With a passion for racing comes the drive to be the best – and in the case of Maverick Vinales, the passion comes with a bit of drama.
According to reports from MCN and The-Race, Maverick Vinales has just requested an early end to his contract with Yamaha.
Yamaha Racing managing director Lin Jarvis has said in a statement:
“It is with sadness that we will say farewell to Maverick at the end of the year. We are in the middle of our fifth season together, and over the years, we have achieved many highs but also had to manage many lows.”
The news came after a frustrating day for the rider at the Sachsenring German Grand Prix last weekend.
The Spaniard completed his worst round yet, qualifying 21st and finishing the race in last position, with a quote afterward that showed the racer’s frustrations on the matter.
“I always have the same problem, and that is that the rear wheel skids a lot,” Vinales says, frustrated. “I have been saying it since Portimao, and there is no solution. Yes, it is true that we are working, but six races have already passed to find a solution.”….I’m sorry, but with this bike, it’s impossible. When I arrived at Franco [Morbidelli] I overtook quite well. Just in the first try, I overtook him because against a Yamaha, it is much easier, but with the Ducati, it’s so hard.”
Vinales shows his true racer’s spirit with the next admittance:
“I really try to be calm. I try to work; I try to do everything. But the result is the same. And then if you have a Ducati in front of you, the frustration is incredible.”
Understandable when worded like that – and it’s not like Vinales doesn’t have other wins to show.
The rider bagged a pole position and finished second at Assen, just a few days after the unfortunate incident at the Sachsenring.
When it comes to the young rider’s talents, the proof is in the pudding – though the damage is already done for his team.
“After the German GP, which was the most difficult weekend of our partnership, we had important discussions in Assen”, says Jarvis, “and came to the conclusion that it would be in the interest of both parties to go our separate ways in the future.”
Vinales still plans on finishing his remaining time with Yamaha strong, and there is talk of a potential move to Aprilia or Aramco Racing Team VR46 – now signed on with Ducati.
In the meantime, the importance of his time at Yamaha hasn’t been lost on him.
“This partnership has been very significant to me over the last five years, and it proved a difficult decision to part ways. In these seasons together, we experienced both great achievements and tough times. However,”, Vinales admits, “the underlying feeling is of mutual respect and appreciation. I am fully committed and will strive to achieve the best results for the rest of the season.”
Our hats off to the man, and may his drive to ride continue to guide his instincts – both on and off the track.
On Friday morning Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider Franco Morbidelli underwent a one-hour surgery for his injured meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Carried out in Casa di Cura Madre Fortunata Toniolo at Bologna, Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team are satisfied with the surgery and the outcome of the operation. Franco will now stay in the hospital until Sunday for observation. Upon release the Italian will be able to start the recovery process, which will include an eight-week rehabilitation programme.
Franco Morbidelli
“After another painful incident with my left knee training on Wednesday I made the decision, together with Petronas Yamaha SRT and the VR46 Academy, to fix this issue that I’ve been carrying for too long now. I underwent surgery this morning with only one idea in my mind: to come back in the best form as soon as possible and to be able to perform at 100 per cent on the bike. I want to thank Professor Maurilio Marcacci and his team for their work. I can’t wait to be able to start my recovery process. I’ll miss my team, my bike and all the fans during this period, but I’m looking forward to being at the circuits again and enjoying racing. Thank you for all of your messages of support. See you soon!”
Petronas Yamaha has just brought on 25-year old Garrett Gerloff for his official MotoGP debut at Assen this weekend – and the American rider is ready to rip up the asphalt.
According to a report by MCN, Gerloff is set to succeed Franco Morbidelli after an existing knee injury – acquired at Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Training Ranch – caused problems that were further aggravated at the Catalan Grand Prix.
Unfortunately, the aggravated injury will also keep Morbidelli from competing in the Dutch TT.
“I’m excited for the opportunity ahead, I’m not someone who runs away from a challenge, so I’m ready to get to the track,” Gerloff has said in a statement. “It’ll be a new circuit for me, I like trying new tracks, it looks fun, fast and flowing, and really suits my riding style. I’m looking forward to jumping on the Yamaha M1 again and twisting the throttle.”
Gerloff has already tucked three podiums under his proverbial belt from his debut WSB campaign last year – and with his current standing at sixth overall in WSB standings, the young racer is eager to continue in his successes.
“We’ll see how things go, but I feel good and would like to thank Yamaha and the team for considering me. It won’t be easy, but I’m going to give it my best shot!”
Should Rossi decide to retire, there is potential that Gerloff could have a shot at a potential position at the Petronas Yamaha team next season.
Fingers crossed for the weekend, and stay tuned here at MotorbikeWriter for more MotoGP-related updates!
Franco Morbidelli will miss this weekend’s DutchGP due to an injury to his left knee sustained in training overnight.
The injury is sufficient to mean Franco will miss this weekend’s event and he is undergoing medical assessment to determine the best course of action for recovery.
Morbidelli had been looking forward to Assen, after the global pandemic forced its cancellation last year, as it is somewhere that he has enjoyed success in the past. In 2017, when competing in Moto2, the Italian secured pole position, the race win and posted the fastest lap.
Franco currently sits 11th in the MotoGP World Championship with 40 points.
It was decided by less than a tenth but it’s Morbidelli who comes out on top, gloves off to take his third win of the year and move up to second in the standings. Miller was forced to settle for second in the end, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) once again completing the podium. This is what the riders and team managers had to say in the post race interviews.
MotoGP Rider Quotes
Franco Morbidelli – P1
“It was the best victory of the year, maybe even the best one of my life! It was a complicated race: I felt that we had good potential all weekend, but then we opted for the hard front tyre in the race and I had to change my riding style slightly. I couldn’t pull away from Jack [Miller] like I wanted to, despite trying so hard, and I knew that he would be a strong competitor if he got close to me. It was all about giving more than you have on the last lap and that’s what both of us did. We had a really nice, clean fight. I’ve always liked battling Jack because he is tough but clean in his battles, and he was strong today so congratulations to him. I am so happy with the win today so thank you to the team as well. I also want to say congratulations to Joan [Mir] for winning the title this year; he has been a really strong competitor this year.”
Jack Miller – P2
“That was so, so close … when you get beaten in a MotoGP race by about five metres after 27 laps you’d think I’d be disappointed or even a bit angry, but definitely not today. That was great fun out there, I did everything I could, and I got a great result. Less than a tenth of a second from it being a greater one, but Franky (Morbidelli) was faultless and you have to hand it to him. But finishing second and having as much fun as I did, that’s a good Sunday for me. Hope you guys enjoyed it too.
“It was a fantastic last-lap battle with Franky, you really enjoy fights like that and even more on a tight track like Valencia is. Battling with these big bikes when it’s that tight, just unreal. It was like a Moto3 race! Imagine how the crowd would have gone off if we’d had fans in the stands … it was about the one thing that was a shame today. I gave it my all, fought as hard as I could, gave as good as I got and just missed out. No regrets because I gave it everything. Full respect to Franky too because it was a clean and sporting fight, nothing dirty or unfair, and that’s how it should be when the stakes are as high as that.
“I went for the medium tyres here this week after running the hards last week, and I figured that it was the second race at the same track, I’m in a good position on the grid on the front row, so why not go for it? What did I have to lose, really? I had a sneaky feeling it would go alright. I thought they’d last well but the tyre life even surprised me, and to set the fastest lap of the race – that’s only the second time I’ve ever done that in my MotoGP career – with a single-digit number of laps left on the lap board was a nice surprise.
“The race, once I held my second position after the first lap, I had this mega plan in my head that it was going to be 20 laps managing the tyres and then seven laps hunting down Franky. The grand plan was to sail past him on the front straight on the last lap and then ‘sorry Franky, see you later’ … I got that bit right, but I couldn’t get the bike stopped into Turn 1 with the tailwind we had today. And so then we had a nice little battle – him back in front at Turn 2, then me at Turn 4, then him at Turn 5 … he got the better of me there and he had all of the other options covered for the rest of the lap, and I tried all of them! I went the Hail Mary option on the last corner, squared it off and hoped the Ducati power would do the rest, but then I got a drift as I cranked the power back on, and that was that. But it was an awesome weekend for me and I absolutely love riding here, so it was a lot of fun. Just wasn’t to be today, but it was a fun Sunday anyway.
“As well as praising Franky, I have to say a massive congratulations to Joan (Mir) and the whole Suzuki team for winning the championship, they completely deserve it and it’s awesome to see. He’s been the cream of the crop most of the year, and he’s kept his head screwed on and done the business. Full credit to him. I like an underdog story, and him winning the championship, that definitely counts as one of those. He’s dealt with all the hype better than anyone, and he fully deserves everything he gets.
“So all of a sudden it’s one race to go, the year’s gone really fast and it’s pretty crazy to think we’d not even started the season in July, and now we’re off to Portugal for the last race next weekend. My last race with the Pramac boys too, so it’ll be good to sign off on three seasons with these guys with another strong result, that’d be a perfect way to finish a really big three years of my life for me here. I’ve only done a few laps of Portimao on a road bike just before Le Mans this year and it’s a pretty interesting place, we don’t go anywhere that’s as up and down as that track is so it’ll be a good challenge just keeping that front wheel down over all those crests! And then it’ll be time to come home which is something to look forward to, for sure.”
Pol Espargaro – P3
“That was fantastic. I’m super-happy. We didn’t expect the podium this weekend. We felt that we deserved it but Nakagami was pushing me hard until he crashed. We were great from the beginning until the end and I was on the limit with the pace I could make. No mistakes. We’re again on the podium – the fifth of the season – unbelievable.”
Alex Rins – P4
“In the end, I wasn’t able to get the title, but I’m so happy for Joan and all of Team Suzuki! It’s incredible that he won the championship in only his second year, and the entire team have worked so hard to achieve this. So the feeling is amazing, even for me. Today Franco had a very strong pace and the best I could do was 4th, but I’m still fighting to get second place in the standings, so I’m happy with the result. I’m hoping to finish the season on a high when we go to Portimao!”
Brad Binder – P5
“Today was a positive race for us. I didn’t get the best of starts but I managed to find good pace, pass a few guys and work my way towards the front. I gave my absolute best today and unfortunately it was not enough to get us into that podium fight. Overall, I’m happy with how we have made steps this weekend; from Friday through to the race. We have a lot of learning to do still but we’re looking forward to Portimao already. Thanks to the team and everyone for their hard work. We’ll push again next week.”
Miguel Oliveira – P6
“I’m happy about the race. My start was really good again, although I found it a little bit more difficult to keep the pace in the middle of the race. I couldn’t find good grip and basically I wasn’t able to stay close to the top five. Anyway, this is, what we take home and now we go to the home GP. I’m very excited. I hope we can have fun in the final race.”
Joan Mir – P7
“World Champion? It sounds amazing! It’s really hard to find the words at the moment, but I must say thank you to so many people; to Suzuki for this opportunity, I’m so happy to give them a title! To be the person who brings them another crown after 20 years is an unbelievable feeling and a true honour. The entire team did an incredible job, and I’m just so overjoyed with this championship win. I’ve come a long way since being a child with hardly any money to go racing, and my family are to thank for this. I worked very hard to get to the top and this reward is amazing. Today’s race wasn’t easy, but I got the result I needed and I hope to have a great end in Portimao. It’s time to celebrate but we must do it responsibly.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P8
“I am quite satisfied with today’s result, considering that I started from seventeenth on the grid. Today we could have done more, seeing that Jack Miller was able to bring his Ducati on the podium, but unfortunately in the final laps, I had a problem with the left handlebar, and I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I’m disappointed, because now the fight for the remaining positions on the championship rostrum becomes more difficult, but there’s still one race left, and we’ll fight till the end. I want to congratulate Joan Mir on winning his first MotoGP World Title because he 100% deserved it!”
Aleix Espargaro – P9
“A top-10 finish today is definitely a good result, especially because we were ahead of fast and very competitive riders. However, I must be honest and say that I expected more. During practice I am able to do good laps and in qualifying, risking a lot, I can take the RS-GP close to the leaders, but over race distance, it is more difficult to stay consistently at the limit. In the early laps I also lost a few tenths because, mindful of my crash in the last race, I managed a bit without risking. In any case, this is clearly the right direction for me and for Aprilia.”
Maverick Vinales – P10
“The start was difficult, but I tried to concentrate, get the rhythm, and be better. Somehow I never really got that feeling that I had some races ago. But I did the maximum I could in the race, and now all we can do as a team is to try to understand what we can improve for the final round. The next race we ride in Portimão, which is a track I like, and we will try to go fast. We hope to have a bit more grip there so we can get a better result. I want to say congratulations to Joan. He is a deserving winner of this year’s title.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P11
“It was not the race I expected. Until this morning we were strong and competitive, we had a good pace – we had everything working for us to do a good race. Today was essential for me to finish the race today after not finishing the last 3 consecutive races, but we were in trouble and we did not expect it. The only “salvation” was to put the hard tire at the front to compensate as much as possible the lack of grip at the rear.”
Valentino Rossi – P12
“At this level, coming back strong is something you have to do step-by-step. I needed this race, because last week I did just four laps. I had six consecutive zero-point results because of mistakes, a problem with the bike, and Covid-19. We know that here it’s difficult for me, because this is my worst track in my whole career. We tried everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a lot of grip, but in the end we finished the race. I wasn’t fast enough, but I was consistent all the way to the end, and also physically I feel good. This is important. Now we hope we can feel better with the bike and the tyres in Portimão next week. We will try to be more competitive. I think Mir deserves this championship. He is mature for his age and doesn’t make mistakes in crucial moments, so congratulations to him.”
Cal Crutchlow – P13
“It was a tough race today. I got a fantastic start, but unfortunately got moved out into the first corner on to the outside of the track where it seems I hit some water that was off the track and I lost six positions, so I was disappointed to lose that and not be able to come through straightaway. I made some good passes and got up to not a bad group and not a bad battle, but unfortunately today I had a really bad feeling with the front tyre. It was not too hot, it was not over-pressured in any way, it was just the grip on the hard front tyre was not there today. I tried my best, it was a difficult weekend for us and the team and now we go to Portimao and we’ll see how we get on there.”
Stefan Bradl – P14
“It was not a bad race considering our starting position. Here in Valencia is one of the trickier circuits to overtake so I was really having to fight with Petrucci and Alex to get past. My speed overall wasn’t so bad but it was a trickier race than some of the previous ones. From my side I’m content, we achieved our target of more points and none of them were gifted. Now we have a test and then the final race of the year, a busy end to a busy year but we keep working and pushing.”
Danilo Petrucci – P15
“It has been a rather tough race. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make up positions at the start, and immediately after a few laps, I started to have problems with the left grip. Controlling the bike had become really difficult, but fortunately, I was able to stay focused and complete the race finishing in the points. Congratulations to Joan Mir for winning the World Title: he is a quiet and very strong guy, and I think he absolutely deserved this success”.
Alex Marquez – P16
“The problem today was that I had no power in my wrist, it was a tough race but we had to finish the race after two DNFs. It was about building confidence and preparing for Portimao. I’m happy to have finished the race, I think our result isn’t too bad considering the fall yesterday. Now the objective is to recover as much as possible for the last weekend of the year and finish my rookie season off. I want to congratulate Mir as well, we were team-mates in 2018 in Moto2 and has had a very consistent season – a deserving champion.”
Tito Rabat – P17
“I felt very good, I had a good start and I stayed with the group for several laps.Then I don’t know why but I haven’t been able to keep up with them.We have finished the race, adding kilometers and in Portimao we will give our best as always.”
Lorenzo Savadori – P18
“More miles and more information gathered, which I hope will help us for the final race in Portimão. If we look at my pace, I almost made up the entire gap that developed in the early stages. Apparently I am still lacking the right confidence with a full tank to push straight away like the others do. In any case, I am still satisfied. Without knowing the bike and track, I was able to improve every time I went out. A week from now I expect to take another step forward.”
Takaaki Nakagami – DNF
“I am speechless, I’m disappointed about how it ended. I gave my best from the beginning and, as you see, I made a little mistake in the last corner when I tried to overtake Pol (Espargaro) who was in P3. I cannot say anything because I tried to the maximum and I lost the front. I want to apologise to all my team and I’ll try to be positive for the next race in Portimao. I’m happy about my performance all weekend and that is really important, as you can see we were there in every session. Now we have to be strong and look forward to the next race in Portimao.”
