Fabio Quartararo is surfing the crest of a wave at the moment, hanging loose like the finest surfer, minutely adjusting his position on the motorcycle every millisecond, turning down the electronics and doing the work himself, like all the best riders.
The young Frenchman’s fifth win of 2021 was, to use a little surfer lingo “totally tubular” (look it up). Last year he learned the only sure-fire way to win aboard the Yamaha was to get out front as quick as possible and do his own thing, making sure no one gets close enough to steal his lines or overheat his front tyre. This is why the tightest of his five 2021 winning margins so far is 1.5 seconds at the Doha GP.
Finally, it seems, Yamaha has got its YZR-M1 back to where it was in the Bridgestone days: probably the most neutral bike on the grid – at least in Quartararo’s hands – most especially at those serpentine venues where it can use its corner speed to devastating effect, like Losail, Portimao, Mugello, Assen and Silverstone, the five tracks where Quartararo has topped the podium.
Of course, wins that look easy never are easy. Indeed the entire weekend had been tricky for not only Quartararo but for everyone else, because track temperatures only once reached 30 degrees, the desired minimum temperature for Michelin’s MotoGP tires.
Add two other factors – the Silverstone layout and the bitter winds that sweep across the circuit – had the entire grid skating on thin ice throughout the weekend, trying to get enough heat into their tires to attack the circuit’s daunting high-speed corners with any confidence .
Marc Marquez’s huge 170mph/274kmh FP1 crash certainly got everyone’s attention. Then in FP2 Quartararo went flying at the dead-slow Vale left-hander – an off-throttle highside – limping away with a badly sprained ankle. That could’ve been his championship gone, right there.
While Mir (no36) went backwards with a dud front tyre, team-mate Alex Rins (no42) surged
Suzuki
“From the outside Fabio’s weekend looked easy but to be honest it’s been a difficult weekend,” explained his crew chief Diego Gubellini after the race. “We couldn’t find the perfect moment to try the right tires in practice and many things weren’t quite right, but finally he did a fantastic job.”
Quartararo’s Vale highside came while trying the hard-compound rear during FP2, the warmest session of the weekend, but not warm enough.
“We always we try to check the potential of every tyre, so it wasn’t a mistake, because whenever you try a tire you must push hard to feel its performance,” added Gubellini.
If Quartararo wasn’t so lucky with that hard tire, his two main title rivals were even less lucky on Sunday.
Quartararo arrived at Silverstone 47 points ahead of Suzuki’s reigning world champion Joan Mir and Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia, tied on 134 points each. By no means an insurmountable gap.
On Sunday night Quartararo left Britain 65 points ahead of Mir and 69 in front of Bagnaia with six races remaining, which means – barring disasters – the Yamaha man has one hand on the 2021 MotoGP crown.
Quartararo’s points advantage didn’t grow entirely thanks to his inspired riding, it grew because both Mir and Bagnaia got dud tires on Sunday afternoon.
Mir’s front – the same soft spec he had used throughout much of Friday and Saturday – lost a chunk of rubber in the early stages of the race, so he was lucky to finish, let alone scrape seven points for ninth place.
Bagnaia found himself in even deeper trouble. The Italian had qualified two hundredths of a second off pole position on Saturday afternoon, so he had a good chance of scoring his first MotoGP victory. Instead he went backwards in the race, from third on lap one to 14th at the finish. All that work for two points and probably the end to his championship aspirations.
Bagnaia didn’t get any help from the Michelin man on Sunday: from front row to 14th
Ducati
“I think in a championship like this, at the top of motorcycling, that all the parts on the motorcycle but must be at the top level,” said Bagnaia after the race. “We must speak with Michelin to understand what is going wrong.”
So what’s going wrong?
Michelin has been MotoGP’s spec supplier since 2016, taking over from Bridgestone, who did the job from 2009. It’s always been difficult to produce 100% consistent tyres, because tires are partly made from organic material and they’re mixed and baked, a bit like a cake. But most teams say the Michelin situation has been getting worse.
