Six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez, back in the saddle after recovering from double vision, was sixth fastest in opening practice for the Grand Prix of the Americas on Friday. Honda star Marquez, chasing an eighth win in nine races at the Austin circuit, was 0.499sec off the leading pace set by France’s Johann Zarco on a Ducati, who set a session best of 2min 02.542sec.
IPL FULL COVERAGE | SCHEDULE | RESULTS | ORANGE CAP | PURPLE CAP
Australia’s Jack Miller, on another Ducati, was second fastest ahead of reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo on a Yamaha.
Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, the winner of the season opener in Qatar, was fifth ahead of Suzuki rider Alex Rins, the only man to break Marquez’s dominance in Texas when he captured the 2019 edition.
“It feels good, a great time, I am happy because it’s a very difficult track,” Zarco said.
“This morning it was hard to put the laps together but in the afternoon I freed up on the bike. I was able to start riding better with better lap times.”
Aleix Espargaro, who won the Argentina Grand Prix last weekend for his first MotoGP triumph in his 200th race, which was 11th fastest.
He needs to nip into the top 10 on his Aprilia in Saturday practice to guarantee a spot in the key second qualifying session.
The 32-year-old Spaniard leads the world championship after three races by seven points over South Africa’s Brad Binder of KTM and is nine ahead of Bastianini.
Marquez, 29, missed the race in Argentina with double vision following his violent high-side crash in Indonesia in March.
He admitted his numerous falls on the Asian track had left him with a “scary, uncomfortable” injury.
However, he was happy to embrace the enormous risks of the sport.
“I know there is a risk, but it’s my passion, I’m here to race and not to think about injuries. Passion, always, is stronger than my injuries,” he said Thursday.
“After an injury, the first week you say to yourself ‘I don’t want to take this risk of MotoGP again and be injured again’. But the week after, this passion, this adrenaline takes over.”
Top 10 practice times on Friday:
1st Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 2:02.542, 2nd Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) at 0.247, 3rd Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.295, 4th Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 0.342 , 5 Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 0.488 6 Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.499 7 Maverick Vinales (ESP/Aprilia) 0.543 8 Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 0.601 9 Francesco Bagnaia ( ITA/Ducati) 0.645, 10. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 0.813
Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.
Despite finishing the FP2 in 9th place, ahead of his teammate Aleix, in 12th, Maverick isn’t satisfied with the feelings his Aprilia gave to him. He hasn’t yet been able to find the solution to ride serenely in Jerez.
After finishing the race in Portimão in 10th position, 12 seconds from Aleix, Viñales is looking for a way to finally become confident with the Italian bike. The watchwords?
Time and hard work.
“We need to improve. I don’t understand. We’re one-tenth behind in the pace, six or seven for the flying lap. That’s a big difference. We have to work and reduce this gap, it’s too big.”
What’s making it so difficult? “I’m having a hard time lapping the bike. I don’t have grip. I think it’s the set-up. I feel good with the worn tires, but I struggle with the new tires, with which I should be doing better .I need time to figure out how to improve.”
You can get your inspiration from Aleix’s work. “We’re getting closer to him. We’re faster every session, but I need to work my way up to find what’s right for me. Maybe it’ll take longer, but I need to ride naturally. That’s tomorrow’s goal, nothing special.”
What do you think of the track? There are wet spots. Do the conditions require changing trajectory, especially at Turn 8? “It’s still wet, especially at turns two, eight, and fourteen. You have to go completely inside or completely outside. But that’s not a problem.”
We expected to see you happy to be in 9th place. “I’m not happy with the feeling. We’re still far from being at our best. I’d have preferred to be lined up in the back but feel good on the bike. I have to work hard.”
So you’ll do better tomorrow? ”Sure, that’s tomorrow’s goal. I’m very slow at mid-corner. That’s what we have to work on. It’s not normal.”
Do you think it’s a matter of setup or is something wrong with the bike? “I think it’s the set-up, a matter of how you go almost here. I have to brake too hard, but there are places where you can’t brake late or you go wide. We have some ideas to test the time for tomorrow. It’s time to work and try to improve ourselves.”
Do you want to brake later? Is the problem you say you have in entering corners or in mid-corner? “You can’t, because you’re already at the limit. That’s a way to make your time. I’ll try another one tomorrow. Basically, the problem is that I’m really fast in braking, and that’s where I make my time. When I mount new tires.”
Sometimes, with some motorcycles, braking late and hard isn’t the right way to get a time but, rather, you do it by getting in the corner fast. “I know that very well, but it’s impossible. We’ve been working in this direction with the bike for seven years, and Aleix’s strong point is to brake hard inside the corner. He developed the bike for this feature, but not mine. A ninth place isn’t bad, but I want more.”
Sunday will be an important evening for many, but for some even more. That’s the case for the VR46 team, Valentino Rossi’s team that will be debuting in the MotoGP on the Losail track in Qatar. An entirely new team, officially presented a few days ago, which begins its journey in the most demanding and prestigious class of the World Championship.
They’ll be doing it with Marini, in his second year in the MotoGP, and with Bezzecchi, who’ll be debuting. Both will be riding a Ducati, but Luca will get the GP22, the most updated version, while Marco will get a GP21, last year’s Desmosedici.
Bez is the most excited: “The long wait is over. I’ve been waiting for this day since the last race in Valencia, and I can’t wait to get on the track,” he said. “The first MotoGP race will be special, something that I’ll remember forever. Racing with the fastest riders, in the highest category of our sport, is a dream for every rider. We’ll be coming here after a good pre-season. I worked well with the team and with Ducati, but the first GP will be something else. There will be a motorcycle in the garage with the colors of the VR46 and Mooney. I want to do well and enjoy the moment.”
Marini also wants to assert himself on the track, after a first season where nothing went smoothly, but he did have positive winter tests.
“This race always has a special feeling and atmosphere. The first GP, the unique backdrop of the desert, and a really beautiful track. It’s one of my favorites on the calendar,” he said. “This year will be different. Because I ‘ll be riding the Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s Ducati, which will make its full debut in the MotoGP. A new group, but one that I wanted and with which I felt really good since the first tests. The mood on the team is great, it’s positive. All we have to do is keep working and do our best starting this Sunday.”
Pons takes pole from Garzo and Casadei as Q1-Q2 format debuts in MotoE
The number 71 will start from the front despite a crash, taking pole by just 0.063 in Andalucia
Friday, 29 April 2022
LCR E-Team’s Miquel Pons will start from pole position for the opening two races of the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup after his single completed lap in Q2 at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto was the best of all, edging out Hector Garzo (Tech 3 E-Racing) by just 0.063. Mattia Casadei (Pons Racing 40) completes the front row, with a few surprises in MotoE’s Q1-Q2 format debut.
Q1
It was pretty tight at the top in the first ever Q1 for the Cup, and it was Niccolo Canepa (WithU GRT RNF MotoE) who went quickest to move through on top – despite missing some test time on EWC duty. Newcomer Alex Escrig (Tech3 E-Racing) was just 0.085 off but did enough to move through, with replacement rider Lukas Tulovic (WithU GRT RNF MotoE) the rider to just lose out.
Q2
Pons not only set the crucial quickest lap but also suffered a crash at Turn 8, and that proved another crucial headline. The crash for the number 71 brought out the Yellow Flags and, in a stroke of bad luck, Pons’ teammate Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) was one to lose out with a lap cancellation – and it was a quick one too, enough to provisional pole.
There wasn’t too much more drama thereafter though, with Pons unchallenged at the top, Garzo proving he’s quick as ever and Casadei looking ready to fight it out with reigning Cup winner and new teammate Jordi Torres (Pons Racing 40) with that front row.
The Grid
Behind the Pons, Garzo, Casadei armada, Granado heads Row 2 ahead of 2021 runner up Dominique Aegerter (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) and 2019 Cup winner Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE). Torres is at the head of Row 3 as some key names look to attack off the line, with a packed front few rows of riders who’ll be looking for victory.
Hikari Okubo (Avant Ajo MotoE) and Escrig are alongside the reigning Cup winner, Torres, with Canepa completing the Q2 runners in P10.
A successful debut for the new format sees a new name on pole and a very interesting grid for the first weekend of the 2022 FIM Enel MotoE World Cup. Don’t miss Race 1 on Saturday at 16:25 (GMT +2) as Jerez hosts a return to action, before Race 2 on Sunday at 15:30!
Heavy rain on Thursday evening left some damp patches on track for the start of Friday’s running at the sixth round of the 2022 campaign at Jerez, but the entire field headed out on slicks to get some laps under their belts.
Reigning world champion Quartararo, who is twice a winner at Jerez in MotoGP, set the early pace with a 1m41.849s, which he improved eventually to a 1m39.226s 10 minutes in.
Honda’s Marc Marquez – who said on Thursday at Jerez that HRC had “ideas” on how to fix the problems it faced last time out in Portugal – briefly went to the top of the order with a 1m39.028s.
But Quartararo returned to top spot a few seconds later with a 1m38.780s.
