like getting on a superbike for the first time? You’ve spent almost two years on the 600. Did it take a long time to get used to the power? And how did you feel afterwards?
Oli: “Coming from the 600, the V4 is a similar aspect. You come out of the corners and, off the bottom, it doesn’t have that much power, compared to what I’ve heard from the V2. But once it gets high up in the rev range it’s so fast. So fast.”
Troy, how did you feel seeing Oli riding the superbike? What advice did you give him?
Troy Bayliss: “It was a strange one. The plan was not to have Oli on a superbike this year. But Oli’s been giving Ben Henry (DesmoSport co-founder) a hard time because he said: ‘remember you said when I win a race on the 600 I could have a ride on the bigger bike?’ But the way it’s worked out this year, with the ASBK on hold, we’re stuck in Queensland. The Pirelli Southern Downs series, which was at Morgan Park, had a round at the weekend and we thought, with the way the world is at the moment, it’s a good opportunity to let Oli have a ride on the bike. Being parents, it’s difficult to watch. I’m so comfortable with him on the 600, and he seems so in control of it. So stepping up to a bigger bike is quite stressful. It was hard to watch for a while but seeing him progress over the weekend, he looked good on the bike. He knows Morgan Park very well. The only thing is, Morgan Park is probably the most difficult track to ride a Superbike on in Australia. It’s so physical. It was really good for Oli to ride alongside Mike Jones. Mike’s so smooth and fast and he’s great to have on our team.”
What advice did Mike give you through the weekend and during the day of testing prior to the weekend?
Oli: “Pretty much, we turned up on Thursday and everything was going well. Mike gave me a few laps and we both followed each other around for a bit. When it came to qualifying Mike told me to just be smooth and not to rush anything because we’ve got the whole weekend to be here. Once we started racing there were no nerves and no pressure. We just went out there to have a bit of fun. And the whole team really helped a lot.”
We know what Troy’s career and record has been like. But what are your plans for the future? And what’s the ultimate goal?
Oli: “Just to be one of the best in the world. We don’t really know what the next few years have to come, due to coronavirus. I’d like to be doing Australia Superbike or World Supersport. Or something along those lines. To keep progressing.”
Troy, seeing Oli jump on a red bike again and the Superbike class in particular, does it bring it all back, and does it make you feel like throwing your leg over a bike again?
Troy: “Oh no, I’m so happy to be on the side lines. I really am. I’m actually in a really good head space. I’m fit and healthy. If I wanted to ride I could. One day I’ll have a ride with Oli and Mike to have a bit of fun. But it’s all about doing everything we can to make these guys as fast as they possibly can be. I love the team and working on the bikes and talking with the boys. It’s just a game. You go through the levels. And it’s trying to master the levels, that’s all it is.”
What’s it like having your dad as your coach?
Oli: “It’s really good. When I first started racing 300s, we used to ride around Morgan Park together. We did the same on the 600s for a bit. Once I got a bit faster than him , he stopped riding and I kept on improving. Definitely this year we’ll have another ride on the R6s together. He’s been dying for it. We’ll have a go and post the results.”
Troy: “I’m pretty keen to have a spin on the R6. But he’s definitely progressed a lot since the last time we rode together. At 16, he’s pretty young, but he’s nearly done the second year in the 600s and he’s really learned a lot. Especially in the last year. It was the perfect opportunity to put Oli on the bike. We have a great relationship with Ducati, and we love Motul. Motul’s been with us for a long time. It’s a great product and that’s all that goes in the bikes.”
You’ve both ridden Oli’s Cube Racing R6. Who’s faster?
Troy: ” Oli, by 1.2 seconds. That was over a year ago. We’ve progressed a bit with the bike. We’ve got the bike working really well, so I’m sure I could go quite a bit quicker than the last time I was on it. I’m sure outright speed he’ll be faster than me. We’ll soon find out next time we go to Morgan Park. Watch this space.”
You’ve both ridden the Desmo Sport Ducati V4R. Who’s faster?
Troy: “I’ve got him covered there by nearly a second. Especially at Morgan Park, because it’s a track where you have to physically attack the place. It’s that rough and hard work. And I’ve been round there a lot of times on a superbike. But for his first weekend, to be going as fast as he’s going is pretty good.”
Who’s had the biggest influence on your racing career so far?
Oli: “Dad. Or mum. Every time we go to the track, Dad and I are always chatting about how I can go faster or smoother.”
Troy: “It’s not just me either but with Ben at the workshop down at Cube Performance Centre. The whole team, the same as every team, is all about having a good relationship and making the boys faster.”
How do you like being a team owner with Ben compared to being a rider?
Troy: “Doing this in Australia is not too stressful. I wouldn’t want to be doing this worldwide. I have no interest in that at all. We’re having a great time here in the ASBK paddock. Ben and I get on well together. It’s been fun the last few years and we’re lucky to have Mike as the reigning champion. We hope to keep the winning ways going.”
How did you find the steps up between bikes?
Oli: “Going from the 300 to 600 was a bit of a change, but after a few days at Morgan Park I felt really at home on the bike, on the R6. Now coming from the R6 to the V4, it’s the same thing. After a few more days and races, I’ll really feel comfortable on that bike and push it to the extra step.”
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) reclaimed his Championship lead on Sunday after being beaten on Saturday by Scott Redding. Rea bounced back with two victories at MotorLand Aragon on Sunday and now leads the series by ten-points.
Rea won the Tissot Superpole race from Scott Redding and Michael van der Mark with Alvaro Bautista scoring fourth on the new HRC Fireblade and thus the KRT #1 started the Sunday afternoon race from pole position and, despite pressure from Scott Redding (Aruba Ducati) in the early corners, was able to pull away from the chasing group.
Rea led every lap throughout the race despite a mistake on Lap 14 which allowed Chaz Davies (Aruba Ducati) to close the gap from around two-seconds to just two-tenths. Despite Davies attempting a move into Turn 1 on Lap 15, Rea held on to take victory by over one second ahead of Davies.
Race Two start
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), who started the race from fourth, got ahead of Redding in the early stages, and claimed his first podium for Honda and Honda’s first podium since Magny-Cours in 2016; Bautista and Honda showed good pace throughout the weekend.
Bautista claimed his first podium for Honda and Honda’s first podium since Magny-Cours in 2016
Redding finished the race in fourth place after being passed by Bautista and Davies, but the British rider also had to make a move on Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) on Lap 4 to help secure that fourth place.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (GoEleven Ducati) made it three Ducati machines in the top five with fifth place as he also got by van der Mark, with the Dutchman finishing in sixth place.
Leon Haslam (Team HRC) made it two Hondas in the top seven after a titanic battle with a group of five riders. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claimed eighth place with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) in ninth and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) completed the top 10. There was just one second separating Haslam, Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Gerloff.
Bautista claimed his first podium for Honda and Honda’s first podium since Magny-Cours in 2016
Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had a strong result in 11th place, finishing less than a tenth of a second behind American rider Gerloff as part of the group of five riders fighting for seventh place.