Fabio Quartararo – DNF
“Unfortunately I couldn’t do anything today to take the championship fight to the final race. We just didn’t have the pace. I was pushing with more than what I had today and that was why I made some mistakes. P10 might have been possible today, but I wanted more than that and instead I made those mistakes. We have had some good points this year and we have positives going into the future, but right now it’s tough to accept that we haven’t won this year. It’s true that we could have done better, but it’s easy to say that now. Also Joan [Mir] has been very strong and very consistent, so he deserves this championship and my congratulations go to him. I hope that we can finish this season in a good way at the final race in Portimäo.”
Johann Zarco – DNF
“Disappointed with the crash, it was at the beginning of the race when I was not pushing to the maximum, the front wheel closed and I couldn’t avoid it.This weekend I have been competitive in every training session and I was hoping to have a good race.I felt very strong, I believed that the podium could today but we will try it in the last race of the year.
Team Managers
Ken Kawauchi – Technical Manager
“First of all, I have to say a big congratulations to Joan! This season has been very difficult, not only because of the strength of all the competitors but also because of the global situation with Covid-19. Alex has also had a good day and helped us to get the Teams’ Championship, another great achievement! Thank you to everyone who has been fighting with us to make this season a special one, especially to all our staff, sponsors, and fans. I’m very happy, finally we’ve achieved our biggest dream.”
Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“It’s an unbelievable feeling, we could not have hoped for more! To win the title this year, when it’s Suzuki’s 100th anniversary and the 60th year in racing, and also 20 years since the last title – in my wildest dreams I couldn’t imagine something as good as this, it’s truly great. Huge congratulations must go to Joan, he was so consistent and professional throughout. Alex also did a really good job today to get decent points and 4th place. Finally I must thank all the staff – whether at home, in Japan, or here at the circuit – they’ve all worked incredibly hard for this. Thank you so much for everything.”
Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Yamaha Team Principal
“It was really good to see Franco take his third win of the MotoGP season, especially in a race where he was strong until the end and we had a very nerve-wracking final lap. It has given us a real boost today. On the other side of the garage, it was unfortunate that Fabio crashed out. Hopefully he will be able to finish the year with a good result in the final race next weekend. As a team, we are really happy to celebrate our second Independent Team title in only our second year in the Championship. Congratulations to all the team members, partners and fans. It has been a tough MotoGP championship this year and we tried to take it all the way to the final race, but unfortunately we weren’t able to do so. I want to congratulate Suzuki and Joan Mir on winning the championship today; they have done a fantastic job together this year.”
Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager
“Two weekends and two podiums so that’s a great achievement by the team and also Pol but the big thing today was all three bikes in the top six. We’re really happy with the work done by Brad and Miguel. Overall it is a massive credit to the company and what a great bike they have made for 2020. We have been pushing for this. Big thanks to everyone for the job and for their motivation in what has been an intense season so far.”
Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager
“The second race in Valencia and the second great result of Miguel Oliveira and the whole Red Bull KTM Tech3 team. Qualifying was average, but we knew we had the right pace and one more time Miguel had a great start. He was fifth out of the gate and then he managed to keep his head down and opened a gap on the pack. Unfortunately, halfway through the race, he lost a bit of pace and Rins, Nakagami and Binder passed him. But once they were ahead of him, he recovered and on the last six, seven laps, he was nearly having the same pace like the guys in front. This was good to maintain Mir and Dovizioso behind. Honestly, another ten points for the sixth position is a great result. We are still 10th in the championship, which is our target now, but with a bigger gap to the guy following us. I think six is the number of the day for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, because Deniz Öncü was sixth in Moto3 and Miguel Oliveira sixth in MotoGP, so six seems to be our lucky number for this weekend. Anyway, after a fifth last week and a sixth this week, Miguel is heading to his home Grand Prix, which is going to be the grand finale of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship. It’s going to be a mad and crazy event, I’m sure. The whole Portugal is waiting for Miguel and I’m quite sure, this is going to be the race, where Miguel and the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team are going to give everything they have to finish on a high note. So, we just can’t wait to be in Portimao! I would also like to add a few words about Iker, because he did everything he could to be with us from Saturday morning. Unfortunately, he was one of the victims of the Covid-19 virus. He was tested positive, so he couldn’t come in the circuit. Unfortunately, the second test was also positive, so we can now officially say that Iker will not be with us in Portimao, which is a great shame. To do the last three races without Iker is a heartbreak. We miss him and I’m sure he is missing us and MotoGP. But there is nothing else we can do. So, let’s move to Portimao and there will be some new adventures happening there for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“Valencia this year has been a very difficult venue for us, more than ever before. During these last three days we spent some time trying different set-ups, also thinking about the future. Especially Maverick was quite comfortable on the bike on Friday and Saturday, but he didn’t have that same feeling during the race. Even though we improved in the braking areas, we weren’t able to find the rear grip needed to challenge out in front. We already knew this race would be difficult, but we still expected a bit more from today. In one week‘s time we have a final possibility to finish this season on a high note, like how we started the season. The riders already spent one day at the Portimão track on their YZF-R1s, so let’s see what we will be able to do.”
“It has been a positive weekend for us as the whole field were able to get more dry time than last week and that showed with the consistency and pace in today’s race. The info from last weekend gave all the riders a good starting base and although we had some rain on Saturday, they were able to get back up to speed quickly and produce some impressive lap-times. All the tyres were tried this weekend, but with the warmer track temperatures today the choice seem quite straightforward for all the riders as to which tyre gave them the best performance. This meant every rider chose the medium rear as it offered the best of all things; grip, consistency and stability, with most of the field going with the hard front for the added stability on this unusual layout. On behalf of Michelin I would like to congratulate Joan Mir and Suzuki on the title, they have showed a consistency this season that has produced dividends. We now head to Portugal for another challenge to finish the season. It is a completelynew track and although we have had a test there recently we will all be learning from day one.”
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) put on a spectacular duel in the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana as a tense race-long chess match turned into a final lap scrap for glory.
It was decided by less than a tenth but it’s Morbidelli who comes out on top, gloves off to take his third win of the year and move up to second in the standings. Miller was forced to settle for second in the end, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) once again completing the podium.
Slightly further back, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made dreams a reality as he took seventh place and secured the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, with key rivals not able to do enough to stop the Majorcan’s history-making charge.
MotoGP Race Report
As the lights went out, Miller put in a characteristically good start to take the holeshot before then heading wide out of Turn 1, leaving Morbidelli in the lead as the Yamaha man kept it clean to take over. Pol Espargaro pounced for third ahead of front-row starter Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), but then some shuffles just behind pulled immediate focus.
First, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had sliced through from P14 on the grid to seventh after a storming start, but things didn’t go so well for fellow contender Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT).
Quartararo struggled to get it stopped into Turn 6 on Lap 1 and dropped back – right back – before it went from bad to worse. Sadly, his title hopes were over, ‘El Diablo’ sliding out of the race and contention.
Meanwhile at the front, Morbidelli had the hammer down and Rins was up to fifth – one place gained ‘thanks’ to a crash for Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) as the day sadly came to an early end for the Frenchman after a good start and a battle with the number 42.
And Mir? Mir was in eighth, but was getting into the groove and past Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) to set off after Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ahead of him.
Morbidelli rode on, Miller remained his shadow, and the two men kept edging away to make it a duel. It became a brief duel over third too as Nakagami homed in on Pol Espargaro, the Japanese rider once again showing some stunning pace. But the charge would end with disappointment as just as he struck, Nakagami slid out – leaving the KTM to take back third and now with a small cushion back to fourth.
The man in fourth by then was Rins, and with Suzuki’s late race pace of late, Pol Espargaro couldn’t afford to relax too much. But this weekend it seemed just off the podium was the maximum the Aragon GP winner could manage as he held station, two more KTMs on his tail. Initially the first was Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), but Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder was coming in hot. The South African was also keeping Mir at bay as the number 36 failed to make inroads into the gap, seemingly set to take the crown from seventh.
Back at the front, Morbidelli was steadfast but the Petronas Yamaha SRT rider wasn’t getting away as he had done for his previous wins. Miller was with him and gaining, gaining, until he was within touching distance with two to go. And over the line for the final lap, the Australian struck for the front.
Heading up the inside, the number 43 was past and it was game on – but he also headed wide. Morbidelli reacted to hug the apex and slice back through, the Yamaha back ahead and Miller reloading for another shot. That came not long after at Turn 4 as Miller chucked it up the inside, but Morbidelli snapped straight back to grab P1 again at Turn 5.
Down the back straight they went, the Ducati able to show a wheel but no way through. Miller then set himself up for a dive up the inside at Turn 11, but once again there was no way through as the duo got very close for comfort.
Attention then turned to the final corner, but Miller wasn’t close enough to lunge. Could the number 43 get the power down and use the extra grunt to scream past Morbidelli on the run to the line?
It was his final chance at the win, but it wasn’t to be. Morbidelli emerged victorious for the third time this season after a magnificent boxing match, and the Italian now sits second in the Championship. Petronas Yamaha SRT are also the top Independent Team.
The gap over the line was just 0.093 seconds, tantalisingly close, but it’s a great third podium of the season for Miller nevertheless. Pol Espargaro goes back-to-back in Valencia for his fifth podium of the year in third, another fantastic effort from the Spaniard in his penultimate race for KTM.
Rins’ comeback ride was impressive from P14, but the Suzuki man ran out of steam and eventually missed out on the podium by six tenths as he was forced to settle for fourth. The Spaniard did, however, help Team Suzuki Ecstar claim the Team Championship after a stunning year that’s seen both riders win and challenge for the crown, Mir ultimately taking it.
Binder got the better of Oliveira to return to the top five for the first time since the Austrian GP, and the South African also strengthened his grip on the Rookie of the Year title as he heads for the finale 20 points clear of Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). Oliveira in sixth make it three KTMs in the top six too, and the Portuguese rider arrives on home turf in form.
Just behind the KTM duo, Mir took the chequered flag. Pandemonium raged on the pit wall as Suzuki witnessed their rider come across the line to win the 2020 FIM MotoGP World Championship, the young Spaniard joining Barry Sheene, Marco Lucchinelli, Franco Uncini, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr. as a Suzuki Champion. An incredible achievement from the sophomore, and the entire Hamamatsu factory, after a stunning season.
Dovizioso almost sprung a late surprise as he crossed the line just 0.026 behind Mir and could have possibly gone for a lunge, but he was the second Ducati home and took some solid points. Aleix Espargaro crossed the line in a solid P9 to grab his second top 10 of the season, the Aprilia man taking the flag one place ahead of Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after a tougher one for the number 12.
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) finished P11 and three tenths ahead of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), as Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) completed the points.
And so, Valencia plays host to yet another Championship-deciding MotoGP race – and an amazing last lap duel. Suzuki now head to Portimao with the triple crown in sight, although the Japanese marque are equal on points with Ducati in the fight to become Constructor Champions. Whichever bike crosses the line first will win the Championship.
2020 has been unpredictable everywhere but Portimao could step up the surprises even further, I am fizzing at the prospect of MotoGP bikes taking on the unique challenges of that amazing circuit.
Franco Morbidelli – P1
“It was an unbelievable win, I gave everything all race long and finally I had to dig deeper to find something else at the last lap because Jack was there and was able to catch up at the end and fight at the end. I had to find something extra and luckily I was able to pull it out! It was a wonderful fight against Jack. It’s always nice to fight with him, win or lose, so I enjoyed the battle and congrats to him, he was just as good as me. I have a great feeling about this year, we did great and I’m looking forward to party tonight and then go to Portimao!”
MotoGP Race Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
Franco MORBIDELLI
Yamaha
41m22.478
2
Jack MILLER
Ducati
+0.093
3
Pol ESPARGARO
KTM
+3.006
4
Alex RINS
Suzuki
+3.697
5
Brad BINDER
KTM
+4.127
6
Miguel OLIVEIRA
KTM
+7.272
7
Joan MIR
Suzuki
+8.703
8
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati
+8.729
9
Aleix ESPARGARO
Aprilia
+15.512
10
Maverick VIÑALES
Yamaha
+19.043
11
Francesco BAGNAIA
Ducati
+19.456
12
Valentino ROSSI
Yamaha
+19.717
13
Cal CRUTCHLOW
Honda
+23.802
14
Stefan BRADL
Honda
+27.43
15
Danilo PETRUCCI
Ducati
+30.57
16
Alex MARQUEZ
Honda
+30.619
17
Tito RABAT
Ducati
+42.365
18
Lorenzo SAVADORI
Aprilia
+46.472
Not Classified
DNF
Takaaki NAKAGAMI
Honda
9 Laps
DNF
Fabio QUARTARARO
Yamaha
19 Laps
DNF
Johann ZARCO
Ducati
22 Laps
MotoGP World Championship Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
Points
1
Joan MIR
Suzuki
171
2
Franco MORBIDELLI
Yamaha
142
3
Alex RINS
Suzuki
138
4
Maverick VIÑALES
Yamaha
127
5
Fabio QUARTARARO
Yamaha
125
6
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati
125
7
Pol ESPARGARO
KTM
122
8
Jack MILLER
Ducati
112
9
Takaaki NAKAGAMI
Honda
105
10
Miguel OLIVEIRA
KTM
100
11
Brad BINDER
KTM
87
12
Danilo PETRUCCI
Ducati
78
13
Johann ZARCO
Ducati
71
14
Alex MARQUEZ
Honda
67
15
Valentino ROSSI
Yamaha
62
16
Francesco BAGNAIA
Ducati
47
17
Aleix ESPARGARO
Aprilia
34
18
Cal CRUTCHLOW
Honda
29
19
Iker LECUONA
KTM
27
20
Stefan BRADL
Honda
18
21
Bradley SMITH
Aprilia
12
22
Tito RABAT
Ducati
10
23
Michele PIRRO
Ducati
4
MotoGP Constructors Championship
Pos
Constructor
Points
1
SUZUKI
201
2
DUCATI
201
3
YAMAHA
188
4
KTM
175
5
HONDA
133
6
APRILIA
43
MotoGP Team Championship
Pos
Team
Points
1
TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR
309
2
PETRONAS YAMAHA SRT
230
3
RED BULL KTM FACTORY RACING
209
4
DUCATI TEAM
203
5
MONSTER ENERGY YAMAHA MOTOGP
169
6
PRAMAC RACING
163
7
LCR HONDA
134
8
RED BULL KTM TECH 3
127
9
REPSOL HONDA TEAM
85
10
ESPONSORAMA RACING
81
11
APRILIA RACING TEAM GRESINI
46
Moto2
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jorge Martin stole a last-gasp victory at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, the Spaniard diving through on Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) in the final sector and able to hold off compatriot Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP40) on the run to the line to wrap up win number two of his Moto2 career. Garzo beat Bezzecchi to second, although the Italian remains in mathematical contention and 23 points off the top in fourth. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) will take a 14 point lead to the season finale in Portimao, the title fight still between four riders as the final round appears on the horizon.
From the outside of the front row, it was Bezzecchi who got a great start but an aggressive Martin dived through from the second row at Turn 1 to take the the holeshot. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) settled into second from pole, just ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (MB Conveyors Speed Up) and then Bezzecchi, but at the start of lap two, ‘Diggia’ passed Manzi into Turn 2 as he saw Martin trying to spark an early escape. Two laps later, Bezzecchi was able to follow his compatriot through to demote the MV Agusta man back to fourth.
Coming out of the final corner both Martin and Di Giannantonio had rear-end twitches in perfect unison and that allowed Bezzecchi through to second. One lap later, and at exactly the same spot, the Sky Racing Team VR46 rider slipped up the inside of Martin to hit the front and, with Bastianini down in eighth, close the title lead down to 12 points. In a half a lap to forget for Martin, Di Giannantonio then found a way past the KTM man too.
A lead group of four was starting to form at the front and Garzo could see that, prompting a dive past Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) for fifth at the final corner. The fastest lap of the race at that time for the Spaniard saw him close in on the rear-end of Manzi and then move past the Italian to find himself in fourth and right in the podium fight on home turf.