However, with just under 15 minutes of the 45-minute session gone, Quartararo’s session started to unravel when he crashed exiting Turn 13 – having seemingly touched a damp patch – and hurt his groin.
Needing some time before returning to his Yamaha box, Quartararo did get back out on track on his second M1.
But he would have another big moment with just under four minutes remaining coming into the turn 9 right-hander while on a lap that was set to put him back to the top of the timesheets.
Then on the following lap the Yamaha rider ran off track up at the Turn 5 right-hander leading onto the back straight.
Quartararo would end the session in fifth, but just 0.245s off the pace as 19 riders were within a second of each other at the end of FP1.
While Quartararo was having a scrappy end to his session, 2020 world champion Mir had gone top of the pile with a 1m38.422s.
While LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez went top briefly at the end of FP1 with a 1m38.368s, Mir produced an excellent 1m38.194s to end the morning fastest of all.
Teammate Alex Rins moved up to second with his final lap, shadowing Mir by just 0.025s, with Alex Marquez the top Honda in third ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Quartararo.
Takaaki Nakagami was sixth on the sister LCR bike, with Brad Binder seventh on his factory team KTM ahead of Honda’s Pol Espargaro – who topped FP1 briefly at one stage – and the second Aprilia of Maverick Vinales.
Jack Miller completed the top 10 on the first of the Ducatis ahead of Marc Marquez, with first while championship leader Enea Bastianini 12th on his 2021-spec Gresini-run Desmosedici ahead of Francesco Bagnaia on the other factory team Ducati and Pramac’s Jorge Martin.
Ahead of FP1, Tech 3 announced that Raul Fernandez will sit out this weekend’s Spanish GP and the post-race test on Monday due to the hand injury which ruled him out of last week’s Portuguese GP.
Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori continues to wildcard this weekend, with Honda test rider Stefan Bradl also present.
Both were 23rd and 20th respectively at the end of FP1.
FP2 for the 2022 MotoGP Spanish GP gets underway at 2:10pm local time.
Joe Roberts ended up eighth fastest on the opening day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez. File photo by Italtrans Racing
MotoAmericans Joe Roberts and Cameron Beaubier ended the opening day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain at Jerez with the eighth and 11th fastest times, respectively, with the pair just .556 and .632 of a second from Friday fast man Jake Dixon.
Italtrans Racing’s Roberts, who won his first Moto2 Grand Prix a week ago in Portugal, ended up the quickest of the American duo with his 1:42.202 from FP2 a full second quicker than his FP1 time that had him 20th on the time sheets. Beaubier, meanwhile, was fifth in FP1 and improved just slightly by .014 of a second to record a 1:42.278 in FP2. Beaubier had two lowside crashes on the day – one in each session.
Beaubier’s American Racing teammate Sean Dylan Kelly ended the day 28th with a .379 of a second improvement from FP1 to FP2.
The day was led by Autosolar GASGAS Aspar’s Dixon, the Brit lapping at a best of 1:41.646. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Augusto Fernandez and IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura were second and third fastest, respectively.
Despite bright sunshine belting down on the Jerez circuit for the start of MotoGP FP1, the 4,428km (2.7 mile) track remained damp in places.
After missing the Portuguese Grand Prix, it was confirmed prior to FP1 that Tech 3 KTM rider Raul Fernandez would also miss this weekend due to a right hand injury.
Keen to replicate his stunning performance of last weekend, reigning MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo immediately set the pace from Marc Marquez and team-mate Franco Morbidelli.
Enea Bastianini then replaced the Yamaha rider at the top of the timing sheets, however, the French rider snapped straight back with a time of 1:34.439s – half a second clear of the Gresini Ducati rider.
Related Articles
In a battle for Jack Miller’s factory seat, Bastianini was then moved down to fourth by Jorge Martin. Both riders were over three tenths off Quartararo during the early stages, as was Marquez who regained second spot.
Quartararo in significant pain following turn 13 fall…
As Quartararo and Marquez exchanged top spot once again, the Yamaha rider then suffered a nasty crash at turn 13. Quartararo went down the inside of Fabio Di Giannantonio before losing the rear mid-corner.
After returning to pit lane, Quartararo headed straight for his motorhome as he appeared to be in a lot of discomfort.
Despite the fall Quartararo remained fastest from Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir – both riders sneaked within two tenths.
Related Articles
Quartararo then suffered another big moment at turn eight after losing the rear, but thankfully he stayed on his M1 this time.
The world champion’s eventful FP1 continued a lap later after getting it wrong through turn five, which led to him running through the gravel.
Hoping to join his team-mate towards the front, and thus regaining the form many expected to see in 2022, Morbidelli started FP1 in fine fashion after going third. But as the pace picked up the Italian was once again dropped down the order – sat in 12th with half the session remaining.
With 18 minutes left Quartararo headed back out on-track, while Pol Espargaro shot to the top of the leaderboard. Marquez then joined his team-mate in setting a fast lap as he went third.
As Mir went second for Suzuki, Morbidelli also jumped up the order by going seventh. Second then became first for Mir who is in need of a big weekend following his unfortunate DNF in Portimao.
A late turn of pace from Takaaki Nakagami saw him initially go second to Mir, before his next lap looked set to put him fastest. But as he tipped in to turn 13, the LCR Honda man got his braking wrong and subsequently ran wide.
Despite showing no pace throughout the session, Alex Marquez bolted to the top with just under a minute remaining, however, Mir fought back immediately to regain first place.
Suzuki start bid for first MotoGP win of 2022 in fine form
Alongside Mir’s impressive pace, Rins managed to move up to second during the final minute of action.
Rins could have joined Mir inside the top two earlier on, however, the joint championship leader was blocked by a slow moving Stefan Bradl.
The Algarve circuit threw a bit of a curveball at Enea Bastianini, who was still leader of the championship until this morning. The young Italian rider lost control of the bike on lap 10 and ended up in the gravel. It was an unexpected crash after an incredible start to the race that saw the Gresini team rider duel with Marquez as well. The result was zero points that weigh heavily for Bastianiniin what continues to be a championship full of twists and turns. The ranking now sees Enea in second place, overhauled by Quartararo who, thanks to today’s victory, ousted him from the leadership with an eight-point advantage.
“For sure it’s a pity, I’m disappointed because we could have done well – Enea told us – we started on the right foot, I made a good start. I was trying to recover, I did three laps behind Pol Espargaro but I had some difficulties in passing him, then I tried at turn one, but I was really on the limit. As I lost some ground I got a bit carried away, maybe a little too much. It’s really a pity, I made a great comeback, my pace was very fast, I am convinced that I had the potential to do even better. Unfortunately, these things happen, but this whole GP was a bit particular. The fact we didn’t lap much in the dry may have affected us, but we worked well, the bike was perfect, we were lacking nothing”.
If you hadn’t crashed, what sort of result do you think you would have been able to achieve?
“It’s difficult to predict. Maybe I could have finished the race in 4th or 5th position, you can never say in a race, but in my opinion I had the potential to recover a few more positions.”
Do you think the track conditions during the weekend had a decisive influence? What are your thoughts on the ranking too? Before this race you were the championship leader…
“I think that the rain in recent days affected the preparation of all the riders in the same way. Perhaps compared to me they managed to do one more session. I had to do everything quickly in the warm up, the base setup wasn’t bad , but maybe I started with too much preload at the front and I made a mistake. As for the classification, I am not particularly worried, we are still at the beginning, there are many races to go and points to be won, the world championship is still open”.
Chicho Lorenzo liked to see profound changes in the Yamaha universe in MotoGP, and explained that if he were the one to manage the riders, he would fire Franco Morbidelli, Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder, and bring in Raul Fernandez, Miguel Oliveira and someone new addition to Moto2, while at the same time guaranteeing Fabio Quartararo profound changes to the bike.
The father of the former rider of the japanese manufacturer explained on YouTube ‘Motogepeando’, some of the changes he would make, if he could: ‘I would change these three riders and I would say to them: ‘You are leaving and I am looking for new blood’. He would apologize to Quartrararo for not having improved the bike and still: ‘Hey Quartararo, let’s fight for you to have the bike you deserve because on the track you are the best rider now and you deserve a bike to win with it”.
And he would explain who he put in their places: ‘I would sign three young riders and explain to them that they would be paid according to the results. I would try to bring Raul Fernandez, who I love. I would include Miguel Oliveira, who is interesting to have his point of view on the evolution of the bike, and I would also look at someone new to Moto2, a rider who saw that he was working’.
On what he expects for the future of MotoGP this year, he left a brief thought: ‘I don’t think there will be many changes, but we will have some important surprises out there. And well, let’s see what happens with riders who are new to the category’.
The Frenchman set a 2m02.542s to beat Ducati’s Jack Miller to the top spot by over 0.2s in FP2, with reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo leaping up to third late on with a 2m02.837s.
The second 45-minute session of the weekend took place in perfect conditions at the Circuit of the Americas, with lap times instantly beating the best from FP1.
Gresini’s Enea Bastianini continued Ducati’s strong afternoon with a run to fourth on his 2021-spec bike, while Suzuki’s Alex Rins ended the fifth session.