Tom Sykes was the lead BMW rider in 12th place as the final rider in that battle; Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha) finishing around three seconds behind Sykes in 13th. Eugene Laverty (BMW) and Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) completed the points with 15th.
Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Ducati), Christophe Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing), Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea Honda) and team-mate Lorenzo Gabellini all finished the race while Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) retired from the race following a crash on Lap 4 of 18 at Turn 15; the French rider unable to re-join the race following the incident where he came off on his bike on his own. He was not the only non-finisher as Marco Melandri (Barni Racing) who retired with a technical issue and Roman Ramos (OutDO Kawasaki TPR) retired from the race on the penultimate lap.
MIE Racing and Althea Racing cooperation also came to an end after this round. From the upcoming Teruel Round, the team name will change to MIE Racing Honda Team with Takumi Takahashi as sole rider.
WorldSBK Quotes
Jonathan Rea
“In the Superpole race I made an OK start but then Loris Baz came on the inside, so I got a little bit flustered. I knew I had to keep the rhythm really fast in the beginning because it was a good opportunity. Using the softer SCX tyre for the sprint race has a lot of potential but we did not do so many laps on it in practice, and the conditions were not as hot. So, thanks to my team because Pere and all the guys gave me a really good set-up. In race two I went wide at one point and that gave Chaz the chance to attack in turn one but I wanted to attack him back straight away and set my own rhythm. I knew I could push and put my head down again. I did not expect the pace I had today in race two; I was so surprised. I knew I could be fast and the Superpole race gave me a lot of confidence. When I could really get stuck into the 1’50 laps, and keep that load going at the beginning of the race, it was easier to manage when the tyre would drop. I learned from race one yesterday.”
Jonathan Rea
Chaz Davies
“I’m very happy with the way things went this weekend. It is clear that the first place has another value but I am really satisfied with the work done by the team that put me in a position to be competitive since Friday. Unfortunately, the start was not the best and in the first laps, I had to fight with the group. Then I was able to lap with a good race pace and to fight with Jonny (Rea) until the last corner. We will get back on track with solid foundations next week end”.
Chaz Davies chasing Jonathan Rea
Scott Redding
“Unfortunately I struggled a lot since the very first laps to make the rear tyre work well. I was never able to find the grip that would allow me to push with the right rhythm. In the next two days, we will have to work to understand if it was a problem with the bike or just a tyre that didn’t work in the best way, also because Chaz went very fast. I find it hard to accept to win race one and then finish fourth in race two”.
Aragon WorldSBK
Alvaro Bautista
“I’m so happy with this podium because it’s a result of all our hard work so far. We’ve been able to take another good step forward this weekend. I was also pleased with my fourth-place result in the Superpole race, as it’s not easy over such a limited number of laps. We can say we’re on our way to achieving our target, which is to win, though there is still work to do of course. I am happy with the way we are developing the bike and we clearly have good potential. Now it’s a case of fine tuning the whole package and continuing to work step by step. I want to thank HRC and Honda and all my mechanics who have worked so hard to resolve various issues that emerged over the weekend. They all really deserve this podium. We are making clear progress, I’m gaining confidence race by race, and I’m looking forward to seeing if we can take another step forward next weekend here at the same track.”
Bautista claimed his first podium for Honda and Honda’s first podium since Magny-Cours in 2016
Leon Haslam
“It’s been a little frustrating because in testing here two weeks ago, things were going well and we were consistent in our performance. But when we started the work this weekend, we had some problems and race 1 and the sprint race were both difficult for me. Race 2 on the other hand was very positive, it was the first time I was able to really battle with other riders and fight until the final corner, beating those in my group on the last lap to close seventh. So there were many positives in the last race, and Bautista finishing on the podium is another big positive of course. When we’re both struggling it’s not good for motivation but when you see your team-mate make the podium you realise where the bike can be. Hopefully we can take what we’ve learned and take the next step next weekend.”
Alex Lowes
“I was quite happy for the Superpole race and was fourth for most of it, but just lacked a bit of speed at the end, when Alvaro Bautista and Chaz passed me. They were a bit quicker and I could not fight them off after the crash yesterday. We made a change with the front of the bike for the long race today and I did not feel comfortable. I was sort of fighting the bike. I was involved in quite a big battle, which was fun, but not in the positions that I want to be battling for. It was hard because I was not as confident in the front and it was sliding a lot so I could not be too aggressive. We put some points on the board and we have a few days now to get some good result in Aragon again next weekend. Well done to Johnny and the guys today, bouncing back from yesterday’s race. He did a fantastic job, so we know the Ninja ZX-10RR can do it, so we need to put our heads together before the next weekend to give myself a little bit more confidence with a better set-up.”
Loris Baz
“It was a difficult weekend, but we expected it. Having not done a test here before the weekend, we knew we were going to struggle but maybe not as much. It is a tricky circuit and we could see that the Yamahas had more problems here. We really struggled with engine braking as the rear grip deteriorated after 3 laps. It is frustrating especially since we started from the front row and I got the holeshot twice. The qualifying result is what we need to remember from this weekend. We mustn’t forget we worked really hard for this. I believed I could make it in the first race and then the second when I was following Jonathan for three laps. But as soon as I started to lose grip, we started to experience many problems with corner entries. We need to work on the electronics, engine brake and the ser-up of the bike. We have a few days to analyse this. We need to find a solution to get closer to the front. We will try it again next week!”
Michael van der Mark
“I think we can be quite happy with today’s performance, this morning in Warm Up we tried something a little different on the bike and it felt better compared to yesterday. In the Superpole Race I had a lot of fun, there was some good action and I felt strong. I was missing a bit of grip at the end, but I was really happy to finish on the podium for the first time at Aragón. For Race 2, we had a good bike for the long distance and from the start I was really fast and managed to get up to second place. From there, Johnny was a bit too quick to catch! As soon as my grip dropped, I struggled a lot on the exit of the corners and one-by-one people started passing me, so that’s why we finished sixth. Despite this, I think we are going in the right direction. We made some good progress and the best thing is that we have a lot of data from this weekend which we can use for the next one.”
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu
“Today, I think this has been my worst weekend this year even though we finished and collected points in every race. We tried a different set-up for rear grip after yesterday, in the Superpole Race it didn’t feel too bad, but it did not work for me during Race 2 and so this is the result. Now I will look ahead with my team for next week here at Aragón and work to find another approach to try and fight at the front.”
Tom Sykes
“It was a shame in the Superpole Race. Chaz Davies made a miscalculation in one corner which pushed me out wide and left me nowhere to go. This is a shame as Tati Mercado got injured in the aftermath which is something you never want to see. Race two was frustrating, we had certainly had the pace to get away from the guys, but we had those limitations on the straights which undid all the hard work we did in the corners catching them up.”
Eugene Laverty
“The weekend as a whole has been so tough, which I didn’t see coming. Starting down the grid made it difficult, but we just didn’t have the pace. However, finally today we found what we needed so we were able to make progress with the bike in the final race two. So that at least gives us some direction for next week in Aragón, but we have lost an entire weekend.”