Not long after, a mistake from Di Giannantonio out of the final corner saw Martin able to pull alongside him and edge in front but only for a split second, with the aggressive Speed Up braking as late as possible to hold on to second. That offered a chance to Garzo on the run up to Turn 2 and the Flexbox HP 40 rider took the chance with both hands, squeezing past Martin for third.
Stefano Manzi’s incredible weekend then came to an unfortunate end as the MV Agusta man crashed out of contention, doing a favour for compatriot Bastianini who moved up to seventh as a result and extended his potential title lead to 13 points. Marini was sat just ahead of Bastianini in sixth and a battered and bruised Sam Lowes was digging deep and picking his way through the field but still back in 18th.
The tension at the front was growing as the laps ticked away, with Di Giannantonio applying more and more pressure on Bezzecchi. With six to go Di Giannantonio then made his move, a cool and calculated dive through at Turn 11… before then making a costly error into the final corner that allowed Bezzecchi to retake the lead, as you were.
Martin’s late charge continued to gain momentum when he was next to make a move, diving past Garzo down the start-finish straight to grab hold of the final podium place. Could he home in on the Italians in the lead?
With two to go there was nothing between the duo at the front and Di Giannantonio then found a way through at Turn 11 once again, keeping it tidy through the final corner this time to lead the now four-way fight for victory over the line for the last lap. Bezzeccchi was starting to lose touch with the Speed Up and it looked like Diggia’s to lose – and unfortunately he did. Suddenly, only half a lap from the win, the Italian slid out at Turn 6 and was out of the fight, leaving a trio scrapping over the podium order.
That left Bezzecchi in the lead but it was far from a done deal. Martin could sense the chance and then pounced at Turn 12, forcing Bezzecchi wide, but the pair’s dive through Turn 13 had been compromised and that opened a door for Garzo. The Valencian dived through into second, demoting Bezzecchi to third in less corners. It would all go down to the final corner…
Martin kept the door slammed shut so the former MotoE frontrunner took a sweeping line as he tried to out-drag his compatriot to the line, and it came incredibly close. Less than a tenth close, as Martin took the win by almost nothing. Nevertheless, the home hero took his first Grand Prix podium in second, with Bezzecchi forced to settle for third.
Schrötter took fourth spot ahead of Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46), who is now 18 points adrift of The Beast after the Italtrans man crossed the line just behind him in sixth. ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team’s Remy Gardner took seventh, eight tenths clear of Bo Bendsneyder who clinched NTS RW Racing GP’s best result. Italians Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40) rounded out the top ten.
Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) took 11th ahead of Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Xavi Vierge (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crossing the line in 13th. And then came Lowes.
A super human effort sees the Brit take two points despite the after affects of his FP3 crash, and he remains Bastianini’s closest challenger although now 14 points down. Marini trails by 18 and Bezzecchi 23, leaving everything on the table in Portimao.
Jorge Martin – P1
“I started quite well from fifth to first in the first corner, that was great then with the wind it was difficult to be fast in front, the front tyre wasn’t the perfect temperature. Lap by lap I was improving before the middle of the race when I felt so bad, then when I saw I was catching Hector I thought, ‘come on you can do it’. I started to push, overtook him, then when I saw fighting between Bez and Diggia I said, ‘come on never give up, try your best’. When Diggia crashed I thought, ‘just one more overtake and you’ll do it’. I thought about this move last weekend and at Turn 12 you never expect it. I risked a bit too much but you have to take risk to win and I did it today. I’m super happy, thanks to my team, my family and all the sponsors.”
Remy Gardner – P7
”What a weekend. I managed to post some half decent laps on Friday and I felt a bit better on Friday afternoon but I hadn’t been feeling too well in the run up to the event so wasn’t really sure how I would get on. Saturday was another tough day. I still didn’t feel that great and didn’t make it through into Q2. We were unlucky but that’s racing. Despite where we were on the grid I wasn’t going to just ride around and so was still hopeful of pulling something special out of the bag. Nineteenth to seventh was pretty good. It’s good points even though fifth overall is now not possible but I’m still super happy with the work we have done this year. The team have worked really well, and we still have one more race to go in Portugal where I think we can have a good one and end the year on a high. The last twelve laps were tough, I had no energy, but I stuck in there and we managed to come home with a decent result. Can’t wait for Portimao, so see you all there!”
Moto2 Race Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
Jorge MARTIN
Kalex
40m02.225
2
Hector GARZO
Kalex
+0.072
3
Marco BEZZECCHI
Kalex
+0.204
4
Marcel SCHROTTER
Kalex
+0.689
5
Luca MARINI
Kalex
+0.812
6
Enea BASTIANINI
Kalex
+2.329
7
Remy GARDNER
Kalex
+8.973
8
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
+9.72
9
Nicolò BULEGA
Kalex
+11.596
10
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI
Kalex
+11.836
11
Joe ROBERTS
Kalex
+12.369
12
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
Kalex
+13.041
13
Xavi VIERGE
Kalex
+13.495
14
Sam LOWES
Kalex
+15.345
15
Augusto FERNANDEZ
Kalex
+15.577
16
Thomas LUTHI
Kalex
+18.954
17
Simone CORSI
MV Agusta
+26.947
18
Somkiat CHANTRA
Kalex
+36.336
19
Hafizh SYAHRIN
Speed Up
+42.068
20
Kasma DANIEL
Kalex
+46.792
21
Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI
NTS
+50.162
Not Classified
DNF
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO
Speed Up
1 Lap
DNF
Edgar PONS
Kalex
2 Laps
DNF
Aron CANET
Speed Up
4 Laps
DNF
Jorge NAVARRO
Speed Up
8 Laps
DNF
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA
Kalex
11 Laps
DNF
Stefano MANZI
MV Agusta
15 Laps
DNF
Andi Farid IZDIHAR
Kalex
17 Laps
DNF
Marcos RAMIREZ
Kalex
19 Laps
Moto2 World Championship Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
Points
1
Enea BASTIANINI
Kalex
194
2
Sam LOWES
Kalex
180
3
Luca MARINI
Kalex
176
4
Marco BEZZECCHI
Kalex
171
5
Jorge MARTIN
Kalex
150
6
Remy GARDNER
Kalex
110
7
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
Kalex
89
8
Joe ROBERTS
Kalex
85
9
Marcel SCHROTTER
Kalex
77
10
Xavi VIERGE
Kalex
73
11
Thomas LUTHI
Kalex
72
12
Aron CANET
Speed Up
66
13
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO
Speed Up
65
14
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI
Kalex
64
15
Hector GARZO
Kalex
63
16
Augusto FERNANDEZ
Kalex
63
17
Jorge NAVARRO
Speed Up
58
18
Jake DIXON
Kalex
44
19
Marcos RAMIREZ
Kalex
32
20
Nicolò BULEGA
Kalex
32
21
Hafizh SYAHRIN
Speed Up
21
22
Stefano MANZI
MV Agusta
21
23
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
15
24
Simone CORSI
MV Agusta
15
25
Somkiat CHANTRA
Kalex
10
26
Edgar PONS
Kalex
5
27
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA
Kalex
5
28
Dominique AEGERTER
NTS
4
Moto3
Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) took a stunning first win of the season in the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, clawing back a deficit to Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to take 25 valuable points that see him head into the season finale just 11 off the top and bringing the grand total of different 2020 winners across all classes to 25 – equalling the record set in 2016. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) won the duel for second against Fernandez, with the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider forced to settle for third. Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team) took fourth and extended his lead to eight points ahead of eighth-place finisher Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) as the lightweigh class title continues to walk a tightrope.
Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took the holeshot from second on the grid, with Binder slotting into second from pole in a Red Bull KTM Ajo sandwich as Fernandez held third. Arenas got away well into fifth, with Ogura losing a little ground on the first lap but nothing too serious. Garcia, meanwhile, had gained in a big way; the Spaniard’s charge from P17 on the grid well underway.
The first shot of drama came at the front from Toba and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) as the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider highsided and his compatriot was unable to avoid the incident. Once again, that left Fernandez with a small gap out front – just as he enjoyed in the Europe GP.
The Spaniard kept the hammer down alone in some free air as the battle raged behind, a classic Moto3™ freight train forming in the fight for second. Not long after there was more drama and the official end to a Championship charge for one contender too as Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) crashed out; able to rejoin but 2020 title hopes gone.
At the front, Fernandez rode on as Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) held station at the front of the chasing group, with Arenas still a few places above Ogura in the close second group as the Japanese rider remained tagged onto the back of it. Little by little, however, that second group started to split – leaving Ogura in a three-way battle with Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) and Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46), and Arenas still well within the five-rider fight for the podium up the road…
Bit by bit, the gap to Fernandez was coming down as Arbolino chipped away, shadowed by Garcia. The gap from them back to Arenas, Binder and Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had grown too, and the Ogura-Migno-Masia fight had dropped well off. That left three small groups behind Fernandez, but soon the Spaniard’s gap at the front was down to less than half a second – and not long after it was down to zero.
Fernandez vs Arbolino vs Garcia was now the fight to decide the podium, with Arenas-Öncü-Binder the triple threat waiting in the wings.
After a Garcia-Arbolino duel, the Italian was able to secure second for long enough to set up a move on Fernandez, and he struck on the penultimate lap into Turn 1. The hammer was then well and truly down for Arbolino, and the gap started to increase as the final lap got underway, the Italian focused razor sharp on his first win of the year…
Behind him, Fernandez vs Garcia raged on, but this time it was the Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider who came out on top, defending at the maximum around the final corner to secure second and a second podium in a row. Just behind it got close too, with Arenas fending off Binder in a similarly tense last lap, the Spaniard able to take fourth by just over a tenth. Öncü was forced to settle for sixth, but it was a stellar race from the Turk.
The pivotal battle for seventh went quite literally to the line. Migno was able to stay just ahead for P7, but Ogura and Masia were absolutely side-by-side in a genuine photo finish. The Japanese rider took what could be a crucial extra position as he stayed ahead for P8 though, and he’s now eight points off Arenas heading into Portugal.
Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) won a duel for tenth ahead of John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), and that was enough to secure the Spaniard Rookie of the Year in 2020 after an impressive year fighting at the front.
There was a small gap back to Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) in P12, ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team) and Ryusei Yamanaka (Estrella Galicia 0,0) as they completed the points.
An incident between Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) saw both crash out, deemed a racing incident by the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards Panel after investigation.
And then there were three: Arenas heads for the Algarve eight points clear of Ogura, with Arbolino now 11 down and suddenly within genuine reach of the crown. Portugal promises another stunning showdown, with a Champion sure to be crowned – but who? We’ll find out next weekend!
Tony Arbolino – P1
“My plan was always to win, from being young I’m like that I just want to win, win every race, that’s always what I have in my mind. It’s a fantastic day, I said I wanted to win a race in 2020 in this category before I leave, I’m so happy, we worked so much, trust me, all day and before going to sleep always thinking about that. I feel good, now… I’m so proud!”
Boy were there some ups and downs, cheers and tears….
Jack Miller – DNF
“So that was short, wasn’t it? I mean, it’s hard to say much when your race lasts nine seconds… I made a decent start, passed about three blokes into Turn 1, then the next thing I knew I was on the floor at Turn 2. It happened so fast, I was on the gas, and then I was in the dirt after getting a whack from behind. I looked up and saw it was Brad (Binder), who’s a guy I like, and I just threw my hands up – “what the f**k Brad?!” But, you know, it happens. He said it happened so fast for him that the first he knew about it was when we were laying in the gravel, so he was about as surprised as I was.
“It wasn’t like he meant it, and believe me, we’ve all been there. Today it was his turn. Nobody’s fault – it’s just how racing goes sometimes. Sometimes you get hit, sometimes you’re the one who does it to someone else. I’d probably be more pissed off if I had a great result taken from me but when you qualify 14th like I did, then this is what can happen in the first few corners. Was a good old whack too, I’m pretty thankful that I feel OK now because both shoulders and knees copped it and the seat was basically destroyed, so I was pretty happy to walk away. And it wasn’t like I had an amazing result taken from me, based on how things had gone all weekend.
“All day Saturday I was losing grip coming into the corners, the last corner especially, and I was still pretty much scratching my head after qualifying. In the long left-handers like the last corner, the others just seemed to have way more grip than I had at any stage on corner entry. I was a bit surprised that we hadn’t made much progress since we were here a week ago, I felt I was riding at the limit, but clearly that limit wasn’t good enough. I just didn’t have any feeling whatsoever. It obviously wasn’t going to be easy from that far back on the grid, so I guess we had to cross our fingers and hope for something magical on Sunday. I didn’t see much happening to be honest … turns out I was right about something this weekend. That’s three DNF’s in the last five – a tear-off in the airbox in Misano, the engine problem in Le Mans and then this. Not a lot I could do about any of them really.
“Speed-wise, we just didn’t have it here – last weekend was pretty average but it was good compared to this one. I was quietly confident that I could do something in the race and I went for the medium tyres again like last week, hoping I could just be calm in the first few laps and then pick a few blokes off as the race wound down. I was hardly on podium pace or anything but there were some top-10 points for me. The plan was to be there at the end, not on my arse in two corners. But it is what it is.
“As for the championship, we have three races to go now and it’s probably (Joan) Mir’s to lose. I mean, he’s just super consistent and to get third from 12th on the grid on a day when the others like Fabio (Quartararo), Mav (Maverick Vinales) and ‘Dovi’ (Andrea Dovizioso) struggled again … you’ve got to hand it to him. He’s just doing what he needs to do, and the others are making all of the mistakes. He’s not won a race yet and some people are trying to say he needs to win one if he’s to be considered a proper champion if he takes it out, but I don’t agree, it doesn’t devalue it at all. He’s playing it the right way so far, so fair play to him.
“Anyway, that’s a lot of talking for a race that I could have summed up in one sentence! I’m pretty glad Aragon is over, and I’d like to go home thanks … I’m looking forward to get out of here, and to finish my time with the Pramac guys better than this in the last three races. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks to give it a crack in Valencia.”
Brad Binder – DNF
“I had quite an ‘OK’ start and as I went up the inside of Turn1 I then changed direction like a regular lap and got bunched up. It was a big mistake on my behalf and I’m so sorry to wipe out Jack’s race. I want to apologise not only to my team but also to his. We’ll have to restart and go again in Valencia.”
Takaaki Nakagami – DNF
“First of all, I want to say sorry to all of my team because this weekend all of the sessions we were really competitive and were ready to get a great result on Sunday. But unfortunately I had a small mistake on the first lap which was after the start and I’m very disappointed to end up in the gravel. Now I’m very disappointed how it finished, but we’ll try to be positive as all the weekend we were so fast which showed that our potential is there. Anyway, we’ll try to keep focused on our job in Valencia where there are more back-to-back races. We’ll be strong and try to have a good weekend there and a big thank you to all my fans who support me.”
Franco Morbidelli – P1
“I am very happy with this win; it feels a little bit different to when I won in Misano. It comes from the hard work that the crew has put in; they have done an unbelievable job and worked so well together to get this win. The bike was perfect during the race, I was feeling great and I just had to focus on getting the bike to the finish line in the shortest, fastest, time possible. This victory is for them, for my crew. Without their work it would not have been possible. So thank you. Now we are just 25 points from being at the top of the championship standings, which means that it is time to go super aggressive into the final three races of this year.”
Alex Rins – P2
“Obviously I was hoping to win again today, but another podium is an awesome feeling anyway. It was really hard to do battle with Franco today, he was very strong and he got a good start. I was happy with my tyre choice but I did feel a little bit of drop part way through the race, I knew that I had a decent gap on Joan so I kept things smooth and went for second place. I was really happy to see Joan there in third because it means another great day for Suzuki with both of us on the podium again! Joan is so consistent, but I’m also feeling better every race so let’s see what can happen in the next few races. Anyway, I’m really pleased to be on the podium again at MotorLand!”
Joan Mir – P3
“My feeling was good today, but on the last laps today I wasn’t able to make up the difference – I had the same speed as Alex and Franco but I couldn’t manage to go quicker to close the gap. That was a bit of a shame, but it’s always hard to start further back on the grid and I lost some time while overtaking other riders. But anyway, I’m glad to have been able to collect points today and I’m satisfied because my target was the podium; I knew that was needed to keep a hold on the championship lead, so I’m happy that I achieved that. I will be giving my best in the next three races.”