The returning Marc Marquez was sixth on the factory Honda, 0.499s off the pace, with Maverick Vinales the only Aprilia inside the top 10 currently at COTA in seventh.
The top 10 was completed by the sister Suzuki of Joan Mir, with Francesco Bagnaia on the factory team Ducati leading Pramac’s Jorge Martin – who didn’t run a fresh soft rear tire at the end of FP2 and instead stayed with the medium – in ninth and 10th.
Argentina race winner Aleix Espargaro is currently in a provisional Q1 spot in 11th having missed the top 10 by 0.015s on his Aprilia – though conditions should allow for combined timesheet improvements in FP3 on Saturday morning.
Read So:
FP2 results:
What happened in COTA MotoGP FP1?
Earlier in the day, Rins topped FP1 despite a technical issue interrupting his session at around mid-distance, with his GSX-RR slowing on the exit of Turn 11 onto the back straight.
But the 2019 COTA race winner managed to get back out on track on his second Suzuki and lit the timing screens up in the dying stages with a run of three-successive sessions-topping times.
This run culminated in a 2m04.007s, which put him top of the pile at the checkered flag by just 0.008s.
A late charge from Maverick Vinales threatened Rins’ lap, but the Aprilia rider had to settle for second ahead of Miller.
Quartararo led the session in the early stages and was fourth at the checkered flag, 0.0443s off the pace, while Marquez completed 17 laps in fifth.
Aleix Espargaro leads the championship heading into the fourth round of the season, having taken his first MotoGP victory in Argentina last weekend.
The 2022 MotoGP Americas GP continues on Saturday at 9:55pm local time (2:55pm BST) with FP3.
Ducati came into the new season as the favorite to fight for the title after a strong end to 2021 and the initial tests on the 2022 bike proving hugely encourage.
But as the pre-season phase wore on, it became apparent that the 2022 Ducati wasn’t as competitive as the 2021-spec which Gresini Racing and VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi are using.
And after the first four races, Enea Bastianini has won twice on his 2021-spec Ducati and leads the championship, while the GP22 has managed a second and a third – with the leading GP22 runner seventh in the standings.
Following a wet Friday at the Portuguese Grand Prix, Miller – who is seventh in the standings and 30 points adrift of Bastianini – was asked how the GP22 compared to the GP21 in the rain, but said he was fed up of doing that.
“Define different,” he said. “Everything’s always different. The bike’s good, it’s working well.
“If I’m completely honest I’m tired of comparing the two because there’s no point in comparing the two.
“My bike for this year is the GP22, of course it’s going to be different.
“The whole point of it is to be different. But to compare that or try and take whatever is better about that bike [the GP21]… I mean, I rode that bike for two years, sure it feels good.
“But I’m not trying to think about that bike. I’m trying to think about the bike I’m riding this year and not lose energy on focusing on that bike.
“It’s a fantastic package we have and I think we can definitely get it better and better every time.
“So, we’re only four races in and we’ve had two top fives.
“Ok, there was a DNF in Qatar but I feel like we are shaking the bike out and starting to get the most out of it.
Jack Miller, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Miller added: “Talking about one or the other doesn’t change my outcome.
“My outcome this year is riding the GP22.
“So, I mean I feel like I’m step by step getting closer and closer getting it to my bike.
“I think I already did that. We’ve had a lot of different variations of the GP22 because everything was thrown at us rather quickly.
“But it’s like saying my Norton from 1975 was the best handling bike in the world, which is not true otherwise they would still be racing it.
“Development is like this, that’s how the development works.”
Fernandez, last year’s Moto2 runner-up, has endured a tough start to his rookie campaign with KTM and Tech3 in MotoGP.
The young Spaniard failed to score any points, his best result was a 16th in Argentina, while his best qualifying was 20th.
His year has gone from bad to worse at Portimao, with Tech3 announcing that he will not start today’s 25-lap fifth round of the 2022 campaign.
Fernandez was one of several riders to crash during the wet-to-dry Q1 at Portimao, with the Tech3 rider hitting his hand heavily in the spill and needed checks in the medical centre.
While he has no broken bones, he has been ruled out of the race due to the excessive pain in his right hand.
A brief statement from Tech3 read: “Following his crash during Q1 yesterday, Raul Fernandez went to the medical center for further examination after feeling pain on his right hand.
“This morning, the decision was made to not race at the Portuguese GP, although nothing is broken. The goal is to be at Jerez.”
MotoGP’s next round takes place in just seven days’ time at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Ducati’s Bagnaia cleared to race after heavy Q1 crash
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
In more positive news, Ducati confirmed this morning that Francesco Bagnaia will race today after his heavy qualifying crash.
The 2022 Algarve GP winner at Portimao was launched from his Ducati at the start of Q1 when he took an early gamble on slicks when the track was still wet in places.
Bagnaia appeared to bang his shoulder heavily and was taken to a local hospital for checks, but has escaped injury.
Read So:
He will start Sunday’s race from the back of the grid having failed to complete a lap in qualifying.
“Pecco Bagnaia has been declared fit to race,” a brief statement from Ducati read.
“He had a good night’s sleep and despite still feeling a bit of pain, he is ready to join the riders on track for warm-up and the race.”
Reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo led the warm-up session for Yamaha, while Bagnaia was 12th on his return.
Pramac’s Jorge Martin, who will start from 13th, crashed at Turn 15.
One-lap pace has been a key problem for the Suzuki duo in the past, with Mir and team-mate Alex Rins only scoring two front row starts in 2021.
Suzuki ended Friday in Qatar fastest of all, with Rins first and Mir third, and looked to have made a step in time attack mode.
But in qualifying Mir could only manage eighth, while Rins was 10th – but the former says windy conditions played their part in this result and says the potential of the 2022 bike over one lap is much better than last year.
“Yes, by far,” he said, when asked if he felt better on the 2022 Suzuki in qualifying. “We are a lot better than last year, even with problems I was able to make 1m53.4s, which is a good lap time.
“Then, for sure, we have a couple of tenths that we can improve, on the straight you probably gain a little bit more with the slipstream. But we are not that bad I think. I expected a little bit more, but we are really close and it’s like this.
“It is clear that we improved on quality. There’s more potential, I feel when the tire is new and everything.
“There is some work to do because we didn’t have time to try different things. I think there’s a bit of margin we can still make it a little bit better. But I’m happy, so let’s see what we can do in the race.
“Normally it’s not a bad position for us to start, eighth position, so I’m not worried. Tomorrow I think we have the pace to fight.”
Alex Rins, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: MotoGP
Team-mate Rins says he suffered with a lack of rear edge grip in qualifying, but believes the fact so many bikes jumped ahead of Suzuki in qualifying generally shows MotoGP is now in its most competitive era.
“I’m a bit surprised, it’s what I said to the guys in the box, why we are in front in practice and why in qualifying the others are able to improve this lap time,” Rins added. “What I say also is true that we are in P10 at 0.4s, we are 0.2s from Marc [Marquez] who finished third.
“So, we have to think that maybe it’s the closest year in terms of equality of the bikes. So, we are not super far away, we are not one second from the first [rider].”
The 2020 title winner took his first ever front row qualifying result in last year’s Algarve GP at Portimao, and was in the fight for pole on Saturday for the 2022 Portuguese GP.
Mir in the end lost out to Pramac’s Johann Zarco by 0.195 seconds, but still held onto a career-best second.
Speaking after qualifying, the Spaniard said he has steadily been building good confidence on the 2022 Suzuki package and is feeling better now than he ever has.
“I’m happy for the position and everything, but more for the confidence,” Mir said when asked about his second-place in qualifying at Portimao.
“We are building good confidence since the first race in Qatar. And step-by-step I’m getting better, I’m getting the feeling that I want back.
“I think I’m ready, I feel stronger than ever honestly. I feel great and to make a qualifying lap like this one in these conditions, you need confidence.
“You need a good feeling with the bike and if not you are not able to push at 100%. And we’ve done it, so I’m happy.”
Mir is still without a win since the 2020 European Grand Prix at Valencia, the week before he won the championship.
Joan Mir, Team Suzuki MotoGP
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Asked by Motorsport.com if he was now in a position to finally break that drought, Mir said he ‘doesn’t know’ what he has to do to return to the top step of the podium, but feels in a better position after showing well last time out at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin where he doesn’t typically go well.
“I think we made a good start to the season – not spectacular, but a good one,” Mir added.
“So [I’ve been] very constant. I was missing something. And from Austin on, I understood something.
“Austin is a track that normally I don’t like, I’m not fast. And I was able to make a great race and finish strong.
“I know that in a track that is more favorable to my style, I will be able to get the speed, so we build the speed till now and I think every time I’m getting better with this bike.
“I don’t know what we can do [to win], but the steps we are doing are good steps and we don’t go back. We have to stay there consistently but almost.”
Read So:
Teammate Alex Rins endured a dire Saturday at Portimao, with the Spaniard only able to qualify 23rd in the mixed conditions of Q1.
Rins says his lowly qualifying result was down to an error in strategy on his part.