Fabio Quartararo admits he is ‘worried’ as his worst fears about Yamaha’s competitiveness relative to its rivals in the Qatar MotoGP opener appeared to come to fruition as he labored to a distant ninth place at the Lusail International Circuit.
A year after Yamaha doubled up under floodlights with a win apiece for Maverick Vinales and Quartararo himself – one of five wins the latter would score en route to the title – the manufacturer was roundly out-performed by each of its five rivals.
It was a result Quartararo had feared after only just scraping through Q1 before placing himself 11th on the grid, a spot ahead of teammate Franco Morbidelli.
However, while he made progress on the leaderboard in the race, Quartararo couldn’t make his good start pay as he slumped to a distant ninth, despite the likes of Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller up ahead failing to finish.
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Indeed, such was the disparity in performance, Quartararo finished behind Johann Zarco, despite his countryman running as low as the 19th at one stage.
It’s a result that is betrayed by the top speed charts, with Yamaha’s power disparity made clear in the final classification. While he credits the step forward made by his rivals over the winter, Quartararo cut a defeated – albeit vindicated – figure after the race.
“The others did an amazing job over the weekend. We won both races here last year, now we have finished below all the other manufacturers. Our power is not on a par with that of our rivals, I cannot be confident after synch a weekend in which I qualified on the fourth row after coming from Q1.
“I am not an engineer, my job is to be 100% and focus on every race and in every condition, but in any case, I am worried.”
Panic stations for MotoGP champs Yamaha?
There was a sense of inevitability about Yamaha’s very humbling start to the 2022 MotoGP season.
Quartararo, instead of touting his renewed title credentials throughout the pre-season, has instead been beating the same drum that he thinks Yamaha’s steadfast attitude not to up the engine-to-chassis ratio to improve power will leave him looking flaccid in Qatar.
Perhaps unsurprisingly – both as a result of Yamaha’s approach and its rider’s own downbeat attitude – those fears were realized in Qatar, so much so you’d be hard pressed to remember quite how it was a winner at the same venue a year ago.
On the one hand, the Lusail International Circuit will always punish those who can’t get away with the front group but it was a sure sign that a lot of pressure will rest on Quartararo and Morbidelli’s shoulders on Saturday if the Yamaha M1 doesn’t have the squirt to push through the pack.
In short, Yamaha hasn’t suddenly developed a bad machine but on an evening where Honda, Suzuki, KTM and Aprilia all showed massive improvements, the M1 appears to have stood still… and if you’re standing still in MotoGP, you’re actually hurtling backwards.
Andrea Dovizioso finished his first two days of 2022 MotoGP testing on the newly-branded WithU Yamaha M1 frustrated.
Unable to come close to the pace of reigning world champion and factory rider Fabio Quartararo on a similar machine, Dovizioso admitted that right now he can’t see anyone other than Quartararo getting performance out of the Yamaha.
This year Dovizioso lines up on a brand new 2022-spec M1 for the RNF team rather than the 2019 machine he inherited from Franco Morbidelli for the latter part of the 2021 season after joining what was then the Petronas squad for the final five rounds.
But Dovizioso was flummoxed by how to take the best performance from the bike with his riding style.
While Quartararo ended the seventh overall test, Yamaha’s other bikes were all outside the top 20, with test rider Cal Crutchlow the best of the rest in 21st. And Quartararo wasn’t happy either.
“I think the bike, the base, is so good,” Dovizioso explained.
“But there are some areas where it is a bit strange. Until those areas are better, you have to ride like Fabio. There isn’t any other option, in my opinion, from what I saw from the data, to be competitive.
“He is able to brake really good, but he is still turning the bike good and exiting the corner with a lot of speed without really opening the throttle.
“He doesn’t use the grip on the rear to be fast, and it is difficult to be fast like that, believe me.
“The middle of the corner, compared to my style, Franco rides in a different way again, and compared to me, Fabio is faster in the middle of the corner.
