Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder and Jorge Martin, alongside Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Marco Bezzecchi, continue to work on the new chassis that was first used in Le Mans over the weekend. Both Binder and Martin say the new frame has solved some front-end issues but both continue to struggle with rear grip. After three podiums in a row, Jorge Navarro continued to work on his setup, admitting he wasn’t trying anything new on his Speed Up ahead of Mugello.
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“It is clear that Jack wants that place, but you have to see if that place will be there,” comments Guidotti. “Jack has no contract for next year and we have to evaluate other solutions if he wanted to go to the official team or another part if we couldn’t meet his needs. We need to have an overview of the market and of those who want to switch from Moto2 to MotoGP having the right credentials to do so. But we do not focus on a rider in particular and we want, if possible, to stay with the current setup. We and Ducati do not have the situation of the riders in hand, they could decide and choose to leave.
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And the French GP was looking very good for Viñales. He ended a dry Friday at the top of the timesheets, then went quickest in a wet FP3 session to prove he had hot pace in both conditions. A third in FP4 consolidated that the Yamaha rider would be a contender for at least the podium if qualifying went to plan, but, unfortunately, it didn’t.
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Lauda’s path to the top was as unique as the man. Betting on himself in the early 1970s, he laid the groundwork for a career that would define a generation of F1 as he impressed those around him with his potential and skill, opening the door to the sport’s most iconic constructor: Ferrari. 1974 saw the Austrian take his first podiums, race wins and pole positions, and the stage was set for a real assault on the crown, which came in 1975 as he secured his place in the history books. But there was more to come and Lauda would go on to write far more than a single chapter.
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Le Mans race winner Alex Marquez and teammate Xavi Vierge are there with their EG 0,0 Marc VDS team, with Jorge Navarro and Speed Up racing joining them on circuit. Fabio Di Giannantonio joins his Speed Up teammate as the rookie continues to get accustomed to the intermediate class, with SKY Racing Team VR46, Dynavolt Intact GP, FlexBox HP 40, Italtrans Racing Team, Petronas Sprinta Racing, MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward, Red Bull KTM Ajo and Red Bull KTM Tech 3 present. In addition, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) is in Barcelona alongside ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team’s Remy Gardner and Tetsuta Nagashima and Dimas Ekky Pratama (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia).
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Two–stroke 500’s, 800 and 990cc four-strokes have brought the Japanese factory unrivalled success again, the very best in the World although it has not always been easy. After so much success in the smaller classes, they entered the 500cc class in 1966 to take on the might of MV Agusta and a certain Giacomo Agostini with the weighty combination of World Champions Jim Redman and Mike Hailwood. Redman won the opening two rounds at Hockenheim and Assen but his challenge that had started so brightly ended when he was injured. The following year Hailwood and Agostini ended on equal points but the title went to the Italian
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The 33-year-old is 33 points up on his tally, at this stage, from the 2017 season and a massive 41 points better off than he was this time last year. Plus, when you take into account the fact that Dovizioso has had a much stronger second half to the season in both 2017 and 2018, 15 points more in the second half of 2017 and 69 more in 2018, Desmo Dovi looks likely to cause the reigning World Champion some headaches this year.
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“The improvements we test on Wednesday in Jerez were really, really good,” continued Pol. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t have it for the race in Jerez and we couldn’t take profit from it there, but we saw a big performance on the Wednesday when we were testing alone. Then, KTM struggled a little to bring all this good stuff to Le Mans but they are Austrian – when they want something, they get it and they bring it so I’m super pleased with that. Super happy to see this tubular chassis and this WP suspension working and I’m happy to shout some mouth about those saying this will never work and here you have it working.”
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“The improvements we test on Wednesday in Jerez were really, really good,” continued Pol. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t have it for the race in Jerez and we couldn’t take profit from it there, but we saw a big performance on the Wednesday when we were testing alone. Then, KTM struggled a little to bring all this good stuff to Le Mans but they are Austrian – when they want something, they get it and they bring it so I’m super pleased with that. Super happy to see this tubular chassis and this WP suspension working and I’m happy to shout some mouth about those saying this will never work and here you have it working.”
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A cold French Grand Prix saw Marc Marquez take a faultless victory to extend his lead in the MotoGP World Championship. The win is Honda’s 300th victory in the premier class, the first manufacturer to achieve such success in the premier class.
The closest rival to Honda in the premier class of Grand Prix racing is Yamaha with 227 wins, followed by MV Agusta (139), Suzuki (92) and Ducati (47).
Jim Redman and the Honda RC181 achieved Honda’s first win in the premier class back in 1966 at Hockenheim with Mike Hailwood becoming the second winner a few races later in Brno.
Freddie Spencer returned Honda to the top step of the podium in the 500cc class in 1982 at Spa-Franchoramps on the NS500.
Takazumi Katayama would become the first Japanese rider to win in the 500cc class for Honda the same year.
1984 marked the debut of the NSR500 – the legendary 500cc machine taking a total of 132 wins and saw the likes of Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner, Alex Criville and Eddie Lawson claim the premier class title and seven Constructors World Championships.
The debut of the four-stroke era saw Honda achieve immediate success with the RC211V, winning the first race at the 2002 Japanese GP.
The RC211V, RC212V and RC213V have seen Honda take 144 wins in the four-stroke era, including Marquez’s win at the French GP.
Mick Doohan is the most successful Honda rider in the premier class of Grand Prix racing with 54 wins, ahead of Marc Marquez with 47 wins. Valentino Rossi is third with 33 victories, ahead of Dani Pedrosa with 31 and Freddie Spencer with 20.
Freddie Spencer, Randy Mamola, Max Biaggi, Alex Barros, Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner have won with at least two different Honda bikes in the premier class. Among them, Pedrosa is the only rider who has won with three different bikes in
the class.
The list of wins by Honda bikes in the premier class is as follows: NSR500 (132 wins), RC213V (71), RC211V (48), RC212V (24), NS500 (14), RC181 (10).
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||
Total Premier Class Grand Prix Wins on Honda |
Total | |
| 300 | ||
| Pos | Rider | Rider Wins |
| 1 | Mick Doohan | 54 |
| 2 | Marc Marquez | 47 |
| 3 | Valentino Rossi | 33 |
| 4 | Dani Pedrosa | 31 |
| 5 | Freddie Spencer | 20 |
| 6 | Wayne Gardner | 18 |
| 7 | Alex Criville | 15 |
| 8 | Casey Stoner | 15 |
| 9 | Mike Hailwood | 8 |
| 10 | Sete Gibernau | 8 |
| 11 | Alex Barros | 6 |
| 13 | Max Biaggi | 5 |
| 14 | Marco Melandri | 5 |
| 15 | Randy Mamola | 4 |
| 16 | Eddie Lawson | 4 |
| 17 | Tadayuki Okada | 4 |
| 18 | Nicky Hayden | 3 |
| 19 | Cal Crutchlow | 3 |
| 20 | im Redman | 2 |
| 21 | Luca Cadalora | 2 |
| 22 | Carlos Checa | 2 |
| 23 | Makoto Tamada | 2 |
| 24 | Takazumi Katayama | 1 |
| 25 | Pierfrancesco Chili | 1 |
| 26 | Daryl Beattie | 1 |
| 27 | Alberto Puig | 1 |
| 28 | Loris Capirossi | 1 |
| 29 | Tohru Ukawa | 1 |
| 30 | Toni Elias | 1 |
| 31 | Andrea Dovizioso | 1 |
| 32 | Jack Miller | 1 |
MotoGP
Source: MCNews.com.au