“What happened in Q1: we didn’t make the best decision, because I started with the rain tires as everybody did,” explained Rins, who currently sits second in the championship.
“And when I went inside the box I decided to switch to the slicks. The decision was nice, but that out-lap on the slick tires I suffered a lot, I lose the rear many times.
“I decided to box again and this was the problem. Then we only had one chance to do a fast lap.
“We did a 1m50.0s, but with the yellow flag I couldn’t improve my position.”
Even though it had two riders on the podium and four in the top ten, Ducati was the big disappointment of the first racing weekend of the 2021 championship. In fact, at Losail, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer’s bikes had won the last two editions (2019, 2019) with Andrea Dovizioso who had been able to exploit all the power of the Desmosedici on the long straights of the Doha track in the battles in the lead with Marc Marquez. On Sunday, there was again a Ducati in the lead and also for a good part of the race with Pecco Bagnaia who, however, had to surrender to the pace of Maverick Vinales. The Italian rider, in his first race weekend with the factory team, obtained a pole position and a podium, results he aims to repeat and improve in the second race of the season which will again take place in Losail this weekend.
“Last week, I went close to getting my first MotoGP win, but unfortunately, the strategy I adopted in the race turned out to be wrong – said Pecco – I pushed too hard at the start, and that prevented me from maintaining the same pace until the end. Still, I managed to get on the podium, and I’m pleased about that because it was a great way to start my new adventure with the Ducati Lenovo Team. This week I’ll definitely aim for something more. The track conditions last Sunday were particular because of the wind and the sand on the track surface. Now, we’ll analyze the data to be able to fight for the victory until the last lap of the Doha GP”.
Ninth position, on the other hand, for Jack Miller, who was dangerously close to rookie Bastianini (tenth at the finish) racing with a Ducati that is a mix between 2019 and 2020. The Australian rider, reckoned by many observers to be Ducati’s best bet in the fight for the world title, will have to undergo a reboot after a certainly not brilliant weekend.
“The Qatar GP didn’t go exactly as I expected. After being at the top at the end of free practices and after a good qualifying, I was hoping for a better result in the race. Unfortunately, after a good start, I couldn’t ride as I wanted in the second part of the competition. The positive thing is that now we have real feedback on what can happen in the race, so we will work on the data from last Sunday to find a solution that will allow me to be more competitive in the Doha GP. I am sure that we can fight for a good result.”
Sunday with a double in the Aprilia Racing Team. If, on the one hand, we’re celebrating Aleix Espargarò’s splendid podium, on the other side of the garage, there’s a completely different mood for Maverick Viñales. Forced to take off from the fifth row of the line-up after a more complicated qualifying session than expected, the Spanish rider had a decidedly uneventful race at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, crossing the finish line in tenth place, 18 seconds from the winner and just under 10 from his teammate.
“I’m very disappointed this weekend, because we had the pace to get ahead,” he said. “Unfortunately, we were slow in the FP3, failing to get direct access into Q2. This complicates everything. You can’t help but get into Q2 when you have a pace like mine. There’s something wrong, and we need to figure out what it is to work better.“
Viñales’ adaptation process with the RS-GP is far from over.
“I don’t feel good about the bike. I’m not confident,” he said. “I go fast, even if I don’t feel good. On the one hand, that’s positive but, on the other, it’s not.”
The fact that Aleix Espargarò is competitive doesn’t change that.
“Aleix uses a different riding style, so it’s useless to make a direct comparison. He manages to fully take advantage of the bike and I don’t, especially with new tires.”
Viñales is convinced that the situation can change, but Aprilia must also take a step in his direction.
“When I have the right sensations, I’ll go really fast, I have no doubt,” he emphasized. “I don’t want to change my riding style, because it’s what brought me here and allowed me to win a lot. They have to give me a bike with which I feel comfortable, because I don’t understand anything during the first laps. I feel lost. Then I can adapt and ride fast. I’m not even at fifty percent of my real potential. We have to make sure that the bike accommodates me and can use my style. When I’m fast, the race is already over. You don’t need to do 1’39″7 on the last lap, you have to do it on the first.”
The Yuasa Stock 1000 class roars into turn one at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with eventual race winner Corey Alexander (23) leading the way. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
There are close finishes. And then there are close finishes. On Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Cory Alexander and his good friend Michael Gilbert almost finished in a dead tie for victory in the Yuasa Stock 1000 class. After the result was decided by photo finish, the margin of victory was a miniscule .001 of a second with the decision going to Tytlers Racing/RideHVMC Racing’s Alexander over Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Raceway’s Gilbert.
And that was just one of the five races held at Road Atlanta on Saturday as the MotoAmerica Championship kicked off in earnest with all classes featured and all producing good racing. How’s this for good racing? The average margin of victory for the five races was just 1.07 seconds.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander, Barely
Saturday’s feature races got off to a rousing start with Corey Alexander winning from the pole in the weekend’s only Yuasa Stock 1000 race, but it certainly wasn’t easy. The Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing Kawasaki rider had his hands full from start to finish, first with veteran rider Geoff May, who crashed out, and then with Cycle World/Octane/Chuckwalla Racing’s Michael Gilbert. Alexander and Gilbert battled it out, particularly in the closing laps, and the pace increased, which made the final lap a barn burner. Looking for a way around Alexander and into the lead, Gilbert made a brave inside pass in the final turn and almost held on to take the checkers. Instead, Alexander prevailed in a photo finish and took the victory by .001 of a second.
“The pace, for sure, went up quite a bit,” Alexander said. “The track temp was high, and the track was a little bit greasy. We had tried a couple things going into the race trying to go faster than we did in qualifying. But, grip-wise, I was struggling. I was over-riding, honestly. The lines were a lot harder than they were this morning. I saw plus zero, plus zero, plus zero. Mikey never drafted me. I kind of knew that we probably had a pretty good bike on the back straightaway. So, basically, I got to a point like, I might as well see what he’s got. So, I let him by and kind of followed him for a lap just to see what was going on, where I was better, where he was better. Ultimately, on the the back straightaway, I just had to go around him, otherwise I would have hit him. I knew I could probably drop back down to point six if I had clear track, and I was trying to, but the lap traffic and the track was so one-lined. Just got into lapped traffic, and a couple sketchy little things happened. I think being able to push that lap to the end, if I didn’t break away at the end my plan was to try to break away with four laps to go or so. Either way, super, super happy. Every time I get on the podium, I’ve got to thank so many people, and I always forget. So, thanks to all my team. All the guys that are supporting us. I was lying in bed thinking, ‘I don’t know if I can keep racing.’ So, to be back up here is really exciting.”
Supersport – Herrin’s Home Win
Former Georgia resident Josh Herrin had the best kind of reunion with the Peach State on Saturday at Road Atlanta. The Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider, who returned to the Supersport class after several years racing in Superbike, got his first win in the middleweight class since 2015. The polesitter got the holeshot in the 18-lap race and led from start to finish to notch the world’s first professional road racing win for the Panigale V2. Meanwhile, Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Sam Lochoff, who is the first professional road racer to compete aboard the GSX-R750 under the FIM’s and MotoAmerica’s “Supersport Next Generation” rules, finished second. North East Cycle Outlet Racing Benjamin Smith completed the podium in third.
“It’s been 17 years now that I’ve been racing,” said Herrin. “So, after a while, no matter what anybody says or does, it turns into a job unless you really try to have fun. Not even try, unless there’s things around you that make you have fun. I wanted to race Supersport, but I didn’t know if there were any rides available. Bobby (Shek, team owner) said that they were going to be racing the V2 this year. I didn’t even ask any questions. I just said, ‘Yeah, I’ll take it. I just want to do it.’ I’m stoked that I did it. Like you said, the team’s first win on this bike. I’m super-happy about that. The team is happy. They’ve been putting in a lot of work. There’s so much that goes into that program. It’s unbelievable. It feels really good to get a win for them. I’m having a lot of fun. I’m happy to be here. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow. I feel like, fitness-wise, I’m feeling really well. The race was shortened today, so that’s what I was counting on, feeling good at the end of the race, just because coming down from the Superbike, it’s a lot harder bike to ride. I feel like that’s something I have in my back pocket. I hope tomorrow we have a full race, and it plays out the way I hope it does. Big shout-out to the HSBK Warhorse Racing team and everybody who supports us. Thank you to all my crew. We put a lot of work in. I’m really happy to be up here. We go home tonight and celebrate.”
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup– Wyman!
In Saturday’s SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race one, Belgian rider Levi Badie, who is a rookie in the class, started on the pole in his very first MotoAmerica race. The BARTCON Racing rider didn’t get off to a good start and had to settle into third on the opening lap. Max Van got the holeshot and was in the lead, but Badie overtook him on the first lap, but then he crashed out on lap two. After that, the battle was on for who was going to take the win. The lead swapped hands several times during the 11-lap event, and Alpha Omega Kawasaki rider Cody Wyman emerged victorious, notching his second Junior Cup win in as many years. SportbikeTrackGear.com rider Van finished, while his teammate Joseph LiMandri Jr. rounded out the podium.