Pol Espargaro – P4
“Much happier than last week, a super-different race. The position was better from the grid and the beginning of the race – even if we can still improve this – and the pace was nice. I still didn’t have ideal rear edge grip but I could change direction with confidence and gain where the bike was good. I could overtake and I really enjoyed the race: when that happens the result comes. 4th feels good and I believe it was well-deserved for all the work we did as a team this weekend.”
Miguel Oliveira – P6
“I’m happy. I felt I could have been a bit more in front, at least in fifth place, but it was quite hard for me to overtake. I felt strong, competitive and I think it was a great comeback from last weekend. It was a consistent and very good weekend for us with eighth place on the grid and sixth place in the race, so I think we did our job. We need to take this as a positive and carry it on to the last three races in November.”
Maverick Vinales – P7
“I‘m sure that for us the soft-soft tyre option was the right one. We saw in the last race that Fabio chose the medium front and the pressure was too high, so he lost a lot of positions. We preferred to ride with the soft tyre which was, let‘s say, ’the safer option‘. With the soft tyre I can normally ride really well, so I thought for me this wouldn‘t be a problem, except today I had no grip on the tyres, only in the first three laps. Then I had a big drop in both tyres and chatter, so I couldn‘t do anything. We need to face facts. Today it is what it is. The only positive is that we aimed to finish in front of Fabio, the top Yamaha in the standings, and we did this. We‘re going to try to do better in Valencia and learn from the things we did wrong during this race. For sure, this result is far from our potential, and we need to understand it so we can put the best version of our bike on the track.”
Fabio Quartararo – P8
“Really I wanted a bit more from the race today, as we found something this morning that improved the bike, but it didn’t help as much as we thought it would in the race. The feeling was not great but we scored some points today and we actually had a fairly good race, I was able to fight and defend my position. We will try to be faster in the next race at Valencia, which is a track that I like and I had a great feeling there last year. Also we don’t seem to suffer tyre drop off there, like we have done here. There are three races left this year and we know how fast we can be, so I might not be so happy with the result today, but I know we have some good opportunities coming and I’m looking forward to being there.”
Iker Lecuona – P9
“Obviously I’m very happy about today. In the first laps of the race I was fighting a lot with many riders and I also made some mistakes, so I lost contact to the big group ahead of me. But lap by lap, I tried to recover and tenth by tenth I finally caught them again. I felt really strong and I have the feeling that I could have even finished further in front. Eventually I was ninth again, which equals my best result, so it’s a decent one.”
Danilo Petrucci – P10
“It was a pretty uphill race, considering that we started way back. Fortunately, this morning we were able to find a good setup that partly solved our problems. I tried to manage the tyres well in the first laps, and towards the end of the race, I was able to do some overtakes. Unfortunately, we still suffer the lack of speed in the straights, but in general, the feeling with the bike has improved. Today our goal was to finish in the top ten, and we succeeded also taking important points for the standings”.
Cal Crutchlow – P11
“Today wasn’t a good day, finishing outside the top 10. Our main issue was the rear tyre, we chose a soft rear tyre and had great grip at the start of the race, but when I got passed, it became quite apparent that on the exit of a corner that my competitors had a lot more rear grip and I was unable to continue to improve and be fast.”
Stefan Bradl – P12
“It can always be a little bit better, but I am happy with this result as we have improved compared to last week, so this is a positive. We want to continue on this trajectory and today shows we are making progress. The start was a bit difficult but after that I was able to fight, maybe I was fighting a bit too much in the opening laps, then I relaxed and was able to catch the factory Ducatis. The speed was good overall, a strong weekend.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P13
“We knew it was going to be a tough race and unfortunately, my feelings with the bike weren’t good. We didn’t have the speed to recover, and at the end, the soft tyre had a major drop, which prevented me from riding as I would have wanted. I struggled a lot and, especially in the last laps, I was also struggling with arm pump. Now we have to try to move on and start focusing already on the next three races that we have left.”
Bradley Smith – P15
“The race began well. I stayed with Petrucci and we were making up ground on the group. My speed in the early laps was good and my tenth place on the list of fast laps proves that, but then, with the tyre deterioration, we were unable to maintain the pace. We know that this is one of our weak points and I hope that the data collected in these races will help the guys at Aprilia to improve the 2021 project. It’s frustrating to always run into the same difficulties, but we won’t give up. Down to the final race, we’ll work hard to improve.”
Alex Marquez – DNF
“It was completely my mistake; I lost some time with Zarco and Mir was escaping and I was probably pushing too hard to catch him. I was thinking about the podium a bit too much today because I really think we had the pace, but we need to remember to always be patient. It was another rookie mistake but we should be proud of the weekend and these three races in a row overall. Two podiums and a strong weekend here fighting. We have made good progress but stay realistic, be calm and see what our target is. I want to say thank you again to the Repsol Honda Team for their work.”
Aleix Espargaro – DNF
“I have to be satisfied with my overall performance this weekend. We greatly improved the setup compared to last week. Yesterday in qualifying, I was extremely fast and today in the race I also gave it my all. I made some good passes with a top-5 pace and a few laps from the end I had easily caught up with Quartararo and Viñales. Just as I was about to attack Fabio, the engine stopped and there was nothing I could do. It’s a hard pill to swallow but, as I said, I am satisfied with the work done here in Aragón.”
Pecco Bagnaia – DNF
“Today in race from lap two I felt an engine power drop and I was forced to stop at the pit on lap four. Analyzing the data we saw that there was a technical problem, regardless of this I have nothing more to say after two very difficult weekends. I hope to get to Valencia and find my way back.”
Team Managers
Razlan Razali – Petronas SRT Team Principal
“That was a really strong race from Franco! I am so happy for him and also for the team, who did an amazing job as well. He is now back in contention for the world championship, with just three rounds to go and only 25 points shy of the leader. The bike looks good and he looks comfortable on it; we are very happy that he’s achieved his second MotoGP victory.We need to analyse Fabio’s race and see how we can improve, but other riders also had the same problems that we did. We need to all sit down and see how we can make it better for the final three races. He is only 14 points off the leader in the championship and there are still plenty of points on offer in the next races. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this final triple-header of the year will play out.”
Ken Kawauchi – Suzuki Technical Manager
“This weekend we are feeling very happy and satisfied because both riders took the podium again. It would have been nice to see Alex get a double win, but second is still great. Joan also did a really strong job to get third place and continue his lead of the championship. It’s fantastic to see both our riders up on the podium and also leading the Teams’ Championship. One thing that has helped us in these last couple of races is the riders’ great starts, our ability to conserve tyres, and our consistent lap times. I would say these three things have been the key to our success. Thank you to all the Suzuki team.”
Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager
“It’s been another great day, and I want to congratulate Alex and Joan again for their great results. Franco Morbidelli did a very good race, so congratulations also to him. Alex was right there from the start, but he couldn’t quite battle Franco for the win, but this second place is fantastic and brings him closer to the top of the championship. Joan was brilliant today, he started from 12th but he recovered really well to take another podium and he did exactly what he needed to do. Having both riders on the podium today is a wonderful feeling, and we’ll give our best to continue this trend. Thank you very much to all the Suzuki staff, those working from home and everybody here at the circuit; these great results also belong to them.”
Mike Leitner – Red Bull KTM Race Manager
“After a tough weekend last week we had quite a big plan to change our bike strategy for this race. On Friday all four riders were trying things and that gave us quite a good base for the second race weekend, so thanks to the teams for all their work. Three KTMs in the top ten is a good result. Pol, Miguel and Iker made a great race pace and were able to fight for positions, which was nice to see. We’ll head to Valencia and try to make another good event.”
Hervé Poncharal – Red Bull KTM Tech3 Team Manager
“A much better weekend for Red Bull KTM Tech3 here in Aragón compared to the previous week, where we were honestly struggling a bit. It’s good to finish with our two riders inside the top 9. I think together with KTM we improved our package a lot, which is very interesting. Honestly, I can’t hide that I’m a little bit disappointed because Miguel was having an incredible pace. He was the fastest in the last part of the race, as soon as he was on his own, but we lost a bit of time passing some other riders and the last fight we lost with Johann (Zarco) was not something I enjoyed a lot, but we have to take the positives. As I always say, let’s see the glass half full. Miguel is sixth, Iker is ninth, strong points for both in the Championship. We’ve been fighting with almost every other manufacturer and I think we got a really strong package, which is great news. Anyway, thanks and congratulations to both, Miguel and Iker. Thanks to the team for their hard work and as usual after three weeks back to back, let’s take a few days rest and hopefully the next and the last triple races of the 2020 World Championship will be on the same level than the race we had today.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“We expected a totally different race. This has happened to us many times. We face problems on a Sunday that we didn’t have on the Friday and Saturday. Now it’s very difficult to give our verdict about what happened. We need time to check the data before we make any statements. Frankly speaking, we chose the tyre option that gave us the best performance, which was the soft-soft, thinking we would be able to exploit the grip these tyres provide. We thought we would be fighting for the podium today. We don’t know yet why Maverick didn’t feel like he had any grip from the beginning to the end. One thing we can exclude from the list of potential reasons is the Moto2 rubber on track, because this time we raced before them. Naturally, we’re not happy at all about this race. We will try to transform this disappointment into extra drive to get a good result at the upcoming GP in Valencia.”
“This has been a very rewarding and positive weekend. The weather was much better and with the extra rubber on the track from last week, plus less wind, it gave much better conditions for all. The increases in temperature meant that all the specifications were tried this weekend, with only the hard rear going unused in the race. Race time was much improved on last week and we also saw a new lap record in the race, so obviously we are pleased with that as this is a very difficult track that offers little grip because it is now getting quite old. We saw some very interesting battles in the race and many riders had the confidence to push as it wore on, demonstrating the increased durability, consistency and performance we have incorporated in this year’s rear tyre. We now head to the last three races of the season with the title still wide open, which is great for the show and we will be looking to go out in style, firstly at a circuit we know well at Valencia and then a totally new track in Portugal, which will be a challenge, but one we are looking forward to after such a strange season.”
2020 MotoGP Round 12 – Aragon Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel
A faultless Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) didn’t put a foot wrong for a formidable second victory of 2020 at the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, no one able to stay with the Italian as he also put himself right back in the title fight. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins took second place to make it back-to-back podiums, with team-mate Joan Mir picking up another P3 at MotorLand to extend his Championship lead in yet another dramatic premier class race…
Heartbreak for Jack Miller once again, after losing two finishes this season already through no fault of his own, he was taken out on lap one by Brad Binder and recorded another DNF. Binder has been penalised by the Stewards and will have a long lap penalty to be served at the next race.
Heartbreak also for Nakagami after what had been an almost flawless weekend from the Japanese rider he threw it all away early on the opening lap.
Mir extended his lead in the championship over Quartararo to 14-points but only five-points further adrift Maverick Vinales is definitely still in the hunt. Morbidelli staked his claim with victory and is now 25-points behind leader Mir, while Dovizioso is only three-points behind Morbidelli. Rins too is not out of the picture with three rounds still remaining in what is the most unpredictable MotoGP season in memory, perhaps ever.
MotoGP now has a short break before reconvening at Valencia on November 8, and races again at the circuit the following weekend before what will undoubetedly be a down-to-the-wire title fight played out on the new challenge that is the undulating tarmac of Portimao on the weekened of November 22.
MotoGP Race Report
That drama began right from the off on Lap 1. Polesitter Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) got the launch he would have been hoping for and led into Turn 1, just holding off fellow front row starters Morbidelli and Rins. At Turn 2 the first disaster struck as both Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) tumbled into the gravel after the South African tagged the back of the Australian and then, at Turn 5, race leader Nakagami made his first and only race day mistake of the season. The Japanese rider lost the front and was down, sliding out of the race in heartbreaking fashion – no dream podium or victory today for the number 30.
That left Morbidelli leading, closely followed by Rins, with Mir the other key player on the move as the Spaniard made a glorious start from P12, up to fifth on the opening lap and ahead of closest rival Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), who had a tougher opening few opening laps. It was opposite fortunes for compatriot Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), though, as he was up to P3 and holding off Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Mir.
Quartararo then began slipping into the clutches of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) and Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), Marquez able to escape both to then set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 4; the reigning Moto2 World Champion latching onto the back of Mir. Up front though, Morbidelli then set a 1:48.089 to take the race lap record at MotorLand, he and Rins a second up the road from third place Zarco on Lap 6. Mir was on the move though, slicing past Viñales at Turn 12, and Marquez wasted no time in following suit, putting in a classy move at Turn 15. The Mir-Marquez duo had their sights firmly set on Zarco up ahead…
Quartararo, meanwhile, was in a serious battle mid-top ten. Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Crutchlow, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) were all line astern behind ‘El Diablo’, and things started to get spicy. Soon enough, that was also true up ahead.
The gap between Rins and Zarco was still hovering around the 1.7 second mark, with Mir and Marquez shadowing the fastest Ducati on track. But eventually, Mir pounced on Zarco at Turn 4 as the gap between the leading duo and Mir hovered at 2.2 seconds. Marquez then didn’t take long to follow as he took that incredible inside line round the double left hander at the end of the lap, but Zarco fought back at Turn 1. Marquez was back underneath the Ducati at Turn 4 and the small squabble cost the number 73 time, although Mir was making no real dent into the lead held by Morbidelli and Rins.
The fight behind, meanwhile, had seen Quartararo drop down to P8 as Pol Espargaro diced up the inside at Turn 1, and Viñales was just a few tenths ahead. Oliveira was then climbing all over the back of Quartararo but the latter was strong on the brakes at the end of the back straight. As the battle raged on, Oliveira briefly got through on Quartararo but the Yamaha was back through at Turn 1 as Crutchlow and Dovizioso waited to pick up any pieces. Pol Espargaro was making progress nearer the front of the group as he got ahead of Viñales, and every single point and position counted. The next drama would come from further up the road though, as the second Honda heartbreak of the day hit.
Suddenly at Turn 2, the dream of a third MotoGP podium in a row evaporated as Alex Marquez slid out. Rider ok, but left wondering what could have been as Mir disappeared into the distance.
At the front, Morbidelli’s lead over Rins was 0.6 seconds and holding more than firm, with Mir 2.6 seconds behind with nine laps to go. Zarco had been shuffled down to P4, but he was still ahead of Pol Espargaro, Viñales and Quartararo as the latter two sat sixth and seventh heading into the closing stages. Quartararo was still fending off Oliveira too, and Dovizioso was lurking. The Portuguese rider then made his move and it stuck, with Dovi then right behind Quartararo…
Next though, Aleix Espargaro made his presence felt and, after getting so close to making some more gains in the Championship, Dovizioso was on the receiving end of an aggressive move from the Aprilia at Turn 1. The number 04 then ran in too hot at Turn 8 and suddenly, the Italian was down to P12 after crossing the line last time round in eighth.
Viñales and Quartararo were next under threat, however. Oliveira grabbed P6 at the final corner to demote Viñales to seventh, and soon enough joined the battle for fourth between Pol Espargaro and Zarco. Esparagaro climbed to P4 and Oliveira was soon through too, but Zarco wasn’t giving it up that easy, the Ducati man fighting straight back at Turn 13.
Up ahead, it couldn’t have been less chaotic for Morbidelli. From half a second to a second and a half to nearly two and still climbing, the Italian was on rails as the gap kept extending. Rins was well clear of teammate Mir as well as the Championship leader was forced to settle for a lonely third, and all three held firm on the final lap. Morbidelli completed his masterclass with more than two seconds in hand, becoming the second repeat winner of the season – and climbing to within a race win of the top in the Championship.
Rins takes 45 points from 50 in Aragon as both he and Morbidelli bring themselves right into the title frame, facing a deficit but far from out of it. Two P3s at MotorLand see Mir extend his World Championship lead with three races to go, however, with 14 points now his advantage over Quartararo.
Pol Espargaro picked up a great P4 from ninth on the grid, another solid ride and some better luck at MotorLand this time around. Just behind the number 44, Zarco vs Oliveira went right down to the wire and in the end, the Ducati eventually pipped the KTM by just 0.038, Oliveira forced to settle for a nevertheless impressive sixth.