Takumi Takahashi
“We would have liked to do better today but unfortunately I didn’t have the same feeling with the bike as I did yesterday despite having made no changes to it. Perhaps the conditions were a little different. Anyway, I think we’ve had a positive weekend if we take it as a whole. Not only because we were able to finish in the points zone yesterday, but also in terms of the work we have completed over the three days. So I look forward to making further improvement in the next races. I want to congratulate Alvaro and Honda for today’s very well-deserved podium. This also serves as further motivation for us to do better too.”
WorldSBK Race Two
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
J. Rea
Kawasaki
0.00
2
C. Davies
Ducati
+1.28
3
A. Bautista
Honda
+3.599
4
S. Redding
Ducati
+5.445
5
M. Rinaldi
Ducati
+6.687
6
M. Van Der Mark
Yamaha
+9.561
7
L. Haslam
Honda
+20.911
8
T. Razgatlioglu
Yamaha
+21.248
9
A. Lowes
Kawasaki
+21.399
10
G. Gerloff
Yamaha
+21.717
11
X. Fores
Kawasaki
+21.809
12
T. Sykes
BMW
+22.012
13
F. Caricasulo
Yamaha
+25.244
14
E. Laverty
BMW
+30.088
15
M. Scheib
Kawasaki
+36.546
16
S. Barrier
Ducati
+49.074
17
C. Ponsson
Aprilia
+55.511
18
T. Takahashi
Honda
+100.754
19
L. Gabellini
Honda
+135.65
Not Classified
20
R. Ramos
Kawasaki
1 Lap
21
M. Melandri
Ducati
8 Laps
22
L. Baz
Yamaha
14 Laps
#AragonWorldSBK at MotorLand Aragon – Race 2. 1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 2. Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +1.280 3. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +3.599
Superpole Race
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
J. Rea
Kawasaki
0.000
2
S. Redding
Ducati
+2.635
3
M. Van Der Mark
Yamaha
+4.041
4
A. Bautista
Honda
+5.560
5
C. Davies
Ducati
+5.976
6
A. Lowes
Kawasaki
+6.232
7
T. Razgatlioglu
Yamaha
+7.094
8
M. Rinaldi
Ducati
+7.589
9
L. Baz
Yamaha
+7.909
10
L. Haslam
Honda
+11.399
11
F. Caricasulo
Yamaha
+13.204
12
X. Fores
Kawasaki
+14.430
13
G. Gerloff
Yamaha
+16.096
14
M. Scheib
Kawasaki
+16.266
15
T. Sykes
BMW
+17.958
16
E. Laverty
BMW
+23.574
17
M. Melandri
Ducati
+24.169
18
S. Barrier
Ducati
+26.146
19
R. Ramos
Kawasaki
+26.790
20
T. Takahashi
Honda
+39.799
21
L. Gabellini
Honda
+1m08.958
Not Classified
NC
C. Ponsson
Aprilia
/
RET
L. Mercado
Ducati
/
WorldSBK Championship Standings
Pos
RIder
Points
1
Jonathan Rea
189
2
Scott Redding
179
3
Toprak Razgatlioglu
124
4
Chaz Davies
120
5
Michael Van Der Mark
110
6
Alex Lowes
102
7
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
79
8
Alvaro Bautista
77
9
Loris Baz
64
10
Leon Haslam
51
11
Tom Sykes
51
12
Garrett Gerloff
28
13
Xavi Fores
27
14
Federico Caricasulo
22
15
Marco Melandri
19
16
Eugene Laverty
18
17
Sandro Cortese
14
18
Leandro Mercado
12
19
Maximilian Scheib
11
20
Sylvain Barrier
5
21
Christophe Ponsson
4
22
Roman Ramos
3
23
Takumi Takahashi
1
WorldSSP
FIM Supersport World Championship action continued at the Prosecco DOC Aragon Round with Andrea Locatelli claiming another victory and fastest lap as his Championship blitz continued at MotorLand Aragon. Locatelli has now won his first seven races after moving across from Moto2 to WorldSSP.
Locatelli is dominating World Supersport
Locatelli had been beaten off the line by Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) but took just a handful of corners to re-gain the lead. Mahias was able to put Locatelli under pressure during the first half of the race but his pace started to drop off; Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) able to pass Mahias on Lap 7.
WorldSSP
Mahias was able to follow his fellow French rider with the pair duelling for second. Cluzel would finish the race in second place with Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) claiming a podium after a late charge through the field.
Perolari, Odendaal, Gonzalez
Mahias would finish in fourth place after being passed by Cluzel and de Rosa in the second half of the 15-lap race, the French rider finishing 4.5 seconds clear of Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in fifth place. Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) finished in sixth place, almost 10 seconds behind Locatelli.
Viñales had around an eight second gap to Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) who was involved in a titanic battle for seventh place with South African rider Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing); the pair finishing the race with a drag race to the line and being separated by just 0.010s as they crossed the line. Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) equalled his best race finish in WorldSSP with ninth place, also featured in race-long battle with Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) and Hungarian Peter Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth); Gonzalez and Sebestyen finishing in tenth and 11th but with just 0.017s separating the trio.
Cluzel, Oettl
Federico Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) finished in 12th place with Can Öncü (Turkish Racing Team) finishing in 13th. Alejandro Carranza Ruiz (EMPREADOR Racing) was the highest placed WorldSSP – Challenge rider in 14th while Hikari Okubo (Dynavolt Honda) completed the points with a 15th place finish.
Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) retired from the race following a Lap 1 crash, while Axel Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing) also crashing during the race and retiring. Lachlan Epis (MPM Routz Racing) failed to finish the race after a crash at Turn 1 in the early stages of the race; the trio the only three to not finish the race.
Andrea Locatelli – P1
“It’s fantastic and it’s incredible. Every time, we don’t make a mistake, and this is important. We are faster every time. Also, with the difficult conditions today with a lot of wind, we are stronger. We will work a little bit for next weekend because we are staying here for another weekend.”
Locatelli is dominating World Supersport
Jules Cluzel – P2
“I am happy again because the fight was hard. There are a lot of fast guys in this race fighting for second position. I am happy to finish second. To be honest, in some places, I was struggling with the grip a little bit and they were faster than me. The Kawasaki at the beginning was so fast, especially in acceleration and some turns, they were just pulling away. After a few laps, I managed to stay and come back a little bit on Mahias. I passed him and after that, it was another story because I was alone, and I was giving the pace to the riders behind me and they were pushing me hard. To finish second, another second place, but it’s great to take 20 points and be in front of these guys.”
Raffaele de Rosa – P3
“This morning, in warm up, my feeling was very good. I thought it was possible to have a good race. But, as always, my first and second laps were not very quick. After three laps, I check my lap time and see it is very good. I concentrated on overtaking the group in front to claim the podium. I am very happy, especially for my team.”