“I saw (brother) Kyle run across pit lane and give me a big gap (motioning with his hands),” said the youngest of the three Wyman brothers. “So, I knew I could try to put my head down and try to get away. I broke my hip in a couple spots and sustained a small fracture in my arm last August. Didn’t walk for 10 weeks. So, really, working this off-season to build this program to get strength back in my core. Really couldn’t ask for anything better to start for Saturday for round one.”
Roland Sands Design Super Hooligans – West Over DiBrino
Saddlemen/Lloyd’z Garage’s Cory West turned the tables on JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino on Saturday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta with the Indian-mounted West besting DiBrino after the KTM-mounted Oregonian had come out on top of a similar battle at Daytona.
Third place went to Roland Sands Design’s Tyler O’Hara, who was forced to start from the back row, with the Californian topping his Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams.
“Yeah, it was a killer battle,” West said. “I got a good start. Andy (DiBrino) was showing me what he had for the first time. So, I kind of went to school on him there for a little while and got to see where the KTM was strong. There’s definitely some places that I get around this place pretty well. I’ve been running up front around this racetrack for years and years. So, I knew if I could just hang with him there it was going to be a good battle to the end. Luckily, that Indian FTR 1200 has got some legs on it. The Lloyd’s Garage guys build a hell of a tune. The thing was running really good down the back straight. Had to stop that heavy beast down into 10A a couple times. Andy definitely had some brakes on me there. It all worked out pretty good there at the end. I squared him up coming out of 10B and got a good run down into the last corner there with two to go. Put my head down, charged through the first segment, gave him a good, long lookback coming down the back straightaway to see what kind of gap I made the first segment, and it was not too shabby. So, I figured if I could do that one more time, I might be able to hold him off to the braking zone down in 10A. The plan worked out. We caught a couple little lappers there right in the last couple corners. Luckily, there was no drama there. Brought home the win for the team. Just super stoked. I’ve been finishing second for years and years, and it’s just nice to finally win one. Big shout out to Saddleman, Lloyd’s Garage in Charlotte, Mission foods for helping out the program so much, and Motul. Those guys are awesome.”
After Friday’s practices, many expressed concern about the pace of the Ducatis over a single lap around the Circuit of the Americas.
After the opening flurry of laps, it was the Italian manufacturer who annexed the provisional front row of the grid.
Jack Miller shot to the top of the order with a 2m03.327s, 0.008s clear of factory teammate Francesco Bagnaia, while Pramac’s Martin slotted into third.
Reigning world champion Quartararo had been sat in fourth in the early stages and was on a good lap when he slid off his Yamaha at the penultimate corner.
At the same time, Gresini’s Enea Bastianini – who tumbled at the start of Q2 at Turn 11 – moved up to fourth, with Alex Rins on the Suzuki and COTA king Marc Marquez on the Honda shuffling Quartararo down to seventh.
Quartararo – who admitted on Friday that he was strong under braking at COTA but on the limit – was able to get back out on his second YZR-M1 for the final five minutes of Q2. But the Frenchman could do no more than to settle for sixth on the only Yamaha inside the top 12 – 0.595s adrift of the pole time.
Bagnaia went to the top of the pile with two minutes to go on his Ducati with a lap close to the all-time COTA record – albeit on a track that has been partially resurface – before teammate Miller did beat the old record with a 2m02. 042s.
This looked set to secure Miller top spot, but he was denied at the death by Martin, who fired in a 2m02.039s to claim his second pole of the 2022 season.
Jack Miller, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Ducati would lock-out the top five spots at the checkered flag, with Johann Zarco jumping up to fourth late in the session on the sister Pramac GP22, while Bastianini recovered to fifth ahead of Quartararo.
Rins was just 0.060s shy of a spot on the second row in seventh, with Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir eighth after his final lap.
Seven-time COTA poleman Marc Marquez failed to make any real impression on the pole battle on his return to action after two races on the sidelines due to vision problems.
The Honda rider will start from ninth – his worst-ever COTA qualifying result – ahead of LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami, the VR46 Ducati of Luca Marini and Pol Espargaro on the sister factory team Honda.
Argentina race winner Aleix Espargaro was caught up in traffic on one of his runs late on in Q2, with the Spaniard visibly frustrated as he backed off on that lap. And on the following tour as he pushed to get into Q2, he crashed at Turn 6 and was resigned to 13th on the grid having taken pole just one week ago.
Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales’ strong Friday form disappeared on Saturday and he could do no more than 14th, with Andrea Dovizioso 15th on the RNF Racng Yamaha.
Marco Bezzecchi will start 16th on the VR46 Ducati ahead of the struggling KTM of Brad Binder, while Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was a disappointing 19th behind Gresini rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Miguel Oliveira was only 20th on the sister factory team KTM ahead of Tech3 duo Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner, who crashed early on in the first 15-minute qualifying segment.
RNF’s Darryn Binder notched up his third crash of the weekend in Q1, leaving him last of the 24 runners behind a woefully off-the-pace Alex Marquez on the LCR Honda.
The 2022 MotoGP Argentina GP will get underway at 2pm local time on Sunday.
This is the 36th successive year that a motorcycle Grand Prix has been held at Jerez since its debut in 1987. With two GPs in 2020 though, this is the 37th successive time there’s a GP at the track. aces is the only current venue to hold consecutive events for longer: 71 years from 1949 to 2019 (the 2020 event was cancelled).
Jerez has had nine MotoGP winners since 2002: Valentino Rossi (6), Marc Marquez (3), Jorge Lorenzo (3), Dani Pedrosa (3), Fabio Quartararo (2), Jack Miller (1), Casey Stoner (1), Loris Capirossi (1), Sete Gibernau (1).
Honda’s last win in the premier class at Jerez: Marc Marquez in 2019.
Yamaha’s last win in the premier class at Jerez: Fabio Quartararo at the 2020 Andalucia GP, from pole. Quartararo qualified on pole for the last four races held at Jerez (since 2019).
Ducati have two premier class wins here: Loris Capirossi in 2006 from pole and Jack Miller last year.
The last of Suzuki’s two victories at Jerez came in 2000 when Kenny Roberts Jr won the 500cc race on his way to clinching the world title. In 2019, Alex Rins finished second, which was Suzuki’s best MotoGP result at Jerez.
Aleix Espargaro’s P6 in 2021 equaled Aprilia’s best premier class result in Jerez (Doriano Romboni in 1997). Pol Espargaro finished sixth at the 2020 Spanish GP for KTM’s best premier class result at Jerez. Alberto Puig’s victory at Jerez on May 7th, 1995, was the first home win for a Spanish rider in the premier class.
Jerez is the most successful circuit for Spanish riders in the premier class, with a total of 14 wins (ahead of Le Mans and the Sachsenring, with 13): Alberto Puig in 1995; Alex Criville in 1997, 98, 99; Sete Gibernau in 2004; Dani Pedrosa in 2008, 2013, 2017; Jorge Lorenzo in 2010, 2011, 2015; Marc Marquez in 2014, 2018, 2019.
With Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli on the podium at Jerez last year though, it was the first time there was no Spaniard on the podium at the track since 2003 with Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Troy Bayliss. In 2003, no Spanish riders made it across the line (Carlos Checa retired, Sete Gibernau crashed).
10 of the riders lining up for the MotoGP race at Jerez have previously won Grand Prix races at the track: Marc Marquez (3), Fabio Quartararo (2), Pol Espargaro (2), Alex Marquez (1), Brad Binder (1), Luca Marini (1), Enea Bastianini (1), Jack Miller (1), Maverick Viñales (1) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (1).
Further to recent speculation, Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM) wishes to confirm that Josh Brookes will contest this year’s Fona Cab and Nicholl Oils International North West 200 aboard a factory-supported MCE Ducati Panigale V4R.
The Australian, who turns 39 tomorrow, will add the event to his Bennetts British Superbike Championship commitments for the Penrith-based team and return to the 8.9-mile Portrush-Portstewart-Coleraine closed roads triangle for the first time since 2014.
The double BSB champion from Bringelly, New South Wales made his debut at the event in 2013 where he was the fastest newcomer before setting a new outright Superbike lap record the following year on his way to second place on a Yamaha. Brookes also scored a Supersport podium the same year too.
Paul Bird’s team has a good record at the event which includes Glenn Irwin winning three of his last four Superbike races on a PBM Ducati so Brookes will be hoping to add another plaudit to Britain’s most successful motorcycle racing team’s trophy cabinet.
Josh Brookes: “Firstly, I’d like to make it clear that I’m not taking anyone else’s ride, I’d never do that, but an opportunity has arisen to race at this year’s North West 200 and it’s one I’m very much looking forward to. Every year, I’d have seriously considered doing the roads if the opportunity arose, whether it be the North West 200 or the TT, but it all comes down to finance as there’s a big cost. The MCE Ducati Racing Team had already put the logistics in place so when I was asked if I’d be interested, of course I said yes. It was a while ago since I was there in 2014 and as well as setting a new lap record, I felt I should have won that race, so I think I’ve got as good a chance as anyone lining up on the grid so I’m hopeful of winning some races.”