Then came Viñales and Quartararo, the Yamaha title contenders finishing P7 and P8 as they slip further away from Mir after a tougher race weekend than expected. Lecuona secured his third top 10 of the year in P9, as Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) rounded out the top 10. Crutchlow and Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) finished P11 and P12, ahead of Dovizioso after his tough race at the office.
Tito Rabat (Esponsorama Racing) and Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) were the only other two riders to finish, the duo pick up P14 and P15 respectively. Aleix Espargaro was on for a top 10 but his RS-GP suffered an issue with a couple of laps remaining.
That’s a wrap in Teruel. The 2020 title race just keeps on twisting and turning and now, 32 points split the top SIX with three races to go. Mir, Quartararo, Viñales, Morbidelli, Dovizioso and Rins will all fancy their chances still heading into two Valencia races and the Portimao finale. Who will win the 2020 MotoGP World Championship? Mir leads the field by 14 points, but that can change in the blink of an eye. It’s game on in 2020, and Valencia is up next!
Franco Morbidelli
“I had dynamite for breakfast! I felt great out there today. The feeling with the bike was amazing, we gambled a bit with the tyre choice, we knew we had to do something more and strong re: tyre choice and we decided to go with the medium and it paid off because in the race it was working really well and I was feeling great with the package today. This victory is for the team, they worked really well, unbelievable till late in the box trying to sort out what was the best choice and setting, this is for them. Now we’re back in the game, 25 points behind the top… I think we should be as aggressive as we were today in Valencia and Portimao.”
MotoGP Race Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
Franco MORBIDELLI
Yamaha
41m47.652
2
Alex RINS
Suzuki
+2.205
3
Joan MIR
Suzuki
+5.376
4
Pol ESPARGARO
KTM
+10.299
5
Johann ZARCO
Ducati
+12.915
6
Miguel OLIVEIRA
KTM
+12.953
7
Maverick VIÑALES
Yamaha
+14.262
8
Fabio QUARTARARO
Yamaha
+14.72
9
Iker LECUONA
KTM
+17.177
10
Danilo PETRUCCI
Ducati
+19.519
11
Cal CRUTCHLOW
Honda
+19.708
12
Stefan BRADL
Honda
+20.591
13
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati
+22.222
14
Tito RABAT
Ducati
+26.496
15
Bradley SMITH
Aprilia
+31.816
Not Classified
Aleix ESPARGARO
Aprilia
3 Laps
Alex MARQUEZ
Honda
10 Laps
Francesco BAGNAIA
Ducati
18 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
Takaaki NAKAGAMI
Honda
0 Lap
Jack MILLER
Ducati
0 Lap
Brad BINDER
KTM
0 Lap
MotoGP World Championship Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
Points
1
Joan MIR
Suzuki
137
2
Fabio QUARTARARO
Yamaha
123
3
Maverick VIÑALES
Yamaha
118
4
Franco MORBIDELLI
Yamaha
112
5
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
Ducati
109
6
Alex RINS
Suzuki
105
7
Takaaki NAKAGAMI
Honda
92
8
Pol ESPARGARO
KTM
90
9
Jack MILLER
Ducati
82
10
Miguel OLIVEIRA
KTM
79
11
Danilo PETRUCCI
Ducati
71
12
Brad BINDER
KTM
67
13
Alex MARQUEZ
Honda
67
14
Johann ZARCO
Ducati
64
15
Valentino ROSSI
Yamaha
58
16
Francesco BAGNAIA
Ducati
42
17
Iker LECUONA
KTM
27
18
Aleix ESPARGARO
Aprilia
27
19
Cal CRUTCHLOW
Honda
26
20
Stefan BRADL
Honda
12
21
Bradley SMITH
Aprilia
12
22
Tito RABAT
Ducati
10
23
Michele PIRRO
Ducati
4
Moto2
Not since Phil Read in 1971 has a Brit won three intermediate class Grand Prix races in a row, but Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) now has. The number 22 dominated from the start to pull over eight seconds clear by the flag in the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, the 25 points giving him the Championship lead. Second went to Fabio Di Giannantonio (Lightech Speed Up) as the Italian got some redemption after a heartbreaker in the Aragon GP, with Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) doing some solid damage control to take third and stay on the podium.
From pole, Lowes got a perfect getaway and made the dream start. The holeshot was his as Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) made an shocker from P2 on the grid, with asRemy Gardner (Onexox TKKR SAG Team) grabbing second. Di Giannantonio was soon past the Australian though at Turn 5 and the fast-starting Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) was soon P3 from the third row of the grid. Lowes was powering off into the distance though and on Lap 2, his gap was 1.5 seconds over Di Giannantonio and continuing to rise.
On Lap 3, Gardner and Bastianini were through on Dixon in quick succession, with Lowes’ lead up to 1.7. Drama then unfolded in the Championship chase once again, with bad luck hitting Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) twice in a week as the Italian was down at Turn 1, losing the chance at more points to cut his deficit. Can he bounce back at Valencia?
Up front, Lowes’ lead was now at the two second mark, and Diggia was 1.3 clear of Gardner in the battle for the final podium place. Bastianini was on a charge though, past Gardner not long after, and with Dixon and Marcos Ramirez (Tennor American Racing) in hot pursuit. Lowes’ lead continued to soar and with Diggia also showing cracking pace, the Italian was leaving compatriot Bastianini behind in the close fight for fifth with seventh place Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40) joining the battle too.
Meanwhile, it was a tough race for former points leader Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46). The Italian was down in P14 behind Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) and Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), before Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) then overtook the Italian and suddenly, Marini was P15 with 12 laps to go, only on for a point. Then, fellow VR46 Academy rider Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) made it even worse as he demoted Marini to P16…
By then, Lowes was a comfortable four seconds ahead of Di Giannantonio, who was two seconds ahead of Bastianini in a tense as you were at the front. The battle for the top five was anything but that as Fernandez, Martin, Dixon and Navarro diced it out, with everything still to play for.
There were no such battles for Lowes, however. The Brit was over eight seconds clear by the flag, winning in dominant style and leading from lights to flag to stamp some authority on the Championship to boot – now seven points clear of Bastianini. Di Giannantonio took second and was back on the box after heartbreak last weekend, able to keep some time in hand ahead of Bastianini. For ‘Bestia’ though, it was exactly what he needed – more consistent podiums, with Lowes seemingly having more than the rest at MotorLand.
In the end, Gardner held onto P4 by just three tenths over a hard-charging Navarro as the Australian and Spaniard rounded out the top five, that scrap rolling on to the flag. Martin took P6 and Dixon got the better of Fernandez in the latter stages to take P7, the Spaniard forced to settle for eighth. Ramirez beat teammate Roberts by a second as the two American Racing riders finish P9 and P10 respectively.
And then came Marini. The Italian dug deep to claw back up to 11th place and he takes home some points, but the number 10 does now drop 23 points off Lowes in the title race to make it a triple-header of races to forget for the former Championship leader.
Vierge, Hafizh Syahrin (Kipin Energy Aspar Team Moto2), Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Simon Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) completed the points.
Kasma Daniel (Onexox TKKR SAG Team) and Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) crashed at Turn 1 unhurt, with Garzo, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40), Edgar Pons (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Manzi joining Bezzecchi in riders who crashed out in Teruel, too.
Three wins from three sees a high flying Lowes take the title lead with just three races to go in 2020. Seven points split the British rider from Bastianini, with Marini and Bezzecchi losing a lot of ground in Aragon. A weekend off now follows before two Valencia races and the season finale in Portimao come thick and fast, and the Moto2™ Championship scrap looks set to go all the way to the wire.
Sam Lowes – P1
“I’m really happy because last weekend we were strong, to win the race you have to finish but I felt like Bezzecchi crashed but he had the win, Diggia crashed… it was a great ride but I wanted to improve this weekend and today there was no doubt. I was the fastest guy all weekend, I made a great start and made the race. This is really important for me, there are three races to go, I’m in a good way but to win a race like this takes so much confidence. I said to myself before these three races, Aragon being a track I love, that if I can win these three then I have a chance at the Championship. I didn’t expect some results to go my way, but now we’re already leading and have a good chance. I’m really happy, the team has done an amazing job to improve from last weekend to this, that’s the sign of a great team when they give you a few tenths you don’t have to find yourself! Thanks to everyone that’s supported me the last couple of years and we’ll give everything in these last three races.”
Remy Gardner – P4
“It was a solid start to the weekend and I honestly didn’t expect to get the front row, but I was super happy with how things worked out. We worked hard as a team, we had decent pace and I was sure we could pull a good result out when it counted on Sunday. It was a good race and I am really happy with the points we scored. Aragon has always been a place where I have struggled in the past, if you had told me a year ago that we would come away from the double-header with a fifth and a fourth and a front row, I wouldn’t have believed you. I pushed hard from the beginning but was really struggling for rear grip at the end. It was good that I was able to fast in the begin and create the gap, as it helped when I needed to manage the tyre. Big thanks to the team, sixth in the championship, and I am already looking ahead to Valencia!”
Moto2 Race Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
Sam LOWES
Kalex
39m27.645
2
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO
Speed Up
+8.425
3
Enea BASTIANINI
Kalex
+10.871
4
Remy GARDNER
Kalex
+12.657
5
Jorge NAVARRO
Speed Up
+13.006
6
Jorge MARTIN
Kalex
+14.766
7
Jake DIXON
Kalex
+16.905
8
Augusto FERNANDEZ
Kalex
+17.027
9
Marcos RAMIREZ
Kalex
+21.888
10
Joe ROBERTS
Kalex
++22.951
11
Luca MARINI
Kalex
24.969
12
Xavi VIERGE
Kalex
+26.206
13
Hafizh SYAHRIN
Speed Up
+26.317
14
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
Kalex
+26.685
15
Simone CORSI
MV Agusta
+26.899
16
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
+27.404
17
Nicolò BULEGA
Kalex
+30.319
18
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA
Kalex
+30.707
19
Somkiat CHANTRA
Kalex
+30.98
20
Marcel SCHROTTER
Kalex
+31.501
21
Andi Farid IZDIHAR
Kalex
+47.953
22
Xavi CARDELUS
Speed Up
+48.375
23
Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI
NTS
+1m00.394
Not Classified
DNF
Stefano MANZI
MV Agusta
1 Lap
DNF
Edgar PONS
Kalex
2 Laps
DNF
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI
Kalex
6 Laps
DNF
Hector GARZO
Kalex
11 Laps
DNF
Marco BEZZECCHI
Kalex
18 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
DNF
Thomas LUTHI
Kalex
0 Lap
DNF
Kasma DANIEL
Kalex
0 Lap
Moto2 World Championship Standings
Pos
Rider
Bike
Points
1
Sam LOWES
Kalex
178
2
Enea BASTIANINI
Kalex
171
3
Luca MARINI
Kalex
155
4
Marco BEZZECCHI
Kalex
130
5
Jorge MARTIN
Kalex
105
6
Remy GARDNER
Kalex
85
7
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
Kalex
81
8
Joe ROBERTS
Kalex
80
9
Thomas LUTHI
Kalex
72
10
Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO
Speed Up
65
11
Xavi VIERGE
Kalex
63
12
Augusto FERNANDEZ
Kalex
62
13
Marcel SCHROTTER
Kalex
61
14
Aron CANET
Speed Up
61
15
Jorge NAVARRO
Speed Up
52
16
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI
Kalex
47
17
Jake DIXON
Kalex
44
18
Hector GARZO
Kalex
34
19
Marcos RAMIREZ
Kalex
32
20
Hafizh SYAHRIN
Speed Up
21
21
Stefano MANZI
MV Agusta
20
22
Nicolò BULEGA
Kalex
17
23
Simone CORSI
MV Agusta
15
24
Somkiat CHANTRA
Kalex
10
25
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
5
26
Edgar PONS
Kalex
5
27
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA
Kalex
5
28
Dominique AEGERTER
NTS
4
Moto3
Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) is truly the master of MotorLand! A week on from his first win of the year, the Spaniard went back-to-back with another stunning victory – and it’s Honda’s 800th in Grand Prix racing. It was as close as you like in classic Moto3 style, however, with Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) taking his first Grand Prix podium in second, just 0.051 off the win, and Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in third… still within a tenth and a half of the top.
It was polesitter Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who managed to hold on to the front through Turn 2, the Spaniard swooping round the outside of fast starter (Tony Arbolino Rivacold Snipers Team) and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) able to fight off key rival Albert Arenas (Solunion Aspar Team) – but not for long, as the Championship leader struck straight back. These were the early bouts though, and plenty was to come as the classic Moto3 freight train got in gear.
On take two in Teruel, there would be no group splintering off at the front as what seemed like the whole field snaked around MotorLand Aragon, locked together in lightweight class combat. As ever, the leading positions were ever-changing. Down the back straight it was slipstream city as Fernandez slipped from P1 to P3, but on two consecutive laps the Spaniard bit straight back at Turn 1. Fernandez, Arenas, Vietti and Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) all took turns leading on the opening handful of laps, with Fernandez on Lap 5 getting a bit beaten up heading into Turn 1 – the Aragon GP podium man shuffled down to P10. Arenas then took to lead on Lap 6 as Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power) did his usual Sunday morning routine of fighting his way through the pack, the South African up to P2.
For the next few laps, Arenas was holding firm at the front as the top 26 riders were all line astern. It really was a Moto3 freight train at MotorLand. However, Arenas was looking formidable and even when the chasing pack was in the slipstream, no one could get past him down the straight. The title chase leader wasn’t getting away though…
With nine to go, Toba tried to take the lead at Turn 1 but he was slightly wide and Arenas went aggressive on the switchback into Turn 2 and held P1, Toba losing out and Masia moving up to try an attack nexy.
Masia was using the Honda grunt down the back straight, but Arenas kept biting back at Turn 1. The Aspar rider was supreme on the brakes, but Masia wasn’t allowing him to get away. After an earlier moment, John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) was back in the hunt for victory and up to P4 and with three laps remaining as the battle royale kicked into overdrive. Masia made a move stick at Turn 1 on Arenas but the latter was back through at Turn 7. Toba was up the inside of both Binder and McPhee, but the Petronas rider got back into third as Masia aimed to get Arenas down the back straight.
However, Arenas continued his great run down the 1km straight. With two laps to go, Masia grabbed the lead at Turn 7 instead, but the Spaniard was then dropped back to third as both Arenas and McPhee carved past at Turn 12. Masia got McPhee back down the straight, but Arenas led onto the last lap and the scene was set.
Done waiting, Masia struck early to force his way through at Turn 1, with Toba making McPhee’s life difficult just behind too. Sasaki followed his compatriot through on McPhee as well, as Arenas squeezed past at Turn 7, and so it was all down to the back straight. Could Arenas hold it? Once more he got a great run out of Turn 15 but Masia was reeling him in and the two KTMs of Toba and Sasaki were tucked in too. Into the braking zone, all three soared past Arenas and Masia stole the lead with two corners to go, then ultimately holding it to the line to take his first back-to-back wins and Honda’s 800th Grand Prix win.
Toba had been in second but ran slightly wide, and Sasaki needed no further invitation. Slicing up the inside, the number 71 also got some great traction to home in on Masia – crossing the line just 0.051 down but nevertheless taking a stunning first Grand Prix podium to bounce back from some terrible luck in 2020. Toba was forced to settle for third but got back on the podium, also a bounce back.
Arenas slipped to P4 in the last two corners but crucially, he beats the likes of Vietti and Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia), key Championship contenders. Vietti finishes just three tenths off the win in fifth though, with McPhee in P6. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rode superbly to mount a comeback to P7, with Binder suffering in the final couple of laps to finish P8 ahead of Ogura. The Japanese rider was less than a second away from the win but still lost more ground in the fight for the title. Arbolino picks up P10, 2.259 seconds adrift from the win as a crash split the pack on the final lap.
That crash was late heartbreak for Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) as Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) crashed ahead of him, leaving the Spaniard nowhere to go, and he lost out on a solid result after slicing through from P28 on the grid. There were no other crashes.
Another rip-roaring Moto3 race goes down to the wire, with Masia making history for the second weekend in a row. What does all this mean for the Championship? Well, Arenas extends his advantage to 19 points over Ogura with three races to go. Vietti is 20 points behind Arenas with Masia now right in the hunt, 24 points split tdown heading into the final Valencia and Portimao rounds. Game on!