WorldSSP Race Two
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
A. Locatelli
Yamaha
0.00
2
J. Cluzel
Yamaha
+2.19
3
R. De Rosa
MV Agusta
+2.479
4
L. Mahias
Kawasaki
+2.925
5
P. Oettl
Kawasaki
+7.393
6
I. Vinales
Yamaha
+9.981
7
C. Perolari
Yamaha
+17.81
8
S. Odendaal
Yamaha
+17.82
9
D. Webb
Yamaha
+19.156
10
M. Gonzalez
Kawasaki
+19.167
11
P. Sebestyen
Yamaha
+19.173
12
F. Fuligni
MV Agusta
+19.513
13
C. Oncu
Kawasaki
+21.739
14
A. Ruiz Carranza
Yamaha
+30.69
15
H. Okubo
Honda
+33.792
16
S. Valtulini
Kawasaki
+40.752
17
L. Cresson
Yamaha
+43.033
18
P. Hobelsberger
Honda
+47.477
19
A. Verdoia
Yamaha
+49.918
20
M. Herrera
Yamaha
+49.95
21
G. Hendra Pratama
Yamaha
+50.089
22
L. Montella
Yamaha
1m04.794
Not Classified
RET
83 L. Epis
Yamaha
13 Laps
RET
A. Bassani
Yamaha
/
RET
H. Soomer
Yamaha
/
#AragonWorldSBK MotorLand Aragon – Race 2 1. Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 2. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +2.190 3. Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +2.479
WorldSSP Championship Standings
Pos
Rider
Points
1
Andrea Locatelli
175
2
Jules Cluzel
130
3
Lucas Mahias
86
4
Philipp Oettl
76
5
Corentin Perolari
72
6
Raffaele De Rosa
71
7
Steven Odendaal
67
8
Isaac Vinales
63
9
Manuel Gonzalez
53
10
Hannes Soomer
39
11
Danny Webb
34
12
Can Alexander Oncu
30
13
Peter Sebestyen
18
14
Alejandro Ruiz Carranza
15
15
Federico Fuligni
13
16
Miquel Pons
9
17
Patrick Hobelsberger
6
18
Loris Cresson
6
19
Andy Verdoia
4
20
Kevin Manfredi
3
21
Axel Bassani
3
22
Maria Herrera
2
23
Jaimie Van Sikkelerus
2
24
Hikari Okubo
1
25
Galang Hendra Pratama
1
26
Luigi Montella
1
WorldSSP300
WorldSSP300
A weekend of action in FIM Supersport World Championship finished with a sensational overtake by Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) meant he claimed his second win at MotorLand Aragon in as many days, with the polesitter leading for most of the race but a sweeping move around the final two corners to take race victory and the Championship lead; with just eight points separating the top four riders.
WorldSSP300
Buis had started from pole position and looked to try to break away to repeat yesterday’s dominant victory, but Buis was kept in sight by his rivals. On the penultimate lap, Buis found himself without the lead of the race and took a normal racing line into Turn 1, allowing him to keep maximum speed through the corner without the benefit of the slipstream. It paid dividends for Buis as he was able to take the lead again before team-mate Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki) passed him on the last lap.
WorldSSP300
Deroue had the lead going into the long back straight and Buis used the slipstream effect to keep himself in contention before sweeping around the outside of Turns 17 and 18 and launching himself off the final corner to claim a sensational victory following the stunning overtake. Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos) claimed his first podium of 2020 with second place, holding off Deroue who finished third.
Buis, Deroue
Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) finished in fourth place while featuring in the pack for the lead with Meikon Kawakami (Team Brasil AD 78) finishing in fifth; the Brazilian able to keep in contention after starting from the front row. 2018 Champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) finished in sixth place; the top six riders separated by less than a second.
Brianti, Kawakami
Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project) finished in seventh place, 1.3 seconds off Buis to show how close WorldSSP300 is in 2020. Ton Kawakami (Yamaha MS Racing), who also started from the front row, finished in eighth place ahead of the recovering Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki); Dutchman Meuffels starting at the back of the grid following a technical infringement on Saturday. Victor Rodriguez Nunez (2R Racing) completed the top ten, finishing just 0.001s ahead of Hugo de Cancellis (Team Trasimeno).
Buis, Deroue
Glenn van Straalen (EAB Ten Kate Racing) finished in 12th place with Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project), Filippo Rovelli (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) and Ukrainian Nick Kalinin (Battley-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) completed the points. There was just under a second separating Meuffels in ninth and Rovelli in 14th place.
Deroue
Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) was the first retirement of the race after a crash on the opening lap of the race while Johan Gimbert (GP Project) also retired in the early stages of the race alongside Oscar Nunez Roldan (Scuderia Maranga Racing), Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) and Adrian Huertas (ProGP Racing). Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) and Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSSP300) suffered a crash which forced them both to retire.
Tom Bramich missed out on making the race after missing the cut in the Last Chance Race, despite finishing that race only 1.3-seconds behind the race winner, P9 was not enough to qualify for the main races.
Jeffrey Buis – P1
“At the beginning of the race I thought I could make a gap, but my pitboard says 0.0. I thought it was going to be a big group. The last lap was a little bit crazy!”
Thomas Brianti – P2
“I’m very happy with my first podium in WorldSSP300. Thank you to all my team, my sponsors, my family thanks to everyone.”
Scott Deroue – P3
“I had a good start and the first laps were good. I was chasing my teammate Jeffrey and he had really good pace. He’s so fast here. I was really pushing to stay with him. I thought that after some laps we may have had a gap, because Jeffrey yesterday had a gap, but when I looked behind there was a big group. They overtook me, I was back to fifth, so I had to go to the back of Jeffrey again. It was really hard, but it worked, and I’m happy with third.”
WorldSSP300 Race Two
Pos
Rider
Bike
Class
Gap
1
J. Buis
Kawasaki
A
0.000
2
T. Brianti
Kawasaki
B
+0.146
3
S. Deroue
Kawasaki
B
+0.214
4
U. Orradre
Yamaha
A
+0.592
5
M. Kawakami
Yamaha
B
+0.632
6
A. Carrasco
Kawasaki
B
+0.906
7
B. Ieraci
Kawasaki
A
+1.307
8
T. Kawakami
Yamaha
B
+2.154
9
K. Meuffels
Kawasaki
A
+12.149
10
V. Rodriguez Nunez
Kawasaki
A
+12.49
11
H. De Cancellis
Yamaha
B
+12.491
12
G. Van Straalen
Yamaha
A
+12.531
13
K. Sabatucci
Kawasaki
B
+13.015
14
F. Rovelli
Kawasaki
A
+13.054
15
N. Kalinin
Kawasaki
A
+16.93
16
A. Kroh
Yamaha
A
+19.49
17
K. Aloisi
Yamaha
A
+19.512
18
O. Konig
Kawasaki
B
+20.027
19
E. De La Vega
Yamaha
B
+20.335
20
A. Carrion
Kawasaki
A
+20.365
21
A. Coppola
Kawasaki
B
+20.381
22
T. Bercot
Yamaha
B
+20.382
23
M. Gennai
Yamaha
A
+20.427
24
A. Diaz
Yamaha
A
+23.083
25
G. Mastroluca
Kawasaki
B
+27.184
26
M. Perez
Kawasaki
A
+33.565
26
I. Iglesias Bravo
Kawasaki
B
+115.041
Not Classified
RET
S. Markarian
Yamaha
B
1 Lap
RET
B. Sofuoglu
Yamaha
B
5 Laps
RET
T. Booth-Amos
Kawasaki
B
5 Laps
RET
A. Huertas
Yamaha
B
5 Laps
RET
T. Edwards
Kawasaki
B
7 Laps
RET
O. Nunez Roldan
Kawasaki
A
7 Laps
RET
J. Gimbert
Kawasaki
A
8 Laps
RET
Y. Okaya
Kawasaki
B
8 Laps
#AragonWorldSBK WorldSSP300 at MotorLand Aragon – Race 2 1. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) 2. Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) +0.146 3. Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) +0.214
The Japanese-backed F.C.C. TSR Honda France team have clinched victory at Le Mans, ahead of Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar and Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, with SERT continuing to lead the championship standings with a 40-point lead.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France top the 24 Hours of Le Mans from SRC KAWASAKI France and SERT
Three different constructors and three different tyre manufacturers stood on the 2020 24 Heures Motos podium. Bridgestone-shod F.C.C. TSR Honda France notched up their second win at Le Mans with riders Josh Hook, Freddy Foray and Mike di Meglio.