Brookes will only be contesting the North West 200, there are no plans for him or the MCE Ducati Racing Team to compete at this year’s Isle of Man TT Races as the priority is to win back the BSB title both he and the PBM team last won in 2020.
The Fona Cab and Nicholl Oils 2022 International North West 200 commences Tuesday 10th May. For further information, please visit the team’s website, www.pbmuk.net. Details of the event are at www.northwest200.org
A “press release” is promotional text issued by a rider, team, company or organization to inform the public about an event, product, or service from the issuer’s own point of view, and if deemed to have news value, may be placed on roadracingworld.com as a service to our readers.
A press release is not an article written by Roadracingworld.com staffers. When a post is labeled with the words “press release”, it means that Roadracingworld.com is not responsible for its content and that Roadracingworld.com makes no guarantee that it is accurate. Not all press releases are posted and Roadracingworld.com may reject press releases if the content is too heavy on commercial promotion with little or no news value or if the press release contains obvious errors.
Franco Morbidelli remains far behind his Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP colleague Fabio Quartararo. The differences were visible again in the Portugal GP, in which yesterday he was only 13th, later confessing that he is still not in a position to get the most out of his bike.
The Italian admitted to the press that Fabio Quartararo is more ‘in sync’ with the bike: ‘He is very aware of the set, he is very aware of how to manage the set and we, at the moment, are not’.
Asked how different the configuration of his YZR-M1 is, Morbidelli replied: ‘It’s not that different. These are small differences, but small differences make a difference’.
Then the #21 explained that he has to take advantage of the current bike, riding it in the same way as the previous version: ‘His bike [from Quartararo] is more powerful than my previous bike, and it has a better braking potential. But at this time, the base configuration is not correct. We need to find a better way to ride the bike: I need to ride it like the old one, keeping the benefits of this one. And that’s the way to be fast’.
Two Wheels for Life announces Monster Energy Yamaha charity auction as MotoGP team weekends return for 2022 season.
Starting from the upcoming Spanish GP in Jerez this weekend, each MotoGP team and their riders will have a dedicated race throughout the season to support Two Wheels for Life, donating great team experiences and signed team and rider memorabilia for fans to bid on.
Jerez kicks off the action with signed items from Fabio Quartararo and Franky Morbidelli:
• Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team wear signed by Fabio Quartararo
• Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team wear signed by Franco Morbidelli
• Quartararo’s signed Alpinestars boot (Right)
• Morbidelli signed knee sliders
• Signed & worn Alpinestars boot from Fabio Quartararo (Left)
Looking to convert pole position into a first MotoGP victory, Johann Zarco was momentarily pushed down to fourth, before regaining second round the outside of turn one.
Showing the best race pace in free practice, Mir made a breathtaking start from second, as did another pre-race favorite in Fabio Quartararo, who went from fifth to second.
Fabio Quartararo launches 2022 MotoGP title bid
However, the best start of anyone came from Alex Rins who gained ten places on the opening lap. Brilliant stuff from the Argentina and COTA podium finisher.
After opening a near eight tenth lead over Quartararo, the reigning world champion went three tenths quicker than the Suzuki rider to significantly close the gap.
Continuing to gain time in the final sector, Quartararo got a lovely slingshot out of the final corner on lap four as he powered his way, yes ‘powered’ his Yamaha past Mir on the run down to turn one.
Related Articles
With a clear track ahead of him, Quartararo continued to break away from Mir as the gap was now over a second. Instead of looking ahead, Mir’s biggest challenge was now coming from behind as Zarco began closing in.
But as was the case in Mandalika, which ultimately cost him victory, Zarco was spending too much time stuck behind the 2020 world champion. Despite his pace advantage
Further back the two Repsol Honda’s were embroiled in a tight battle for ninth. After nearly making contact at turn one, Marquez responded to Espargaro’s aggressive overtake by lunging down the inside at turn 15. A great move from Marquez.
Related Articles
With battles continuing to rage on behind him, Quartararo’s Sunday stroll in the Algarve included a new all-time race lap record on lap nine – 1:39.435s.
Following an early fall for Pramac rider Jorge Martin, another rider who is in contention for a 2023 factory Ducati seat crashed out.
Yes, it’s the rider you’re thinking of… Championship leader Enea Bastianini went down at turn eight, before Takaaki Nakagami also crashed at turn 14.
The Japanese rider managed to get back underway in what was quickly becoming another weekend to forget for the LCR Honda man.
With Zarco still stuck behind Mir with 12 laps left to run, Miller began closing in places on the podium after picking up his pace.
Feeling the heat from Miller behind, Zarco attempted his first overtake for second but ran wide which gave the place back to Mir.
Despite his difficult weekend, one that left the Italian less than 100% for the race due to several big crashes, Francesco Bagnaia was in the midst of producing a brilliant effort as he moved up from last to 12th with eight laps remaining.
Miller wipes out Mir in battle for Portimao podium
While one factory Ducati was making good progress, the other caused huge drama as Miller wiped out Mir at turn one.
The Australian attempted to overtake Mir, who was already proving very difficult to out-brake into turn one, just ask Zarco, however, Miller lost the front before collecting the Spaniard. A sarcastic applause followed from Mir before Miller was seen apologizing for his mistake.
With victory for Quartararo in the bag, Aleix Espargaro rapidly closed in on Zarco for second, however, the Aprilia rider was unable to get through on the final lap.
Marc and Alex Marquez had a tasty fight for sixth – Marc got the better of his younger brother following a move at turn 14, while Bagnaia got the better of P. Espargaro one corner later, again on the final lap.
A pair of safe finishes for the Repsol Honda Team in at the Portuguese Grand Prix brought with them solid points as Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro crossed the line in sixth and ninth respectively and closed the gap to the championship lead.
Sunday in Portimao started with perhaps the most important session of the weekend, the dry Warm Up the first real chance for the Repsol Honda Team to gather good data in the dry after two days of rain. Both Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro spent the entirety of the session on track to maximize the information gained. A late lap saw Marquez end the morning in the third with Espargaro further down the timesheet in the 14th.
Marc Marquez put together a safe Grand Prix in Portimao, crossing the line in sixth place after a close battle with LCR Honda rider Alex Marquez which saw the pair battle to the finish line. Starting in the ninth place, Marquez was able to hold position inside the group as the field filtered through the tight opening sector of the track. Settling into tenth place as the first lap came to a close, the eight-time World Champion made steady progress over the following laps and passed his teammate after a brief but intense battle with 19 laps to go. Falls ahead saw Marquez promote two positions before he ultimately fought for sixth place against Alex Marquez, the pair’s battle going right to the finish.
After the race, Marquez heads to Jerez 11th in the World Championship standings with 31 points – now 38 points behind new World Championship leader and race-winner Fabio Quartararo.
For Pol Espargaro it was another lightning start to proceedings as the lights went out, the #44 making up a number of places with the acceleration of the Honda RC213V. From inside the top ten, Espargaro had a defensive race as he fended off the likes of Martin and Binder. Like his teammate, Espargaro was able to benefit from falls ahead and was promoted two positions in the final laps of the race. A close battle on the closing lap with Francesco Bagnaia saw Espargaro just miss out on eighth place by 0.258s.
Although the result was not what Espargaro had been aiming for, he loses just a single point to the World Championship leader and sits 12th overall with 30 points.
The Repsol Honda Team will now head immediately to Jerez de la Frontera for round six of the MotoGP World Championship. Improving results on both sides of the Repsol Honda Team garage is the only objective for the weekend.
Gerloff (31) in action on Sunday at TT Circuit Assen. Photo courtesy of GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team.
Former MotoAmerica Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff competed in two races on Sunday at TT Circuit Assen, the site of this weekend’s round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship. The day started off well for the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider when he was fifth-fastest in the morning’s Warm Up session, and his fastest lap of 1:34.777 provided a sense of optimism for the Texan.
The optimism continued when he finished seventh in the Superpole Race, but unfortunately, he suffered a DNF in Race 2 and was unable to score any points.
In the Superpole race, he battled in the middle of the pack and ended up crossing the finish line in seventh. In Race 2, on the opening lap, Gerloff made contact with another rider in turn 5, and he was forced to retire with damage to the front fairing.
Commenting on his day, Gerloff said, “In the Superpole Race, I had a decent start but some riders passed me on the first lap. I was in the second group, but was able to pass a couple of guys at the end to finish seventh. Then, in Race 2, I got a good start but there was some small contact between myself and somebody else. The front fairing came loose, and I had to come into the pits.”
Gerloff and his GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team will be back in action in three weeks for the third round of the season at Estoril on May 20 through 22.
Jake Gagne won his first MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike race of the year on Sunday with the defending series champion dominating from start to finish. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Going into the 2022 MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship, not many would have placed money on Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing’s Jake Gagne not winning until the fourth race of the season. But that’s how it played out with the defending MotoAmerica Superbike Champion finally notching his first victory of the 2022 season on Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Thus far in 2020, Gagne’s record looks like this: DNF (mechanical), third, DNF (crash), victory. Gagne’s start to his title defense was dismal: Saturday’s crash, combined with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Danilo Petrucci’s third-straight win, left Gagne 59 points behind the Italian.