Jaume Masia – P1
“I’m really happy, it’s an amazing sensation to win back to back. I’m really happy because after the win last week I felt a bit more pressure because I was closer than before in the championship so I tried to keep my mind calm and keep working with my team. I kept believing in myself, today I struggled a bit more because the rhythm was really fast, it seems like I was fighting all race with the KTMs, they brake really strong so I struggled more but I did the same strategy as last week. Today I struggled more in the straight as the KTMs were so fast but we’re here again, two wins, closer and we’ll see.”
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) can add a maiden pole position to his tally in 2020 as the Italian proved the only man able to dip into the 1:38s in qualifying at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, only a tenth shy of the lap record. He was two tenths clear of teammate Fabio Quartararo, who starts second, with Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) taking third as the number 46 gets a front row start for his 350th premier class race. Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), meanwhile, starts P17…
In Q1 Dovizioso was one of the main names fighting to make it through, but all did not go to plan for the Italian. Ultimately it was Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) who was quickest, with Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) snatching second right at the end in some late heartbreak for Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar). Rins now lines up in P13, and Dovizioso down in P17.
It was a Yamaha stranglehold at the beginning of Q2 as Morbidelli set the first banker, with Rossi then taking over at the top before his teammate Maverick Viñales hit back. Quartararo, meanwhile, ran wide as he got his YZR-M1 all sorts of crossed up at the tricky Turn 10 – just as his team-mate Morbidelli slammed in the fastest lap of the weekend to go provisional pole again with a 1:39.110.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) then also got it wrong at Turn 10 but unlike Quartararo, Oliveira was down – thankfully unhurt. Next to get the hammer down were two Ducatis – Miller and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), and Miller only had one set of fresh soft tyres available after coming through Q1. The Aussie made it count though, slotting into second just 0.115 off Morbidelli.
As the final runs dawned, Quartararo then found himself rumbling out of pitlane with five minutes to go having not set a lap time after his earlier Turn 10 moment. The Frenchman and last year’s poleman was P12, but that was soon going to change as four Yamahas lit up the timing screens. Halfway around the lap, Quartararo was 0.132 under Morbidelli’s time, although the number 21 was going even quicker. Over the line though it was Quartararo who improved this time around to a 1:39.008, with Morbidelli unable to – and nor did Viñales. Rossi, however, did, with the ‘Doctor’ leaping up from P7 to P3 to make it a provisional Yamaha front row lockout.
On the next lap, Morbidelli was flying yet again. The San Marino GP winner was 0.082 under Quartararo’s time at Sector 3, but could he hold it through Sector 4? He could. Ultimately, Morbidelli did more than hold his advantage and the final sector was a stunner as he shot to the top, over two tenths clear. Quartararo went in search of a final lap charge but it didn’t materialise for the MotoGP sophomore, and no one had an answer for Morbidelli.
That makes it a first premier class pole position for the recent first time winner, with Quartararo set to launch from P2 and ahead of all his closest challengers in the overall standings. Rossi makes it a Yamaha 1-2-3 for the second time in three races and takes his first front row of the season… as well as sounding pretty confident for Sunday.
Miller did an impressive job to qualify P4 as the leading Ducati rider, beating Viñales by just over a tenth as the number 12 lost out on making it another Yamaha 1-2-3-4. To the right of Viñales is Zarco, his final lap moving him up to just 0.007 slower than Viñales’ effort to give the Frenchman his best grid slot since his Czech GP pole.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) spearheads Row 3 ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with both riders also looking like strong contenders in the race – and Mir having already taken a podium from P11 on the grid last weekend. Ducati Team’s Danilo Petrucci joins the Spaniards on the third row for his second consecutive P9 start.
Rookie and Brno winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completes the top 10, ahead of Nakagami and Oliveira after the earlier crash for the Portuguese rider.
Dovizioso leads by one point as it stands and he’s down in 17th, so it seems like Sunday is a prime opportunity for Quartararo, Viñales and Mir to strike back. The Catalan GP promises to be another phenomenal MotoGP race, and a pivotal one at that.
Tune in and don’t forget, the premier class get underway an hour later than normal this weekend, so it’s 2300 AEST tonight.
2020 MotoGP Misano Qualifying Quotes
Franco Morbidelli – P1
“It was great to be first today; to see that I was the fastest is a really good feeling. It’s always difficult to beat Fabio on a hot lap, so I’m very happy about qualifying today. I was feeling great on the bike and I felt that I could push a lot, on both tyres as well. Now it’s a matter of trying to refine everything for tomorrow and we will try to make a good start. We have a good pace, but there are many riders with a similar pace to us. It will be important to try to improve a little bit more for tomorrow, but I’m sure it is going to be a good race. I also want to congratulate Valentino on one more year in MotoGP and tell him that he is moving to a great team. It will be nice to have him as a team-mate.”
Fabio Quartararo – P2
“I’m really happy to be on the front row again in Barcelona. I think it will be really important to make a good start tomorrow. I’m feeling confident on the bike. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow, but our pace looks great and I think the only problem we have is which tyre to choose. It’s a difficult decision, but I’m happy with the job that the team has done. We will see what it is like tomorrow and then make our decision. I’m sure everyone is in the same position, so let’s see what we can do. Regarding the official announcement of the agreement of Valentino and the team, I’m really happy for him, for the team, and also for me because I like having him on track. “
Valentino Rossi – P3
“It‘s a great result to be on the front row. Today is a special day, because I signed the contract for next year, I‘m very happy. We worked well from yesterday, and today in FP4 I had good pace, also with the used tyre. So, I knew I could do a good lap, but it‘s not always easy. At the end, I was able to push at the limit, riding well without making any mistakes. I‘m very happy to be on the front row, because this is very important for the race. But the most important thing is that the bike is competitive. All the Yamaha riders have a good pace, so we need to make a good start, do everything right from the beginning, and then we‘ll see. I am competitive and strong. I can be fast for all the race. But MotoGP is always difficult, and things can change fast from one day to the other. To beat the others you have to arrive at the chequered flag earlier than them – that‘s the target.”
Jack Miller – P4
“I’am quite happy with the set up that we have tried during FP4, I definitively had a better feeling. Today’s weather conditions were acceptable and the wind was not as strong as yesterday, which helped. We have to be very careful due to the lack of grip. I hope to have a good race tomorrow.”
Maverick Vinales – P5
“The start is always crucial and fifth position is difficult, but it‘s not a really bad result considering we struggled a lot with the tyres this afternoon. Tomorrow we‘ll try to make another step forward. I think maybe we can find something really good for tomorrow. On rhythm we are good, we are very consistent and that is the most important. Tomorrow I‘ll go crazy on the first lap to move up to second or third, and then we‘ll see. What we understand is that we have a good pace in the last ten or twelve laps, which is important because this track is very demanding on the rear tyre. We will see tomorrow, but we are confident for the race.”
Johann Zarco – P6
“Starting from the second row is a very good thing for tomorrow’s race. Since yesterday, we are taking steps forward, we have improved our feeling with the bike and our race pace. Also yesterday we have improved our feelings with the used tire to be able to make a good end of the race and try to fight for the podium.”
Pol Espargaro – P7
“A so-so day. I’m happy because the lap-time was not bad but having seen our pace in FP4 with a used tire maybe I was expecting a bit more. My feeling in qualifying was not too bad but we didn’t get that extra grip in other places when we put a fresh tire on the bike. Anyway, P7 is OK and the straight is long here so let’s see if we can get some positions back at the start, make a good rhythm and see what will happen.”
Joan Mir – P8
“My target was the second row, and I came close to it. I’m still trying to improve my qualifying performances, but it takes time and I’m working on it. I’m happy with eighth but I struggled to make one quick lap today so that cost me a higher place, but my race pace is there. I will give everything tomorrow to have a strong race, it’s going to be very competitive I think!”
Danilo Petrucci – P9
“This morning, we have finalised our work following the direction identified yesterday afternoon. After getting direct access to Q2, I managed to complete another good lap in qualifying: we are all very close, so I am satisfied with the third row. It won’t be an easy race tomorrow: it will be difficult to make the right tyre choice and manage them for all the duration of the Grand Prix, especially given the track conditions and the low temperatures to which we are not used. However, I remain confident, and I want to thank the team for all the work they have done.”
Brad Binder – P10
“It was tough. I wanted to push and try to do a good job but I wasn’t comfortable with the front end. When I wanted to push into the left-handers I just kept washing the front tire. It was really difficult: I felt like I was riding around with one hand in my pocket because it was such hard work. We’ll sit down and make a plan for tomorrow.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P11
“In FP3, at the end of the session, we tried to improve the lap time, but unluckily I had a crash at turn two which was due to a cold tyre as the temperature wasn’t high enough and I lost the front. I’m sorry to the team as we lost the opportunity to stay in the top 10 and we went into Q1 qualifying. Q1 was good and the lap time was quite good, we were able to make our best lap time of the weekend and go into Q2 which was really positive for the team and myself. But in Q2 we had only one new tyre because we came from Q1 and everyone else had two. So P11, I’m a little bit disappointed, but we had a crash this morning and the situation was not the best, but we finally made it through to Q2. P11 is not too bad, but the biggest thing for tomorrow is tyre management as this track is so difficult and this track is so long. But we had good pace in FP4 which is a good sign, so we’ll try our best and hopefully we can get a good position in the race.”
Miguel Oliveira – P12
“It was a tough Qualifying. This morning we finished with a very good feeling. This afternoon, the conditions changed a bit and I was not so comfortable riding the medium front. I crashed on my fastest lap in Qualifying and lost a bit of feeling, which means I couldn’t do any better than this morning. We hope to do a clever race and arrive as close to the top as we can.”
Alex Rins – P13
“I just needed one more flying lap in Q1 and I’m sure I could’ve made it into final qualifying, I was so close! But anyway, I feel good with my race pace so I think I can get a nice result. I will fight tomorrow and try to put passes in on those around me to get the best position I can.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P14
“I will start from 14th place and I’m not happy about it. During the Q1 I messed up because I wasn’t fast in T4 otherwise I would have been in Q2. It will be a difficult race, I think that the pace will be slower and the most important thing will be the tires retaining, no one expected that the conditions would be like these. I have to do a good start and to recover positions since the first laps. I’m confident for tomorrow because I know to have a good race pace and I can take an advantage thanks to the engine of Ducati.”
Aleix Espargaro – P15
“Definitely a not an easy day. Today, I gave it all once again to get into the top 10. We are competitive, but we are still lacking a few tenths to battle with the best. Grip is still extremely low. If you push too hard, you end up falling like I did. The crash left me in pain. I’ll need to use my head in the race tomorrow. There are a lot of very fast riders who are behind me on the grid. I think the best strategy is to stay calm in the early laps and try to conserve the tyre as much as possible.”
Cal Crutchlow – P16
“Today I felt quite positive with the bike, I was able to push in a good way. Overall I still have some problems and pain in my arm, so we’re trying to manage that as best as possible. I was disappointed I wasn’t able to go through to Q2 because I think I should have been able to, but I got held up in my lap. Also the same thing happened on my qualifying lap (in FP3) as a rider pulled in front of me in the last sector and wasted my lap and also my next lap as they made a mistake in turn one and pulled back in front of me again! But this is the situation, I qualified 16th today but I’m quite positive about our race pace tomorrow and think we can have a good race and improve our position.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P17
“Unfortunately I am still struggling to understand how to brake properly, and obviously this complicates everything, especially in qualifying. As I am not feeling comfortable when braking, I can’t be as fast as I want and try to make the most of the tyres. It’s a shame because our pace for the race is not bad, but the position from which we will start tomorrow will definitely affect our performance.”
Alex Marquez – P18
“Today was a difficult situation, I wasn’t able to improve my time a lot as yesterday I did a 40.4 and today only a 40.1. We weren’t able to make a big step between days, so we are a little bit further behind. Tomorrow we have Warm Up to try something, especially on the electronics side to try and improve the rear grip. Managing the tyres will be important tomorrow, we saw in FP4 there is some variety with how fast riders are. Still the grip around the circuit isn’t high, so we need to try and find a solution.”
Iker Lecuona – P19
“It’s difficult to say a lot about today. In FP4, I tried to improve my feeling with the bike, we didn’t change anything and I was just trying. In Qualifying I managed to improve my lap time. Finally, it was not bad, but not good enough. Tomorrow is a new day and the most important of the week anyway.”
Stefan Bradl – P20
“We had quite an average day today, the crash in FP4 which was a bit unlucky. Our first run in FP4 was quite good and I was happy with the pace. We wanted to try some changes to the setup, but the fall upset our plans again. I was expecting a bit more from today but I’m happy overall because our pace in FP4 is looking good. I’m hoping to make up some positions early and focus on my own race, this circuit is always tricky – especially with these cooler conditions.”
Bradley Smith – P21
“This morning, things started on the right foot. I had a good feeling and a promising pace. We changed the settings for FP4 but it didn’t work. I crashed with the first bike, so I had to use the version with different engine specs in qualifying. We’ll try to get this morning’s sensations back in warmup. In the race, tyre wear will be a determining factor. As for us, our only choice is to push hard straight away and then we’ll just have to deal with the lack of grip.”
Tito Rabat – P22
“In the morning we did a very good practice, but in the afternoon I don’t know very well what happened since I tried to improve my time but I was not able to. It is the first time that I cannot improve my time in the afternoon session. It is true that in qualifying I was very strong and I almost fell at Turn 10. With my eyes set on tomorrow and we hope to continue improving.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“It was another very positive qualifying day for Yamaha, securing its second lock-out of the season. We are very pleased for Valentino to see him back on the front row, which is well deserved. Both he and the team have been working really hard, and third place on the grid is a nice achievement on such an important day for Vale. It‘s a shame that Maverick wasn‘t able to produce the lap times he had in mind, especially after the really good pace he showed in FP4. His goal was to be on the first row, but we know he has the rhythm to join the fight at the front. Before tomorrow’s Warm Up, the team will try to further improve the area of the bike that didn’t give him the right confidence. We will put in 100% effort to make sure we are ready for the fight, especially as this is a Monster Energy sponsored event. We want to see our riders celebrate on the podium at the end of it.”
Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager
“Today was positive in terms of our riders’ race pace, and they are both happy with their GSX-RRs. Everyone struggled a bit today due to the lower temperatures, but we have a competitive pace anyway. Joan qualified on the third row which is an improvement compared to last week, and Alex only missed Q2 by a very small amount. I’m sure both riders can have a good race tomorrow, we’re looking forward to it.”
MotoGP Qualifying Results
Pos
Rider
Bike
Q
Time/Gap
1
Franco MORBIDELLI
YAMAHA
Q2
1m38.798
2
Fabio QUARTARARO
YAMAHA
Q2
+0.210
3
Valentino ROSSI
YAMAHA
Q2
+0.331
4
Jack MILLER
DUCATI
Q2
+0.427
5
Maverick VIÑALES
YAMAHA
Q2
+0.573
6
Johann ZARCO
DUCATI
Q2
+0.580
7
Pol ESPARGARO
KTM
Q2
+0.697
8
Joan MIR
SUZUKI
Q2
+0.830
9
Danilo PETRUCCI
DUCATI
Q2
+0.843
10
Brad BINDER
KTM
Q2
+0.861
11
Takaaki NAKAGAMI
HONDA
Q2
+0.915
12
Miguel OLIVEIRA
KTM
Q2
+1.390
13
Alex RINS
SUZUKI
Q1
(*) 0.352
14
Francesco BAGNAIA
DUCATI
Q1
(*) 0.378
15
Aleix ESPARGARO
APRILIA
Q1
(*) 0.574
16
Cal CRUTCHLOW
HONDA
Q1
(*) 0.589
17
Andrea DOVIZIOSO
DUCATI
Q1
(*) 0.710
18
Alex MARQUEZ
HONDA
Q1
(*) 0.765
19
Iker LECUONA
KTM
Q1
(*) 1.091
20
Stefan BRADL
HONDA
Q1
(*) 1.322
21
Bradley SMITH
APRILIA
Q1
(*) 1.439
22
Tito RABAT
DUCATI
Q1
(*) 1.614
Moto2 Qualifying Report
Another week, another lap record! Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) has done it again in the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, putting in a 1:43.355 to set pole position and a new lap record at the track. He’s joined on the front row by Q1 graduate Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) and podium finisher last time out Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS). Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), who’s only five points off Marini in the standings, starts down in tenth.