The 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans kicks off
At the end of the first eight hours of the 43rd edition of the 24 Heures Motos, F.C.C. TSR Honda France were still holding on to first place and scored the 10 bonus points awarded after the first third of the race. The team spent the whole night at the front of the pack, maintaining the lead over their rivals, to collect a further 10-point bonus at the end of the 16th hour. During the night, Di Meglio even set the race lap record with 1’36.985. The trio of riders did not make any mistakes during this picture-perfect race and eventually crossed the line taking the chequered flag to win the 24-hour race.
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
Making their first outing on the track using Michelin tyres, Webike SRC Kawasaki France Trickstar defended their second place to the last thanks to Jérémy Guarnoni, Erwan Nigon and David Checa. They finished one lap ahead of Dunlop-shod Suzuki Endurance Racing Team (Etienne Masson, Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon), who held second on hour four, before settling into third overnight.
Unfortunately, two hours from the finish, Black was involved in a collision with a lapped rider and needed to come into the pits for a quick repair and after five minutes, the team – headed by Damien Saulnier – was back on track in third position; a position they held until the flag.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team
Following a crash early on in the race, YART Yamaha pushed hard to get back into the leading pack. Throughout the night, YART were the quickest team on track, taking advantage of the grip provided by the Bridgestone slicks in the cooler, dry conditions. Chasing down fourth position, Hanika powered through a wet Sunday morning before Canpea took over as the track dried out, closing the gap to BMW in fourth, catching and passing them with just over three hours to go.
YART’s podium chances were reignited with two hours remaining after a crash for the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team, who were running second at the time. Despite the best efforts of the Czech rider, he couldn’t match the pace of the repaired Suzuki, who strapped on the dry tyres while Hanika was still on wets. YART Yamaha turned their attention to bringing the bike home in fourth, which they were able to successfully do. YART’s Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz and Niccolò Canepa finished in fourth place, five laps behind the winners.
YART Yamaha
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team, solidly anchored in fifth place, lost their position after Ilya Mykhalchyk crashed at the tail end of the race. The factory BMW team were unable to cross the finish line and therefore not classified. The late-stage drama enabled F.C.C. TSR Honda France to shoot up to second place in the provisional championship standings.
BMW Motorrad World Endurance Team
It also benefited VRD Igol Pierret Experiences, who inherited fifth place, ahead of 3ART Best of Bike and Polish team Wójcik Racing Team, which included Australian Broc Parkes alongside Gino Rea and Axel Maurin – who became winners of the EWC Dunlop Independent Trophy.
Suzuki Endurance Racing Team now leads the standings from F.C.C. TSR Honda France, with Yamalube Yamaha EWC Official Team by YART third overall.
As a result of the fickle weather and constantly changing track conditions, the teams were under pressure for the entire 24 hours of this year’s race. Stray showers in the final stages of the race forced the teams into some chancy tyre strategy.
24 Hours of Le Mans 2020
The race also threw the FIM Endurance Championship open. Five of the six factory teams are grouped together at the top of the provisional standings with less than a month to go for the final, which will play out on Saturday 26 September at the 12 Hours of Estoril in Portugal.
Ducati is missing from that group, despite some great performances by Team ERC Endurance all weekend long. The German team did their utmost to stay within striking reach of the leading pack at Le Mans. But they ran into a number of problems, running out of fuel, crashing more than once and experiencing technical issues, ultimately withdrawing at the end of the night with an electrical problem.
A BMW team won for the first time this season by dint of running a flawless race in the Superstock class with riders Stefan Kerschbaumer, Lucy Glöckner and Toni Finsterbusch. GERT56 by GS Yuasa’s win ahead of No Limits Motor Team and Moto Ain also throws open the FIM Superstock World Cup. Moto Ain, who finished on the podium despite multiple crashes, still top the provisional standings, but the points gaps are narrower on the eve of the final at Estoril.
GERT56 by GS Yuasa’s win ahead of No Limits Motor Team and Moto Ain in the Superstock
Two other teams in this category lost their chance at the overall win. BMRT 3D Maxxess Nevers and Wójcik Racing Team withdrew after several crashes.
The only Aprilia-mounted team, local squad and 24 Heures Motos regular Aprilia Le Mans 2 Roues, were given the Anthony Delhalle EWC Spirit Trophy. After Nelson Major crashed, Eddy Dupuy and Marco Boué pushed on throughout the night as a two-man team to keep Aprilia in the race. The Aprilia #15 crossed the finish line in 27th place with Nelson Major making a comeback to take the pressure off his teammates. Their combative spirit won them the trophy launched in memory of Anthony Delhalle.
Josh Hook – F.C.C. TSR Honda France – P1
“It was an unbelievable race! We headed in this weekend with the new bike, the team had only few months to prepare it and we arrived here and got the job done. The new Honda Fireblade SP is amazing, straight out of the box it’s already competitive and surprised us all, riders and team, because we went faster on that bike than on any other bike directly. We kept on improving the bike and we arrived in Le Mans with a bike that was able to win the race, and we knew that from the start. A massive thank you to the team and our partners that worked so hard to get this new bike up and running. They deserve this victory and I’m happy that Freddy, Mike and myself were able to do it!”
F.C.C. TSR Honda France
Freddy Foray – F.C.C. TSR Honda France
“When you look back, you realise that the Fireblade made its first steps and won the race today. I just want to say a big thank you to this team for achieving an incredible performance because at the start of the week we didn’t know what to expect from a bike that started from scratch. Sharing this with the team and my teammates is fantastic too. I would like to congratulate Mike for riding really well and also Josh who was injured and made it through to the end. This is the second win we’ve shared here with the team and it’s great. A few weeks ago we didn’t even know if it would be possible to race because of the sanitary situation and today we are in Le Mans and we won the race, it’s just magic!”