But Gagne is Gagne and the ever-eternal positivity never wavered. Today he came out and did what he needed to do. He dominated from start to finish, despite two red flags (one for Jeremy Coffey’s crash on the opening lap and again when the TV truck lost power, forcing the race to be stopped) and ended up winning by 14.028 seconds over his teammate Cameron Petersen, the South African also bouncing back from a Saturday crash to bring smiles back to the Yamaha camp.
To make things even better for Gagne, the two riders at the top of the point standings both failed to finish. Petrucci’s Ducati Panigale V4 R blew up on the opening lap of the second restart and Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz crashed, remounted, pitted, and finally gave up on the 11th lap.
So, with his first win of the year and the 18th of his MotoAmerica Superbike career, Gagne now finds himself 34 points behind Petrucci and 26 behind Scholtz with the VIRginia International Raceway round a month away.
Third place today went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Kyle Wyman, who was riding the team’s BMW M 1000 RR as a replacement rider for PJ Jacobsen. Jacobsen failed a COVID-19 test on Thursday and Wyman, who was at Road Atlanta to ride his factory Harley-Davidson in the Mission King Of The Baggers race, was called on to replace his fellow New Yorker. He said yes and a few days later he had given the team its first-ever MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike podium.
Wyman’s teammate for the weekend Hector Barbera was fourth and Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante fifth with those three fighting it out for the final podium spot for the duration of the race.
Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander came out on top of a battle with Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates, and the two were separated by half a second at the finish. Alexander’s teammate Travis Wyman ended up eighth with ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony ninth and Vision Wheel/Discount Tire/KWS’s Geoff May rounding out the top 10 finishers.
After two rounds and four races, Petrucci leads Scholtz by 15 points, 75-60. Petersen is third with 49 points, three better than Barbera’s 46. Escalante is fifth with 42 points, and Gagne is a point behind him and 34 points behind Petrucci.
Jake Gagne – Winner
(When asked if panic was setting in) No. Quite the opposite. Especially after yesterday, we got a good start. I felt really good and really smooth running that pace, but just a little mistake, a surprising mistake. I was down before I even knew it. So, we went back. Like Cam (Petersen) said, the goal was we need to bring this bike home, no matter what. But at the same time, I knew even that pace we were at yesterday was comfortable for me. I just had to avoid a little brain fart like that. But I got off to really great starts today, really, really good. That was good. Felt kind of like last year. To me, I’m comfortable. Like Cam said, I feel good right out of the gate, so I want to try to push the pace right away and at least thin the herd if possible, and whoever wants to come with, come with. I knew there was drama. We even saw the Ducati, (Danilo) Petrucci smoking a little bit on the sighting lap. So, that was in my mind. Like, I wonder if that thing is going to finish? It’s been a rough year, man. A really rough year so far. I know we’re only four races in, but it’s been a rough year. I feel like luck kind of got on our side today. I was able to get a win, and not only just get a win but kind of get some points with those guys DNF’ing today, which was unfortunate for them. But that’s racing. We’ve still got 16 races to go in this championship. There’s a long way to go.”
Cameron Petersen – Second
I tried in the beginning, especially in the first start before the red flag. Danilo (Petrucci) came past me. I kind of latched onto him for a lap. I felt like I could run the pace and then after the red flag came out, Jake’s (Gagne) first lap is just on another level. It’s going to take me some time to figure that out. Once Matty (Scholtz) came past me, I think he kind of saw Jake riding away from me and kind of got a little bit desperate. He had some pace for sure. I was pretty late on the brakes into 10. He lunged up my inside and, unfortunately, I knew he was carrying so much speed going in there. I knew he was either going to run off or something was going to happen. We were both hot into there. So, once Matty crashed trying to pass me, I honestly just backed it off so much. I kind of got the gap up to about 10 or 11 seconds and I just started cruising around doing mid-25s, 26s the whole race. I knew it was super important to bring these bikes home for the team after the weekend we’ve had. It’s been a rough couple weekends. COTA wasn’t the greatest either. Honestly, at the end of the day, I’m not too happy with the way I rode, but I’ll take it. It’s a second. The team finished one and two. It’s not fun riding around all timid and scared the whole time. It was just one of those things. We’re going to go back to work, and I think Virginia is going to be a different story. Once I build up that confidence again, I think I’ll be good.
“Congrats to these two guys next to me. Honestly, it’s awesome seeing Kyle (Wyman) up here. That’s pretty badass for him to come here and beat his teammate, Hector, and get the first podium for the team. And to my boy JG (Gagne), this is where he belongs. Like I said, it’s been a tough few rounds, so to see him back up on the box in P1 is pretty cool, and to be there right next to him is even better. Massive shout-out to the whole Fresh N Lean, Progressive, Attack Yamaha team. I can’t thank them enough for all the work they’ve done. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Kyle Wyman – Third
(When asked if he was surprised to finish third) “That’s an understatement. 14th on the grid. Got a wicked start. The launch control on the BMW is amazing. I think I passed two rows every time we started. We had two starts today. It’s been kind of a whirlwind. I had to work for that one. We definitely had some attrition in that race. That obviously plays into this podium result, but I definitely had to work for it, too. My teammate Hector (Barbera) and Richie (Escalante), were right there. I had to bridge a gap to those guys the first half of the race. They were a couple seconds up the road. I kind of sat there for a couple laps. Felt like I had pace to lead it. I don’t remember where I passed the guys, honestly. But I picked them off one lap and then the next lap. Pretty much held a .3 to .5 (second) gap the rest of the race. The bike was working way better today than yesterday. Scotty (Jensen) made some great changes for me. Peter, the electronics guy, is amazing. The bike is really good; it’s really fast. Feels great to get the team’s first podium. It’s a young team and this is a real boost for them.”
LCR Honda MotoGP team boss Lucio Cecchinello has denied reports that his team is in talks with former rider Jack Miller to potentially replace Alex Marquez for 2023.
He admits only that the Australian might be one candidate – but that the first priority is to complete the team’s planned four-year strategy with the Moto2 and Moto3 world champion Marquez.
Miller’s return to LCR has been speculated by some in the MotoGP paddock as it looks increasingly likely that he will be replaced at the factory Ducati squad next season by rookie race winner Jorge Martin. On Saturday, Motorsport.com Spain reported that the Aussie was indeed in talks with LCR.
It may seem like an obvious choice for the team given both Miller’s status as a former LCR rider and as a 2021 double race winner – but any return depends foremost on whether the team decides to renew the contract of the under-performing Marquez.
While not denying the speculation suggesting that Miller might be a potential target when asked by The Race at this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, team principal Cecchinello was nonetheless adamant that priority number one for both him and technical partner Honda is to try and find a way to improve Marquez’s results before the key decision time in June.
“I honestly don’t know about it,” he said of the Miller rumours. “Honestly, we are definitely concentrating on accomplishing our targets, which was making a four-year program with Alex Marquez, two plus two.
“Of course, the decision to continue with Alex depends on the performance, and I don’t hide that we are under our targets.
“I don’t want to say that that is only the fault of Alex, because our bike of last year wasn’t really competitive and Alex also changed crew chief from Repsol to LCR. Maybe we couldn’t make the best. This year we started with a new bike, with increased technical organization, and we expected better results from the beginning of the season.
“But the truth is also that we haven’t yet been able to extract all the potential from the new bike, and perhaps there is something that we need to figure out yet in terms of geometry. We have a very good performance on the rear, very good grip, acceleration and drive, but for some reason now the rider complains about the lack of front feeling. We need to definitely understand what is the best for Alex, and I think before we say we give up with our clear plan we want to wait for more races to see if we can make it or not.”
However, while he stresses that his first priority might be to retain the series’ younger Marquez brother, he also admits that his mediocre results to date this year need to improve if LCR is going to retain his services.
“I would be very happy to continue,” Cecchinello added, “because Alex is very nice, a two-time world champion and a good rider. If for some reason we continue to have difficulties to perform in the top 10 and making some highlights in the top five, then we will analyze the reasons and together with Honda we will take a decision.”
Marquez has been bought some extra time on the decision being made, though, by what his current team boss admits is a rather slower-than-expected start to the silly season. So far, only a handful of top racers have secured their futures – and as a result, there’s still time for the Spaniard to prove himself to team and manufacturer.
“Honestly, I thought the 2023 and 2024 rider market would have started earlier,” he said, “but it is a little bit calm at the moment. [Fabio] Quartararo still hasn’t decided his future, Yamaha haven’t moved, and OK Ducati is the sole manufacturer that has a direction but they haven’t made any announcement yet.
“I believe that the market will start to move on in a couple of weeks, and perhaps by the middle or end of June it’ll be closed.”
Should things not improve for Marquez in the interim and should Miller as expected be pushed out of the factory Ducati team, one thing is clear – that Cecchinello isn’t opposed to taking back the Australian who made his MotoGP debut with the outfit back in 2015 .