In Q1, it was Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) who went top, followed by Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Navarro and Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) as they headed through – leaving one surprise in their wake in the form of Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2), who missed out and starts P19 after also crashing on Saturday morning, rider ok.
Marini was quickest from the get go in Q2, with teammate Marco Bezzecchi going second in the early stages before Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Lowes leapfrogged him to sit as Marini’s closest challengers. That soon changed, however, as Marini went quicker again and Bezzecchi following suit to take back second. Q1 graduate Dixon then moved up into third as Marini went even quicker, setting the fastest ever Moto2™ lap around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. His 1:43.355 moved him well clear of the competition, and as it turned out it would secure him pole.
Dixon was then setting red sectors and the British rider pipped Bezzecchi to P2, but the Brit was still 0.349 off Marini’s time. Another Q1 graduate in the form of Navarro then shot up into provisional second, cutting the gap to Marini down to a tenth and a half. Navarro’s team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) and Lowes then interchanged P3 lap times to push Dixon down to P5, with Di Giannantonio forced to settle for P4.
That was pretty much that at the top. Marini was untouchable, with Navaaro in second and Lowes taking third from ‘Diggia’, leaving Dixon down in fifth. The Brit nevertheless claims his best-ever Moto2™ qualifying result for the second weekend in a row though – going one better than Misano. Bezzecchi will start on the second row alongside ‘Diggia’ and Dixon, the Italian forced to settle for sixth.
Joe Roberts spearheads Row 3 in P7 after coming through Q1, taking his first Saturday top 10 since his Czech GP pole position. After finishing second in FP3, rookie Marcos Ramirez makes it two Tennor American Racing machines on the third row as he took his best qualifying of 2020 to sit in P8. Xavi Vierge completes the third row.
Remy Gardner (Onexox TKKR SAG Team) completed the top 10 in Q2, but after crashing under yellow flags on Friday, the Australian faces a six-place grid penalty. What does that mean? It means Bastianini will move up a position into the top 10 on the grid – and every little helps for the Italian who faces a tough task to mix it with Marini on Sunday afternoon.
Luca Marini
“I felt very good from the beginning of the weekend, it wasn’t easy and I didn’t expect it because it’s a very different situation to Misano, but the bike is still working well. So I don’t have so much rear grip but for everyone it’s the same so that’s great. I tried to manage the rear in practice because I want to understand how it will be in the race. In the quali I focused on being precise, and with a good lap and all sectors together. I think I did my job, and I’m very happy to start from pole because it will be important tomorrow, but I think Speed Up and Sam are strong here so it won’t be an easy race, but for today I’m happy and for the work I’ve done with my crew.”
Moto2 Qualifying Results
Pos
Rider
Motorcycle
Q
Time/Gap
1
Luca MARINI
KALEX
Q2
1’43.355
2
Jorge NAVARRO
SPEED UP
Q2
0.181
3
Sam LOWES
KALEX
Q2
0.282
4
Fabio DI GIANNANTONI ITA
SPEED UP
Q2
0.297
5
Jake DIXON
KALEX
Q2
0.349
6
Marco BEZZECCHI
KALEX
Q2
0.359
7
Joe ROBERTS
KALEX
Q2
0.386
8
Marcos RAMIREZ
KALEX
Q2
0.508
9
Xavi VIERGE
KALEX
Q2
0.516
10
Remy GARDNER
KALEX
Q2
0.519
11
Enea BASTIANINI
KALEX
Q2
0.553
12
Thomas LUTHI
KALEX
Q2
0.561
13
Augusto FERNANDEZ
KALEX
Q2
0.601
14
Jorge MARTIN
KALEX
Q2
0.691
15
Marcel SCHROTTER
KALEX
Q2
0.888
16
Nicolò BULEGA
KALEX
Q2
0.994
17
Edgar PONS
KALEX
Q2
1.055
18
Tetsuta NAGASHIMA
KALEX
Q2
1.079
19
Aron CANET
SPEED UP
Q1
(*) 0.518
20
Stefano MANZI
MV AGUSTA
Q1
(*) 0.612
21
Simone CORSI
MV AGUSTA
Q1
(*) 0.769
22
Hector GARZO
KALEX
Q1
(*) 0.831
23
Lorenzo DALLA PORTA ITA
KALEX
Q1
(*) 0.860
24
Lorenzo BALDASSARRI ITA
KALEX
Q1
(*) 0.899
25
Hafizh SYAHRIN
SPEED UP
Q1
(*) 1.048
26
Somkiat CHANTRA
KALEX
Q1
(*) 1.064
27
Kasma DANIEL
KALEX
Q1
(*) 1.443
28
Bo BENDSNEYDER
NTS
Q1
(*) 1.519
29
Andi Farid IZDIHAR
KALEX
Q1
(*) 1.728
30
Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI
NTS
Q1
(*) 2.084
Moto3
Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) has taken his first pole position of 2020 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the Italian slamming in a new lap record 1:47.762 to pull an incredible sixth tenths clear of Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3). And it’s the exact same 0.618 gap to both, with Fernandez and Rodrigo setting identical laps but the former’s second fastest effort ensuring he starts second.
In Q1 there was already plenty to talk about as Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) stole the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Incredibly, Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3), closest challenger Ogura and third overall John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) all found themselves in the session, and it was mission accomplished for Arenas and McPhee as they moved through behind Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Q1’s fastest man Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team). But Ogura? The Japanese rider suffered his worst qualifying of the season by a whopping nine places, so he’ll be facing a serious mountain on Sunday from P24 on the grid.
Once Q2 was underway, Fernandez set the first benchmark of the session with a 1:48.611 to lead Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power) and Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in the early stages, but Arenas was next on the attack and into provisional P2 on his first flying lap. Arbolino then went top by just 0.045, moving the goalposts ahead of a frantic final couple of laps for the field.
On his second run, Fernandez reclaimed provisional pole by 0.186, but the standings were soon to get a shake up. Seven riders were lighting up the timing screens as the 18-rider field chased pole, but the fastest of them all was Arbolino. Over three tenths under Fernandez’ lap time halfway around the lap, the Italian was nearly four tenths under by the third split. Making no mistakes through the final sector and keeping it together across the line, Arbolino’s time was astonishing. Pole secured, lap record obliterated and over six tenths clear.
There was last minute drama for Fernandez too as the Spaniard tumbled out at the final corner, but rider ok and ready to line up second. Rodrigo takes the outside of the front row after setting his best time late on, and although it’s identical to Fernandez’ best, the Argentine’s second fastest time was slower so he takes P3.
Arenas will be stoked to be heading Row 2 in fourth, the highest-placed of the current title-challenging trio. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) played the risky strategy of not setting a lap time until the final minute, but it paid off as the Spaniard claimed P5 in Q2. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) completes the second row in sixth, the Italian 0.8 shy of Arbolino’s pace but only just over two tenths away from P2.
Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team) spearheads the third row in seventh as the Czech rider took his best Saturday afternoon result of the season, joined by Toba and Binder on Row 3. The Japanese rider improved on his final flying lap to get the better of the South African, who was unable to beat his second lap set early on.
Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) rounds out the top 10 in Moto3 Q2, joined on Row 4 by Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) and McPhee. That’s now three races in a row that McPhee has failed to qualify inside the top 10, although he did still win one of them… and Sunday is very much another day.
Tony Arbolino
“It was an incredible lap, I think from the first run I saw I was first and went in the box and saw the data. It wasn’t a perfect lap, I said ‘ok, we can do better’ but I didn’t expect to do that lap. We put the bike the same as last year and we’re faster in QP and a bit more difficult in the race, but it was an incredible lap with 0.6 to second and we did an incredible job. We didn’t stop working every day so I think we deserve it! But tomorrow we need to get a lot of points because we’re not so close to first in the Championship so we have a lot of work to do tomorrow!”
Moto3 Qualifying Results
Pos
Rider
Motorcycle
Q
Time/Gap
1
Tony ARBOLINO
HONDA
Q2
1m47.762
2
Raul FERNANDEZ
KTM
Q2
+0.618
3
Gabriel RODRIGO
HONDA
Q2
+0.618
4
Albert ARENAS
KTM
Q2
+0.628
5
Jaume MASIA
HONDA
Q2
+0.728
6
Niccolò ANTONELLI
HONDA
Q2
+0.832
7
Filip SALAC
HONDA
Q2
+0.942
8
Kaito TOBA
KTM
Q2
+0.967
9
Darryn BINDER
KTM
Q2
+1.026
10
Sergio GARCIA
HONDA
Q2
+1.062
11
Andrea MIGNO
KTM
Q2
+1.111
12
John MCPHEE
HONDA
Q2
+1.113
13
Dennis FOGGIA
HONDA
Q2
+1.176
14
Jeremy ALCOBA
HONDA
Q2
+1.207
15
Romano FENATI
HUSQVARNA
Q2
+1.323
16
Alonso LOPEZ
HUSQVARNA
Q2
+1.464
17
Celestino VIETTI
KTM
Q2
+1.494
18
Ayumu SASAKI
KTM
Q2
+1.616
19
Jose Julian GARCIA
HONDA
Q1
(*) 0.436
20
Riccardo ROSSI
KTM
Q1
(*) 0.452
21
Carlos TATAY
KTM
Q1
(*) 0.526
22
Deniz ÖNCÜ
KTM
Q1
(*) 0.728
23
Jason DUPASQUIER
KTM
Q1
(*) 0.829
24
Ai OGURA
HONDA
Q1
(*) 0.888
25
Stefano NEPA
KTM
Q1
(*) 0.925
26
Ryusei YAMANAKA
HONDA
Q1
(*) 1.066
27
Khairul Idham PAWI
HONDA
Q1
(*) 1.318
28
Davide PIZZOLI
KTM
Q1
(*) 1.394
29
Yuki KUNII
HONDA
Q1
(*) 1.543
30
Maximilian KOFLER
KTM
Q1
(*) 2.104
31
Barry BALTUS
KTM
FP3
0.819
2020 MotoGP Calendar
Rnd
Date
Circuit
1
08 March (Moto2/Moto3)
Losail International Circuit
2
19 July
Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3
26 July
Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4
09 August
Automotodrom Brno
5
16 August
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6
23 August
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7
13 September
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8
20 September
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9
27 September
Barcelona – Catalunya
10
11 October
Le Mans
11
18 October
MotorLand Aragón
12
25 October
MotorLand Aragón
13
08 November
Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14
15 November
Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15
22 November
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
Gran Premio Lenovo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini Schedule
Franco Morbidelli leads Friday Practice at Catalunya
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was struggling with illness the week after his incredible maiden MotoGP win in the San Marino GP, but now he’s back – and back on top. The Italian shot to P1 in the afternoon on Friday to rule the roost, a tenth ahead of Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing), with rookie Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) searing up to third by the end of the day’s action.
FP1
The morning, however, belonged to Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as the Frenchman went faster and faster to end the session over four tenths clear of nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). Dovizioso, in turn, was a couple of tenths clear of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) down in third, and the two spent a while together on track, whether by accident or design.
It was an uncharacteristic start to the event for Mir just before that, however, as the Spaniard crashed at Turn 5 unhurt, although upon getting back on the Mayorcan went quicker.
Fourth place went the way of Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as last week’s winner was just 0.045 off Mir, that making the top four in the title fight also the top four in FP1. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was less than a tenth off Viñales, in an impressive fifth.
Morbidelli, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) completed the top ten, Crutchlow impressing on his return from injury. As well as Mir’s crash, there was a tumble for Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) at Turn 2.
FP2
In the much windier afternoon, Morbidelli made sure Petronas Yamaha SRT were top in both sessions of the day. Morbidelli, Binder and Rins all rose into the top four to slot in behind FP1 pacesetter Quartararo initially, with Viñales and Rossi also improving their times. After the first few bouts, Dovizioso, Quartararo, Mir and Aleix Espargaro were the only riders inside the top 10 who hadn’t gone faster in the first 15 minutes of FP2.
Morbidelli was then down at Turn 10 – unhurt – with 24 minutes to go. Before that, Zarco also crashed at Turn 5 – rider ok – and Repsol Honda Team’s Stefan Bradl also went down, the latter at Turn 2. Lecuona later suffered a second crash of the day. Wind or grip? The session was certainly a tougher one in terms of tumbles.
Heading into the final 10 minutes of FP2, there were 12 riders within a second and with automatic entry to Q2 already on everyone’s minds, that meant one thing – cue the time attacks!
The first benchmark came from Binder as he leapt up from outside the top 20 in FP1 to lead the way, four tenths clear. Morbidelli and Zarco were on a charge but lost those laps after Yellow Flags for Lecuona’s crash, but next time around the duo became the first and only riders into the 1:39s, demoting Binder to third overall.
Viñales also struck late to slot into fourth, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). Every rider bar three improved their time in the afternoon by the time the flag came out: Dovizioso, teammate Danilo Petrucci and Quartararo were the outliers.
Overall then, it’s the FP2 fastest five of Morbidelli, Zarco, Binder, Viñales and Nakagami who are also fastest overall, with Quartararo’s FP1 time slotting him into sixth on the combined time-sheets. That shuffles Mir down to P7 overall, ahead of Pol Espargaro, Alex Marquez and Rossi. The latter duo are the most successful on the grid at the track across all classes, with three and five wins, respectively.
Next up is another group who all improved, but remain outside the top ten: Rins is 11th and the first man looking to move forward in FP3, ahead of Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaro. Miller held back by struggles for grip and also coping with the wind.
Dovizioso, who didn’t go faster in the afternoon, ended the day in P15 overall. For him more than many, FP3 is a chance to shoot back towards the top.
Friday Rider Reflections
Franco Morbidelli – P1
“I felt immediately very good with the bike today and I was able to be quite fast this morning. I think we did the right modifications this afternoon to improve the pace and I was able to be fast. I’m happy with today. I went in too hot to Turn 10 with cold tyres on my first flying lap, it was too early to push that hard and I ended up on the ground. I wanted to get the bike back to the pitbox to keep working with the used tyres, but unfortunately I was not able to. I changed my focus to the flying lap with soft tyres and was able to put in a quick lap. It was a really positive Friday for us. This weekend will be interesting because the conditions could play a big part, there is a lot of wind and the grip level of the track is slightly strange. We need to see how it develops over the weekend and try to make a strategy, but at the moment it is really difficult to predict.”
Johann Zarco – P2
“It has been a good day today in a track that I like a lot. In the morning with a new tire it was not easy to set a good time.The afternoon training was weird, I had a small crash possibly caused by the low temperature on the left side of the tire.Despite this I managed to go fast, at the end of the session on soft tires I managed to go fast and finish the day in second position.”
Maverick Vinales – P4
“I’m very happy with last week’s victory, it gives us some extra confidence, and now we’re in Montmeló, which is a track that I love and where I can ride very fast. The first day has been good. In the morning I felt fast straight away, but in the afternoon the conditions were more difficult because of the wind, but I think we rode well. Our lap times were quite good, and the most important thing is that the feeling is there. I was feeling comfortable on the bike. Honestly, I didn’t do a very good hot lap, because I was on the medium front and I didn’t want to take the risk to push, but I’m quite happy. We are trying to improve and understand the bike. We just try to remain calm and go with the flow in the corners. Tomorrow we will focus on the soft-soft tyre combination to see if it works for us over the race distance. We’ll also try to make another step, especially concerning the race set-up, but I feel strong. If I can push for the pole position, I will, but our main objective is to be on the front row, and then we’ll see where we stand.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P5
“Today was a bit of a strange day. The track condition was not the best and, normally, from FP1 to FP2 you can feel there is more rubber on the track and more grip. But today I didn’t feel any improvement on the track because it was so windy, this afternoon was maybe worse than this morning, and conditions were so difficult. I really struggled to keep hold of the bike. At the end of FP2 we put a new soft rear tyre on and were able to improve the lap time and finish P5 overall, so we’re into the top 10 and this is a good start for us. But we definitely need to improve for the race distance, because with the medium compound we are not strong enough. So we’ll work hard to prepare a good bike for tomorrow.”