Mike Di Meglio – F.C.C. TSR Honda France
“It was a crazy race! Right from the start I thought that the race pace would be much faster, and as we were starting from a new machine I was ready to accept to let my rivals go. I made a good start and I was second behind Gregg Black, who I quickly overtook at the end of the first lap, and then I started to ride with my own pace. I was quite surprised to see that I was able to build up a gap so I calmed things down a bit during the first stint. When a few competitors started to make mistakes with the tricky conditions, we chose to stay focused on our pace. Then during the night, I started to understand how the bike worked and to have fun with it, and I set quite good lap times. The team did a really fantastic job on the new Fireblade SP, we trained as much as we could during the whole Covid period and we won in the end, that’s great.”
Damien Saulnier (Team Manager) – Suzuki Endurance Racing Team – P3
“For sure, we are always aiming for victory but after this very complicated race, with changing weather conditions and many twists and turns, I’m really satisfied with this third place, especially since it’s a great deal for us in the championship. We are still leading the championship but it’s not over yet. There is still one race left and in Endurance you never know what can happen until you cross the finish line! Once again, I would like to thank all the technical staff and the riders for the great work they did. I am very proud of them. I would also like to thank the ACO and Eurosport Events for the organisation of this event in a complex sanitary context. And last but not least, a big thank you to our sponsors for their strong support despite the difficult year that we have all experienced.”
Karel Hanika – YART Yamaha EWC Official Team – P4
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow. We were, of course, aiming to be higher in the standings. I’m very sorry for the crash in my first stint. I felt good on the bike, and when the rain came, I didn’t feel like I was pushing, but when I arrived at the corner, there was more water than I expected and slipped off breaking the handlebar. We lost a lot of time, but from there we did our best, each rider was strong and the team did a great job. We were the fastest on the track, we could do 1:37s, but in the end, we did well to come back to P4 – not the podium we were hoping four but got good points. We are still able to fight for the championship in Estoril, but it’s tough to go to Portugal with no trophy here in Le Mans. I want to thank the team for standing by me, it’s my first crash in an Endurance race, but we all stuck together and did our best to recover. Bridgestone supported us a lot, Yamaha has made a great bike, so I thank everyone in our team, and we can bounce back stronger in Estoril.”
Broc Parkes – Wójcik Racing Team – P7
“We got it! Team 77 after 793 laps finish the legendary 24 Heures Motos race in a great seventh place! We also won the Dunlop Trophy. Unfortunately, after 14 hours of the competition due to the failure, the Polish National Team fell off 🇵🇱 777, but the boys also showed an amazing class. Thank you! See you in four weeks in Estoril at the FIM EWC final.”
Rea back on the top step at MotorLand Aragon WorldSBK
Section: CompetitionPost: CycleOnline
Locatelli stays unbeaten in Supersport while Australians Lachy Epis (Supersport) and Tom Edwards (World SSPT300) have no luck.
Image: Supplied.
Jonathon Rea and the Kawasaki Racing Team have regained the Motul Superbike World Championship lead after victory in a gritty performance in race two at MotorLand Aragon.
Rea started Sunday proceedings in the best way possible by once again winning the ten lap Tissot Superpole Race, giving him pole position for the final race. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was placed under investigation after an incident at the corkscrew saw him collect Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing), the impact forcing the Argentinian rider to withdraw from race two.
Rea took command of the 18 lap race two right from the lights, taking the holeshot but bringing Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) with him. The challenge from Redding was short lived, however, as he drifted back to fourth citing grip issues.
Out front Rea had pulled almost two seconds clear and it was at this stage the second Aruba.it Ducati of Chaz Davies was making a move. Davies claimed Michael Van Der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) and then Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC). A mistake on lap 14 from Rea slashed his lead and Davies was able to briefly run at the front. The error seemed to motivate Rea even more, cutting a line back past Davies and pulling clear once again. Davies attempted to keep up the pressure, but Rea was riding for the race win and pulled over a second gap by the chequered flag. Davies finished just behind him with Bautista in third to claim Honda’s first podium since Magny-Cours in 2016.
Redding clung onto fourth with Michael Rubin-Rinaldi (Team GoEleven in fifth. Van Der Mark took sixth while the other HRC Honda of Leon Haslam was seventh. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) claimed eighth place with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in ninth and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) completing the top 10.
Rea now leads the championship by 10 points with the next round at the same Aragon MotorLand circuit next weekend.
Image: Supplied.
In World Supersport Andrea Locatelli extended his phenomenal unbeaten record, having won every race of the year so far – seven wins from seven starts. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) briefly led at the start, but Locatelli soon took control. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) took second place ahead of a strong finishing Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) while Mahias took fourth. Locatelli is now clear by 45 points to Cluzel. Australian Lachy Epis had another difficult race, forced out after two laps.
Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki Motoport) took out race two and the double at Aragon in the Supersport 300 class, but it took an improbable wide line through the final corners to secure victory. Teammate Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki Motoport) held the lead on the back straight, only to lose out to both Buis and Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300), who claimed his first podium of 2020 with second place, with Deroue finishing third. Buis now leads the championship by two points from 2018 champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300). Australian Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGo Team) endured a tough weekend after crashing out.
In the Superpole race I made an OK start but then Loris Baz came on the inside, so I got a little bit flustered. I knew I had to keep the rhythm really fast in the beginning because it was a good opportunity. Using the softer SCX tyre for the sprint race has a lot of potential but we did not do so many laps on it in practice, and the conditions were not as hot. So, thanks to my team because Pere and all the guys gave me a really good set-up. In race two I went wide at one point and that gave Chaz the chance to attack in turn one but I wanted to attack him back straight away and set my own rhythm. I knew I could push and put my head down again. I did not expect the pace I had today in race two; I was so surprised. I knew I could be fast and the Superpole race gave me a lot of confidence. When I could really get stuck into the 1’50 laps, and keep that load going at the beginning of the race, it was easier to manage when the tyre would drop. I learned from race one yesterday. http://jonathan-rea.com/news/rea-scores-two-strong-wins
Jonathan Rea lifted both WorldSBK winners’ trophies at Motorland Aragon today to retake the championship lead and continue along his stro Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
For the second day in a row, FIM CEV Repsol took to the Jerez circuit for a new race day. The action rolled on as Round 4 got underway at the historic venue and in the Moto3™ Junior World Championship, Izan Guevara (Openbank Aspar Team) and Jose Julian Garcia (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) split the wins between them with both riders taking their first career victory in the class! Yari Montella (Team Ciatti – Speed Up) once again showed why he is the man to beat in the European Moto2™ Championship as he added another 25 points to his perfect tally in 2020. His 6 wins out of 6 races is a feat unmatched in the entire history of European Moto2™. Finally, in the Hawkers European Talent Cup, Zonta Van Den Goorbergh (Team Superb) would take his maiden HETC victory, after falling short of the win due to track limits at Round 3 yesterday.
The motorsports mecca of the greater Indianapolis area welcomed the third round of the 2020 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship, sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing, from Crawfordsville’s Ironman Raceway. The Guaranteed Rate Ironman National featured partly cloudy skies and moderate temperatures, resulting in the most competitive afternoon of the championship thus far.