“Jack is a fast rider, definitely a strong rider, and we worked quite well with him,” he told The Race. “But our full focus now is to give all the opportunities to Alex, and we don’t want to lose our focus and our mind on other solutions. When we set up a plan we really want to go until the end, so my best scenario is to have two more years with Alex.”
A “press release” is promotional text issued by a rider, team, company or organization to inform the public about an event, product, or service from the issuer’s own point of view, and if deemed to have news value, may be placed on roadracingworld.com as a service to our readers.
A press release is not an article written by Roadracingworld.com staffers. When a post is labeled with the words “press release”, it means that Roadracingworld.com is not responsible for its content and that Roadracingworld.com makes no guarantee that it is accurate. Not all press releases are posted and Roadracingworld.com may reject press releases if the content is too heavy on commercial promotion with little or no news value or if the press release contains obvious errors.
Josh Herrin put his head down and gapped the Supersport field on the opening lap en route to his second victory of the weekend at Road Atlanta. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Only one racer during the MotoAmerica round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta was perfect and that was Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Josh Herrin, the 2013 AMA Superbike Champion winning both MotoAmerica Supersport races in Georgia.
While Herrin was perfect, the rest of the races featured a lot of parity.
Twins Cup – Barry Wins A Close One
The day started with the 12-lap Twins Cup race, which was red-flagged on the first lap due to a group of riders who crashed out unhurt, and the race was restarted with a seven-lap sprint to the finish line. Polesitter Jody Barry got the holeshot and led the first four laps aboard his Veloce Racing Aprilia, but Robem Engineering’s Teagg Hobbs was in hot pursuit. Hobbs overtook Barry on lap five and held the lead until the seventh and final lap when Barry got around Hobbs and held off the New Hampshirite’s strong challenge to take the checkered flag by just seven one-hundredths of a second.
Hobbs’ Robem Engineering Aprilia teammate had his own battle with Jackson Blackmon Racing Yamaha rider Jackson Blackmon, but he managed to get around Blackmon on lap four and maintain his third-place position all the way to the checkers.
When asked about the brave move that Hobbs tried to put on Barry on the final lap, Barry said, “I definitely expected him to try to make something happen. I would have done the exact same thing. I guess I broke late enough to the point where he couldn’t make it stick. Just after that, I tried to hit my markers and finish a clean lap, but don’t kill my drive on the front straight or anything. Everything worked out pretty good.”
Mission King Of The Baggers – The Champ Fights Back
In the eight-lap Mission King Of The Baggers race, defending class champion Kyle Wyman returned to form after a tough day on Saturday, in which he crashed out of the three-lap King Of The Baggers Challenge. Ironically, Challenge winner Bobby Fong, who earned the pole for today’s race based on his victory in the Challenge, mimicked Wyman and crashed his Roland Sands Design Indian. That opened the door for Wyman, who went on to get the win. Second place went to Vance & Hines Racing Harley-Davidson’s James Rispoli, the two-time AMA SuperSport Champion returning to MotoAmerica after an eight-year hiatus. Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara rounded out the podium in third.
“It’s been a tough weekend,” Wyman said. “I took an opportunity on a Superbike on Thursday night, so it’s been a busy weekend and that has kind of played into going back and forth on the bikes, trying to just be more focused than ever. Honestly, I think if I didn’t crash yesterday and learned that lesson, I might have crashed out today because it was way greasier. I had to exercise some patience today that I didn’t yesterday. I decked out on the cases just flicking it into 10B and lifted both tires off the ground. Had to remind myself that thing is not quite there yet where I can just pancake it on the side of the tire that quick. Today, I tried to exercise a little bit of patience, be there at the end. If I can get a clean run through the esses, I know I can get away. That was my game plan. Yesterday was tough. A tough pill to swallow being sixth on the grid the way the challenge sets the grid, even though you have the track record. It’s kind of weird. I’m really happy just to redeem ourselves from Daytona. The long off-season that these guys have been developing this bike, it’s truly an arms race that’s just still on such a steep incline. It’s crazy. I think 31.7 in the race. Does that sound right? That’s what I saw. That’s five seconds faster than last year. It’s just silly what we’re doing on these things. I think we’ve still got some big chunks to take out of them.”
Supersport – It’s Herrin Time Again
The only double win of the weekend was delivered by Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC rider Josh Herrin, who followed up his dominant win in Saturday’s Supersport race with another dominant win is Sunday’s race. Starting from the pole, just like yesterday, the former Superbike Champion got another great jump off the line and led the 18-lap race from start to finish, stretching his lead our to nearly five seconds by the time he took the checkers.
Finishing second and also holding his position for the entirety of the race was Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider Sam Lochoff, who was aboard the only GSX-R750 in the field. Third place went to Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers, the young, but talented rider notching his 50th podium in MotoAmerica competition.
“To be honest, from the beginning of the race, I’m just doing what I always do and just push as hard as I can,” said Herrin. I’ve never been one for strategies. It just so happened the last two days, it worked out that way. But I’m just putting my head down and riding as hard as I can. I was a little nervous. The start yesterday and today, just a full load of fuel, the thing is all the way to the max to make sure that we make it the distance. I was a little nervous at first with it, but it was good. I’m happy with the results.
“Bobby, the team owner, has been calling me fat all weekend so it’s been giving me a little bit of motivation. I have a little dad bod going on this off-season. A lot of late nights with the baby, a lot of snacking. It’s time to go to work. The Georgia heat beat me up this weekend, that’s for sure. Hayes has been telling me all weekend he’s coming for us at VIR, so I need to step it up and be ready for him because I know when he gets here, it’s going to go up another level. Just having fun. I’m excited to be on this team, the whole Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC. Our team is a lot of fun to be around. I’m just enjoying myself. It’s awesome having (son) Griffin here, and (wife) Rachel here, and my whole family here from the Herrin Compound. Thank you, everybody, for coming out and all the fans for coming out. I’m looking forward to going to VIR.”
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Van Gets His First
The 11-lap SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup race two got off to its usual rousing start, with nearly 20 of MotoAmerica’s youngest riders racing in close formation aboard their lightweight 400cc motorcycles. But it was the ending of the race that brought the most attention. After the race concluded, the podium result ended up being changed due to a MotoAmerica rule about passing in a corner where there is a standing yellow flag. As a result, Altus Motorsports Kawasaki rider Kayla Yaakov unfortunately rode an emotional roller coaster where she went from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat as her race win was nullified and she was moved from first to third. That handed the victory to SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Max Van, with second place going to Calishine Racing’s Aden Thao, and aforementioned Yaakov completing the podium.
Also adding to the drama of the final lap was the fact that a couple of riders crashed out just before the final run to the finish line.
“Today, I don’t really feel like I deserve this win, but I’m really sorry to Kayla,” said Van. “She rode a great race and, honestly, I feel like she deserves this. But I’ll take the points and I’ll take them into VIR with a lot of confidence. I just hope everybody is okay in that wreckage in the last corner. Levi, I think something happened. I feel like he highsided, and he landed into me. I have marks all on my boot. I really hope everybody is okay, including my teammate (Joe LiMandri) and (BARTCON Racing’s) Levi (Badie). I hope you guys are well soon.”
Roland Sands Design Super Hooligan – O’Hara Wins The Fight
The MotoAmerica race weekend at Road Atlanta concluded with Roland Sands Design’s Super Hooligan race two. The series features naked bikes with up to 125 horsepower, which include everything from Harley-Davidsons and Indians, to KTMs, Ducatis and a BMW. Roland Sand Design Indian rider Tyler O’Hara won the eight-lap event over his teammate Jeremy McWilliams, who passed for the lead on lap six, but couldn’t make it stick.
JLC Concrete/KTM/DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino stalked Saturday’s Hooligan race winner Cory West, who was in third place until the final lap. DiBrino finally made his move and overtook West to snatch the final spot on the podium.
“It was such a blast,” O’Hara said. “To be able to start up front where we belong and be able to go with the boys and really kind of let the race unfold. Got a few clean laps out front and Jeremy came around me in turn one early in the race, and it was a great pass. I knew I needed to clean up turn one and get that figured out. Then he passed me again going back into 10 like I was standing still. Obviously, I was going in there soft. He went around me like a MotoGP rider. He took me to school. I figured out what I needed to work on. I think, with two to go, he was on the opposite side of me going up into turn one again, and we played chicken all the way up into turn three. We both went off the track, but it was fun. I ended up coming out of the deal. Just so fun riding these FTR1200 Indians. Just such a beautiful motorcycle and so much fun to ride. We’re still developing it, really. Just, every session, we’re figuring them out and getting more comfortable. We still have a ways to go. I think there are some big chunks still to get more comfortable. The whole Mission Foods support and Roland Sands Design and shout out to Patricia Fernandez for basically loaning us her motor. We lost a motor, and she had crashed and totaled her bike, so we took her motor yesterday in-between sessions. Big hats off to her. It was super fun with my teammate and (Andy) DiBrino. It’s just a fun class. It’s the Super Hooligan class. It’s supposed to be fun.”