Fabio Quartararo – P6
“I was not feeling well yesterday and, although I am better today, I am still not at 100%. However, the feeling on the bike was great, this morning we managed to make quite a good lap time. The track condition was a bit strange, but we finished in a good position. This afternoon we continued with the used tyre, did a lot of laps and the feeling was great. I was surprised that we could make the quick laps we did on these tyres. Unfortunately when I went to do the time attack, I had a problem with the brakes and so couldn’t put the lap together. We still have FP3 tomorrow to really push and see our true potential. I’m feeling good on the bike and let’s see tomorrow if we can improve something for the race.”
Joan Mir – P7
“Today has been a bit tough for everyone because the track is slippery and it’s really difficult to find the best tyre option, it’s also quite windy. This first day hasn’t really shown who’s on the pace and who’s not. I worked a lot with a used medium rear tyre which gave me some info for the race. I didn’t really try to set fast laps today, but my lap times weren’t bad anyway. Qualifying will be interesting tomorrow.”
Alex Marquez – P9
“It was not a bad day for us, it is really positive to be ninth. Maybe not every rider was pushing to their maximum today, but it’s a positive sign. I am feeling good on the bike, even if we are suffering a bit with rear grip – I think all riders are finding the rear grip tough. It’s a lovely track but there’s no grip and we have to try and manage it, hopefully with more riding it improves. I am happy with how this first day has gone, I am using everything we have been learning in the previous races and the test and we are making progress.”
Valentino Rossi – P10
“The conditions are difficult, because the grip level is very low. So, you have to ride the bike in a different way compared to Misano and manage the sliding and spinning rear as much as possible – which is difficult. But, apart from that, I don’t feel so bad. Today was positive because my pace is quite good, I feel good with the bike. It works well, and I feel comfortable. For sure, we will have to work a lot, because everybody will improve for tomorrow, but the first day wasn’t so bad. I’m in P10, but I think my potential is higher. The windy conditions were difficult this afternoon, especially on the front straight, because when you exit from the last corner you don’t have any protection from the wind. The straight is also very fast, and at the end of it the wind is quite inconsistent and it moves the bike a lot. That’s quite scary. But it looks like it will be less windy tomorrow, so I think FP3 will be very crucial, as always, for staying in the top 10. I think everybody will be pushing at the maximum. After that I will try to do a good qualifying and try to start from the first two rows. Right now it’s still open between the soft and the medium tyres, especially on the rear. We need to make some more laps before we make a decision. Usually at this track the grip level improves on the second day, so we will see tomorrow.”
Alex Rins – P11
“Today I got back the good feeling that I didn’t have in Misano. This morning I suffered a bit with the low grip on the track, but in the afternoon I started to really enjoy riding here and I managed a lot of consistent lap times. My aim is to take another step forward tomorrow in terms of one lap pace and then I’ll be hoping to qualify well.”
Jack Miller – P12
“Unfortunately a combination of things weren’t helpful, I did not have grip and the wind was very strong. Also, I struggled a lot with the front wheel because of the wind. Let’s hope it will be better tomorrow as the weather forecast should improve.”
Cal Crutchlow – P13
“It was positive to be back out on the track today with the LCR Honda team. We worked in a good way, I tried the setting we had for the race here last year when I was really competitive in the middle and the end of the race. But today that didn’t work with the 2020 Honda and we have to go back to the drawing board a little bit to improve my feeling with the bike. We had some instability with the bike, but a lot of this was due to the wind today as it was really, really high. But we worked in a good way and it was nice to be back in the garage with the boys. I felt like I was competitive, I wasn’t fast enough, but I was competitive. I still have some pain with my arm, the ankle felt ok, but my tendon in the arm is causing me some bother and the arm is very swollen again, so we’ll have to do the best treatment we can so we can ride well tomorrow.”
Aleix Espargaro – P14
“A difficult day, but I felt good. I like this layout and I had fun riding today. The grip is extremely low, especially if we compare it to Misano. Because of this, I did not take too many risks, as it would have been incredibly easy to make a mistake. Unfortunately, I do not have good sensations with the medium tyre but, because of tyre allocation, I was only able to use the soft in the last 10 minutes of FP2. I felt much better with that one, but I was unable to do a good lap, partly because of a yellow flag. Tomorrow morning I’ll try again to qualify for Q2.”
Andrea Dovizioso – P15
“As expected, there is much less grip on this track than Misano, and for this reason, in this morning’s session, we first had to adapt to these new conditions. Compared to the rest of the riders on track, today we worked very differently and therefore we cannot make a real comparison to understand our potential. Unfortunately, with today’s strong wind we have not been able to get any univocal feedback from the tests we made, so we hope tomorrow to find different conditions, which will allow us to confirm the work done. The goal will be to be able to finish FP3 in the top ten tomorrow morning”.
Iker Lecuona – P16
“I have to admit, that I was struggling a lot with the front today. I had two crashes and didn’t really understand why, as there was no single warning. I felt good, but suddenly I lost the front. I need to work with the team now in order to try to find a good solution for tomorrow and hopefully we can improve.”
Miguel Oliveira – P17
“Today has been a difficult day for us. We couldn’t manage to find a good balance with the bike to gain some grip here on this track. Coming here, we knew that the grip level was not so high, but we didn’t expect to find so many issues. So, we will do our best together with the team to work on this in order to do a decent FP3 tomorrow morning.”
Bradley Smith – P18
“I think it was a demanding day for everyone, especially in terms of rear grip. It seems rather difficult to get the tyre up to temp here, partly because it is a bit cooler than the usual situation here. It will take a few laps to find the right feeling and I’m curious to see what happens tomorrow since I don’t think it will be possible to aim for a flying lap in FP3 and qualifying, but to increase pace gradually instead. Historically, we stress the tyre less with the RS-GP and this is a disadvantage for us at the moment. We need to analyse the data and try to make improvements where that is concerned.”
Stefan Bradl – P19
“My arm is fine, this morning I felt much better than last week and I didn’t have any problems with it. This morning we started well, I am happy with the general setup of the bike and it seems like Honda has made a step since Misano. I think we have a good base for the rest of the weekend. The crash we had today was a little strange, I am perfectly okay, but it upset our plans for FP2 a little bit and I couldn’t do a proper time attack after. Otherwise, we are in quite a good way.”
Pecco Bagnaia – P20
“It was a tough day, I did not have a good feeling as I did not have grip and the wind was very strong, especially in some areas of the track. From the data we have analysed it was found that I could not warm up the tires despite the changes that we have applied. There should be more grip tomorrow as the weather should improve and I am sure it will be better.”
Tito Rabat – P21
“It has been a difficult day, things have not turned out as we expected but we are still looking on the positive side.We have tried things and for tomorrow we have everything much clearer.I hope to continue taking steps forward as before during this weekend.”
Danilo Petrucci – P22
“It was a rather difficult day, conditioned mainly by the strong wind, which prevented us from immediately understanding which direction to take on this track. After the first session, we made choices that were not correct, and that’s why we had to take a step back. Fortunately, we were able to find the right way towards the end of the day and understand what we need. Of course, today we did not try a time attack, but after this afternoon, I am confident that I can improve tomorrow”.
Friday MotoGP Combined Practice Times
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
F.Morbidelli
YAMAHA
1m39.789
2
J.Zarco
DUCATI
+0.109
3
B.Binder
KTM
+0.219
4
M.Viñales
YAMAHA
+0.419
5
T.Nakagami
HONDA
+0.623
6
F.Quartararo
YAMAHA
+0.642
7
J.Mir
SUZUKI
+0.652
8
P.Espargaro
KTM
+0.685
9
A.Marquez
HONDA
+0.689
10
V.Rossi
YAMAHA
+0.713
11
A.Rins
SUZUKI
+0.749
12
J.Miller
DUCATI
+0.837
13
C.Crutchlow
HONDA
+0.965
14
A.Espargaro
APRILIA
+1.002
15
A.Dovizioso
DUCATI
+1.072
16
I.Lecuona
KTM
+1.082
17
M.Oliveira
KTM
+1.239
18
B.Smith
APRILIA
+1.306
19
S.Bradl
HONDA
+1.471
20
F.Bagnaia
DUCATI
+1.548
21
T.Rabat
DUCATI
+1.884
22
D.Petrucci
DUCATI
+2.270
Moto2
Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was back on top on Friday at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the Brit ahead of closest challenger Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) by two tenths by the end of play. Completing the top three was Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) as the German once again showed some solid speed, fastest in the afternoon.
FP1
Lowes kicked off the weekend fastest with a 1:44.122 to lead Championship leader Marini from the off, the two split by exactly two tenths in FP1. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took third as he found some solid form, but the Japanese rider was over half a second off Lowes’ lap. Speed Up machinery made a resurgence in fourth and fifth, meanwhile, with impressive rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) getting the better of Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) as the two completed the top five.
The top 14 were within a second in FP1 and with Lowes half a second faster than Nagashima, that meant it was just half a second covering P3 to P14!
There were three crashes but two crashers in the session, with Andi Izdihar (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) taking a tumble at Turn 10, before Simone Corsi (MV Agusta Forward Racing) followed suit not long after. Corsi also later crashed at Turn 5, rider ok.
FP2
The afternoon saw Schrötter take to the top, with the German 0.066 ahead of Di Giannantonio in the session. Home hero Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) slotted into third, ahead of Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) and second in the Championship, Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team), as the latter made a leap up the timesheets in the session at least, from P13 in FP1.
Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) crashed at Turn 2, before Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) did the same shortly after, riders ok. Gardner has been given a six-place grid penalty for the incident after crashing whilst not respecting a Yellow Flag.
Overall then, it’s Lowes and Marini who lead the way thanks to their fastest times in FP1, ahead of Schrötter by virtue of his fastest lap in the afternoon. Di Giannantonio was consistently quick in both sessions but his FP2 best puts him in fourth, with Nagashima completing the fastest five on Friday by virtue of his FP1 lap.
Rookie Canet ends the day in sixth ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, both also courtesy of their FP1 laps, ahead of Xavi Vierge in eighth.
Next up was the returning Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) as the Spaniard’s FP1 best put him P7 in that session and P9 overall, a solid day’s work as he gets back on track after missing two races.
Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completed the top ten on Day 1, but by an infinitesimal 0.002 – with Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) missing out by the equally tiny margin of 0.005!
Friday Moto2 Combined Practice Times
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
S.Lowes
KALEX
1m44.122
2
L.Marini
KALEX
+0.200
3
M.Schrotter
KALEX
+0.409
4
F.Di Giannanto
SPEED UP
+0.475
5
T.Nagashima
KALEX
+0.508
6
A.Canet
SPEED UP
+0.515
7
M.Bezzecchi
KALEX
+0.643
8
X.Vierge
KALEX
+0.678
9
J.Martin
KALEX
+0.734
10
A.Fernandez
KALEX
+0.736
11
B.Bendsneyde
NTS
+0.741
12
E.Bastianini
KALEX
+0.764
13
N.Bulega
KALEX
+0.814
14
J.Dixon
KALEX
+0.841
15
H.Syahrin
SPEED UP
+0.922
16
J.Navarro
SPEED UP
+1.000
17
E.Pons
KALEX
+1.002
18
H.Garzo
KALEX
+1.032
19
T.Luthi
KALEX
+1.111
20
R.Gardner
KALEX
+1.164
21
M.Ramirez
KALEX
+1.291
22
S.Manzi
MV AGUSTA
+1.297
23
J.Roberts
KALEX
+1.321
24
S.Corsi
MV AGUSTA
+1.407
25
S.Chantra
KALEX
+1.532
26
L.Dalla Porta
KALEX
+1.612
27
A.Izdihar
KALEX
+1.759
28
L.Baldassarri
KALEX
+1.770
29
K.Daniel
KALEX
+1.820
30
P.Biesiekirski
NTS
+2.694
Moto3
Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is making something of a habit of going fastest on Friday, and the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya was no different as the Spaniard ended the day with a fairly comfortable margin ahead of compatriot Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing). Last week’s winner, Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), completed the top three on the combined timesheets.
FP1
FP1 saw a familiar name at the top once again: Fernandez. The Spaniard made it three FP1s in a row at the top, and was the only man to dip beneath the 1:49 barrier as he pulled four tenths clear with a late 1:48.853. Husqvarna history maker Fenati was the man in second in the session, ahead of his compatriot Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) a further tenth back in third.
Masia ended FP1 0.575 seconds adrift in fourth, but he had some close company courtesy of Petronas Sprinta Racing’s John McPhee. Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) was next up in sixth, with his closest rival as it stands, Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia), down in an uncharacteristic P25.
FP2
In the afternoon, the wind was higher to complicate life for the lightweight class, and early on Fernandez stole a few more headlines but this time with a spectacular save. Ultimately it was Masia who came out on top in FP2 though, 0.284 ahead of Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power). Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia Moto3) was the only other man within half a second of the top after he put in an impressive session, with the three men at the top of the Championship all a little further back: McPhee took P10, Ogura P13 and Arenas P14. For Ogura, however, that was a move forward after his P25 in FP1.
The main headlines from FP2, however, were the crashes. First to go down was Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) as he tumbled at Turn 3, before McPhee went down at Turn 10. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) were then both caught out at Turn 1 a few minutes apart, before another crash at Turn 10, this time for Arbolino. He headed to the Medical Centre but was given the all-clear. Masia then crashed at Turn 7, before Davide Pizzoli (BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy) was the final crasher of the session, at Turn 10.
Ryusei Yamanaka (Estrella Galicia 0,0) avoided a crash with a miracle save, adding to Fernandez’ earlier efforts in the sweepstakes for biggest spectacle of the day.
After a day of two halves in Barcelona then, it’s Fernandez’ FP1 time that puts him on top once again, ahead of Masia’s FP2 fastest by 0.281. Fenati and Arbolino’s best times put them into P3 and P4 overall, respectively, with Darryn Binder ending Friday in fifth thanks to his quickest lap in the afternoon.
Despite his crash, McPhee is the fastest of the Championship-leading trio in P6, but Arenas is less than a tenth off. Both set their quickest efforts in the morning. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) had a good first day as he slots into eighth, 0.029 off Arenas, with Tatay just another 0.033 off Antonelli, in ninth. Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completed the top ten.
Ogura ultimately ended the day down in P23, and he’ll be one of the first pushing to improve in FP3 as the fight to head through to Q2 really gets down to business. Tune in for that at 9:00 (GMT +2), before Moto3™ qualifying starts from 12:35.
Friday Moto3 Combined Practice Times
Pos
Rider
Bike
Time/Gap
1
R.Fernandez
KTM
1m48.853
2
J.Masia
HONDA
+0.281
3
R.Fenati
HUSQVARNA
+0.390
4
T.Arbolino
HONDA
+0.409
5
D.Binder
KTM
+0.565
6
J.Mcphee
HONDA
+0.607
7
A.Arenas
KTM
+0.696
8
N.Antonelli
HONDA
+0.725
9
C.Tatay
KTM
+0.758
10
K.Toba
KTM
+0.773
11
G.Rodrigo
HONDA
+0.787
12
F.Salac
HONDA
+0.835
13
A.Migno
KTM
+0.954
14
A.Lopez
HUSQVARNA
+0.994
15
S.Nepa
KTM
+1.178
16
J.Alcoba
HONDA
+1.212
17
S.Garcia
HONDA
+1.296
18
R.Rossi
KTM
+1.341
19
B.Baltus
KTM
+1.357
20
D.Pizzoli
KTM
+1.393
21
D.Foggia
HONDA
+1.467
22
A.Sasaki
KTM
+1.485
23
A.Ogura
HONDA
+1.562
24
R.Yamanaka
HONDA
+1.654
25
J.Dupasquier
KTM
+1.729
26
C.Vietti
KTM
+1.752
27
J.Garcia
HONDA
+1.965
28
Y.Kunii
HONDA
+2.147
29
K.Pawi
HONDA
+2.226
30
M.Kofler
KTM
+2.251
31
D.Öncü
KTM
+2.347
2020 MotoGP Calendar
Rnd
Date
Circuit
1
08 March (Moto2/Moto3)
Losail International Circuit
2
19 July
Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
3
26 July
Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
4
09 August
Automotodrom Brno
5
16 August
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
6
23 August
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
7
13 September
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
8
20 September
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
9
27 September
Barcelona – Catalunya
10
11 October
Le Mans
11
18 October
MotorLand Aragón
12
25 October
MotorLand Aragón
13
08 November
Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
14
15 November
Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo
15
22 November
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
MotoGP World Championship Points
Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya Schedule (AEST)