After a thrilling battle in the 450 Class reigning three-time champion Eli Tomac rebounded from the worst outing of his career one week ago to take his first overall victory of the season for Monster Energy Kawasaki.
In the 250 Class, GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin made it back-to-back wins to tighten up the early season title fight.
Ironman AMA Pro Motocross
Up next the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will celebrate Labor Day weekend with its first-ever doubleheader from Michigan’s legendary RedBud MX, which will host the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2020 season. The Circle K RedBud I National will begin the holiday festivities on Friday, September 4. The second half of the doubleheader will take place on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, for the Circle K RedBud II National.
450
The opening 450 Class moto saw a pair of familiar rivals out front early as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Marvin Musquin secured the MotoSport.com Holeshot just ahead of Tomac’s Kawasaki, with point leader Zach Osborne in third aboard his Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing machine.
450 underway
The top three asserted themselves at the front of the pack, while the rookies of Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo and Team Honda HRC’s Chase Sexton gave pursuit to build a close fight amongst the top five. This group continued to trade momentum through the middle portion of the moto and at one point were collectively separated by just a handful of seconds. As the race wore on, the running order began to spread out, with Musquin and Tomac pulling away. Behind them, Osborne made a costly misjudgement trying to pass a lapped rider, resulting in contact that forced the point leader off his bike. That allowed both Cianciarulo and Sexton to get by, while Osborne continued in fifth. He then almost crashed again a short time later, which caused him to lose fifth to Rocky Mountain ATV/MC-KTM-WPS rider Blake Baggett.
Adam Cianciarulo
Musquin withstood one final push from Tomac to capture his first moto win since suffering a knee injury at this same track one year ago, taking the checkered flag by 2.2 seconds over the champ. Cianciarulo finished in third, just ahead of Sexton, while Baggett rounded out the top five. Osborne lost another position late to finish a season-worst seventh.
When the gate dropped on the second and deciding moto it was Osborne who prevailed to take the MotoSport.com Holeshot ahead of Cianciarulo, while Tomac and Musquin gave chase right behind them. Musquin and Tomac battled for third briefly, but Tomac got the upper hand to secure the position. With a clear track Osborne looked to pull away, but Cianciarulo responded to the torrid pace of the opening laps.
With Tomac closing in from third Cianciarulo put the pressure on Osborne for the lead and successfully made the pass stick, leaving Osborne to fight with the reigning champion. Meanwhile, Musquin lost additional ground after getting passed by Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia for fourth.
Zach Osborne
The top four maintained their positions throughout the middle of the moto, but with 10 minutes remaining this group had closed in on one another and were separated by just a couple seconds. As they encountered lapped traffic Osborne was slowed, which allowed both Tomac and Barcia to get around and drop the point leader off the podium. The lead trio still sat within less than two seconds of one another and Tomac went on the attack, successfully taking the lead away from his teammate. Barcia followed through into second, and then Osborne dropped Cianciarulo off the podium by moving up to third.
The closing stages of the moto turned into a compelling head-to-head battle between Tomac and Barcia, and while Barcia appeared to be faster in some areas of the track, Tomac excelled in different areas as well to keep the Yamaha at bay. In the end, Tomac charged to the finish line to take his first moto win of the season by 1.1 seconds over Barcia, while Osborne finished in a distant third.
Eli Tomac
By virtue of his 2-1 moto results Tomac was able to secure his 45th-career victory just one week after finishing a career-worst 16th overall. The win puts him in sole possession of fourth on the all-time wins list. Musquin finished in second (1-6), while Cianciarulo rounded out the overall podium in third (3-4). Osborne’s strong second moto helped him finish fifth overall (7-3).
“I just had a better feel . The track came to us all day. We had good starts in both motos and that pace was insane there in Moto 2,” explained Tomac. “I had pressure from Barcia for a while there and we were really pushing it at the end. He kept me honest, but I was able to keep it going and get us a win. We’ve got some good tracks for us coming up and hopefully we can keep putting work in to make up some ground in the championship.”
Eli Tomac
Osborne’s strong finish to the afternoon helped minimize the ground he lost in the championship standings. He now holds a 13-point lead over Musquin, while Barcia sits 26 points behind in third. Tomac vaulted from seventh to fourth, and now faces a 27-point deficit behind Osborne.
“The first moto was just really bad for me. I made some mistakes and it was just a mess, really,” said Osborne. “It was a disappointment, but we bounced back in the second moto. I didn’t have the pace to run up front with those guys, but still put in on the box and still have the red plate . We’ll look forward to RedBud.”
50 Class Overall Results (Moto Finish) Eli Tomac, Cortez, Colo., Kawasaki (2-1) Marvin Musquin, France, KTM (1-6) Adam Cianciarulo, Port Orange, Fla., Kawasaki (3-4)
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Ironman Raceway – Crawfordsville, Indiana August 29, 2020 – 450 Class Overall Results
Pos
Rider
Motos
Bike
1
Eli Tomac
2 – 1
Kawasaki
2
Marvin Musquin
1 – 6
KTM
3
Adam Cianciarulo
3 – 4
Kawasaki
4
Justin Barcia
6 – 2
Yamaha
5
Zach Osborne
7 – 3
Husqvarna
6
Chase Sexton
4 – 5
Honda
7
Blake Baggett
5 – 7
KTM
8
Dean Wilson
8 – 8
Husqvarna
9
Broc Tickle
9 – 10
Yamaha
10
Christian Craig
11 – 12
Honda
11
Fredrik Noren
10 – 13
Suzuki
12
Henry Miller
12 – 14
KTM
13
John Short
13 – 16
Honda
14
Joey Savatgy
40 – 9
Suzuki
15
Benny Bloss
37 – 11
Husqvarna
16
Jake Masterpool
16 – 17
Husqvarna
17
Coty Schock
15 – 18
Honda
18
Max Anstie
14 – 37
Suzuki
19
Justin Bogle
34 – 15
KTM
20
Ben LaMay
17 – 38
KTM
21
Jeremy Smith
18 – 22
Honda
22
Tyler Bowers
38 – 19
Kawasaki
23
Grant Harlan
19 – 21
Honda
24
Justin Rodbell
21 – 20
Kawasaki
25
Jared Lesher
20 – 24
KTM
26
Tristan Lewis
26 – 23
Yamaha
27
Mcclellan Hile
22 – 28
KTM
28
Bryce Backaus
25 – 27
Yamaha
29
Scott Meshey
24 – 29
Husqvarna
30
Alex Ray
23 – 34
Kawasaki
31
Dalton Dyer
32 – 26
Kawasaki
32
Carson Tickle
27 – 31
Honda
33
Matthew Hubert
35 – 25
Honda
34
Adam Enticknap
33 – 30
Suzuki
35
Christopher Prebula
28 – 35
KTM
36
Tristan Lane
31 – 33
KTM
37
Luke Neese
30 – 36
Honda
38
Luke Renzland
39 – 39
Husqvarna
39
Chase Felong
29 – DNS
Husqvarna
40
Timothy Crosby
DNS – 32
Kawasaki
41
Jason Anderson
36 – DNS
Husqvarna
450 Class Points Standings
Pos
Rider
Points
1
Zach Osborne
122
2
Marvin Musquin
109
3
Justin Barcia
96
4
Eli Tomac
95
5
Adam Cianciarulo
89
6
Blake Baggett
81
7
Chase Sexton
78
8
Broc Tickle
71
9
Christian Craig
59
10
Dean Wilson
58
11
Jason Anderson
58
12
Max Anstie
54
13
Joey Savatgy
48
14
Fredrik Noren
37
15
Henry Miller
37
16
Cooper Webb
29
17
Jake Masterpool
28
18
Coty Schock
23
19
Benny Bloss
21
20
Justin Bogle
21
21
Justin Rodbell
19
22
Jeremy Smith
16
23
John Short
13
24
Tyler Bowers
11
25
Luke Renzland
11
26
Matthew Hubert
9
27
Chase Felong
8
28
Justin Hoeft
7
29
Ben LaMay
6
30
Jeffrey Walker
4
31
Jared Lesher
3
32
Cory Carsten
3
33
Grant Harlan
2
250
The first 250 Class moto saw point leader Dylan Ferrandis grab the MotoSport.com Holeshot aboard his Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing machine, just edging out Martin. With the clear track Ferrandis was able to sprint out to an early lead over his Honda counterpart, while the field jockeyed for position behind them. Ferrandis quickly built a multi-second advantage over Martin, who soon was forced to contend with Troy Lee Designs/Red Bull/KTM’s Brandon Hartranft from third. Martin responded and soon asserted himself into the runner-up spot, while Hartranft solidified his hold of third.
AMA Pro Motocross 250 gets underway
Out front Ferrandis continued to add to his advantage and eventually opened up a margin of more than 20 seconds on the rest of the field. He went wire-to-wire to earn his third moto win of the season in dominant fashion, crossing the finish line 26 seconds over Martin, followed by Hartranft in third. GEICO Honda’s Jett Lawrence finished in fourth, while Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s RJ Hampshire completed the top five.
GEICO Honda’s Jett Lawrence finished in fourth in the opening 250 moto
As the field emerged from the first turn to start Moto 2 it was Martin who surged to the head of the pack to secure the MotoSport.com Holeshot ahead of Monster Energy/Star/Yamaha Racing’s Justin Cooper. Behind them Ferrandis was on the ground after an incident with his Star Yamaha teammate Shane McElrath, with the Frenchman finally returning to action in dead last.
Ferrandis had to come back through the pack
With Ferrandis forced to battle his way through the field of 40 riders the window of opportunity opened for Martin to take advantage. The Honda rider was able to put some space between he and Cooper early on and continued to build that lead into a multi-second advantage, with Hartranft once again asserting himself in third. As Martin continued to lead the way out front, Ferrandis was making an impressive climb up the running order. He needed just one lap to break into the top 20, and continued to charge his way into the top 10 before the halfway point of the moto. The Frenchman’s determined comeback didn’t end there. He continually picked off riders, one-by-one, and eventually fought his way back into podium position.
Hunter Lawrence
Martin went unchallenged en route to his second moto win of the season, taking the checkered flag 5.7 seconds over Cooper, while Ferrandis made the most of a moto that started with him in the worst possible position by finishing third.
Martin’s Moto 2 triumph gave him 2-1 finishes for the afternoon, which was enough to put him atop the overall standings for the second week in a row, and the 16th time in his career. Ferrandis’ impressive performance helped him secure the runner-up spot (1-3), while Hartranft earned the first overall podium finish of his career in third (3-4).
Jeremy Martin
“Last week was a special moment , but I didn’t win a moto. It made it more special to get a good start and ride my own race to get a moto win,” said Martin. “Dylan was on it today, but I knew I needed to get a good start and that would put me in a position to win. I know Dylan didn’t get the start he wanted , but my GEICO Honda was working really well in these conditions and I’m just happy to be back on top of the podium. It’s going to be a fun battle .”
Jeremy Martin
By virtue of his damage control in the final moto Ferrandis maintained his hold of the point lead, losing just two points to Martin. The top two are now separated by four points.
“I just ride as fast as I can and pass the most riders I can. I have nothing to lose,” said Ferrandis. “I wish there was more laps, but it is what it is. It’s a disappointment to lose out on the second moto, but this is racing and sometimes things like that happen. We’ll just keep fighting and try again next week.”
Ferrandis had to come back through the pack
Jett Lawrence took fifth overall for the round after carding 4-5 results while older brother Hunter was unhappy with his efforts after taking 16th overall on the back of a 15-14 scorecard.
Jett Lawrence took fifth overall for the round after carding 4-5 results
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship will celebrate Labor Day weekend with its first-ever doubleheader from Michigan’s legendary RedBud MX, which will host the fourth and fifth rounds of the 2020 season. The Circle K RedBud I National will begin the holiday festivities on Friday, September 4. The second half of the doubleheader will take place on Labor Day, Monday, September 7, for the Circle K RedBud II National.
Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship Ironman Raceway – Crawfordsville, Indiana August 29, 2020 – 250 Class Overall Results
Andrea Locatelli makes it six from six in World Supersport – Edwards, Bramich disappointing result in World SSPT300.
Image: Supplied.
Scott Redding has taken his Aruba.it Racing Ducati to victory and an overall championship lead after race one at the Aragon round of the Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) on Saturday.
Earlier, Jonathon Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had taken pole position with a new lap record of 1m48.860 but failed to capitalise and fell down the order at the start. After several laps he was back in the lead, with Redding making his move on lap seven. The pair battled until a mistake by Rea on lap 14 saw him run wide, allowing Redding to take control.
Redding’s teammate Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) was then able to get past Rea a few laps later. He began to close the gap on Redding but at the finish line he fell 0.3s short, with Ducati still able to claim a 1-2 result. Rea completed the podium in third in what was his 150th start for Kawasaki.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven Ducati) secured fourth after the Italian was able to dispatch Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) late in the race. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Official Team WorldSBK Official Team) fought his way back through the field as he finished in sixth place after qualifying in 11th.
After a front row start and briefly leading, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) eventually finished seventh following a battle with Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) finished in ninth place with Leon Haslam (Team HRC) completing the top ten.
Irishman Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Official Team) created some drama at the start after falling on the warm up lap. His team were able to repair the bike on the grid for an eventual 16thplace finish. Crashing out was Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as well as Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) while Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) were two high profile retirees.
Image: Supplied.
Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) continued his unbeaten run in the World Supersport Championship this year after battling with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) for much of the race. Cluzel took second ahead of Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) while Australian Lachlan Epis (MPM Routz Racing Team) was forced to retire after 11 laps.
In World Supersport 300 Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki Motoport) claimed a massive victory by almost seven seconds. In contrast, the battle for the podium saw the next four riders separated by just four tenths. Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) took second with Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) completing the podium. It was a challenging day for the Australians with Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGo Team) retiring after qualifying in 19th. Tom Bramich (Carl Cox – RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) once again had the heartbreak of not qualifying for the main race, dipping out in ninth in the Last Chance Race.