“That is where the bike is so good, and you have to use that area to be competitive. That is one thing, but the exit is more difficult to do.
“Fabio showed last year and in this test that there is a possibility to go really fast. This is the reality.
“But every bike has a different characteristic, and the way you have to ride this bike is very unusual.
“There are some weak points where if you ride in a normal way it doesn’t work and everything becomes difficult.
“You have to be extreme in some areas to use the other good things of the bike.”
What makes the situation even more complicated for veteran Dovizioso is that he’s well aware where the main element of the problem lies and it’s not something that’s going to be easily fixed.
It’s an issue not with anything on the bike in particular but with the fundamental DNA of the machine.
Dovizioso sounded painfully aware that there could be a long season ahead of him if he’s not quite able to adapt to the machine after his eight seasons on Ducatis.
“I still don’t have the bike and the feeling under control,” he said, “and I’m not using the potential, as you can see from the lap time.
“I’m not too happy about that, and I’m trying to study and to learn, but in the end the way you have to ride the Yamaha now is so narrow.
“You have to do specific things and if you don’t do that you can’t be fast.
“There are some really positive things, and the chassis is so good, but there are some areas where it isn’t that good. And if you don’t do specific things, you’re not able to be fast.
“It’s difficult, because to ride in a completely different way is difficult, and at this moment only Fabio is able to do that.
“That creates a problem, with speed but also with the way you manage the tyres. I’m not that happy.
“But we did the first two days and I’m happy to go to a different track, because it’s what I need. I don’t know if that track will be good to learn on and improve the situation, with the heat and everything, but for sure I’m still not adapting good enough and I’m not happy.
“This is one thing, but the other is that already the characteristic of last year is the same as this year. It’s not just about how much you’ve improved over the two years, but it’s about the characteristics of the bike as well.
“There are small things [where the bike is better]but the DNA of the bike is like last year and that hasn’t changed.”
Thankfully for the 35-year-old, he’s got an upcoming chance to work on the issue.
With MotoGP taking a breather for only four days in Indonesia before the chance to test at the brand new Mandalika Bay venue for another three days before the first race of the year, Dovizioso says both the track time and the time off in between will be valuable – even though he doesn’t think his problems can be fixed in that time.
“These four days, before the test, are perfect to work with engineers,” he explained.
“They can analyze a lot of things, everyone did a lot of laps in two days, and that will be very important for me to have a clear idea.
“It’s what I need at this moment, to realize all the details. It is very particular how you have to ride the bike.
“The strange things are strange. It’s not strange for me though because I’ve realized the characteristic of the bike. You can’t use just your best way to be fast, that doesn’t work. That’s why it takes more time and is a bit more difficult for me at the minute.
“It’s always a mix of everything, but I don’t think it will just be the work in the box. That’s my feeling.”
While it remains anyone’s guess as to which rider will land the coveted second factory Ducati seat alongside Pecco Bagnaia for the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, one seat that is confirmed among the manufacturer’s Armada of eight bikes has been generating a fair amount of buzz.
Last month, Gresini Racing became the first of Ducati’s four teams to confirm its full rider line-up for the 2023 MotoGP season with the signing of Alex Marquez alongside Fabio di Giannantonio.
It’s a deal that – on paper at least – perhaps raises a few eyebrows. For a start, Marquez’s three seasons in MotoGP to date haven’t exactly sparkled, perpetuating – perhaps unfairly – a notion that the family name has flattered more than his potential in the premier class.
With some mighty shoes to fill in replacing three-time race winner Enea Bastianini, Alex Marquez arrives at Gresini boasting a fairly modest repertoire by comparison. Indeed, while he has collected two podiums – back-to-back at Le Mans and Aragon during his rookie campaign in 2020 – Marquez has otherwise cracked the top five on just one other occasion.
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Despite this, Tardozzi suggests Ducati (via Gresini) is prepared to take a leap of faith with Marquez on the understanding his form has been stunted by the notoriously tricky Honda RC213V package he’s raced in all three of his MotoGP campaigns.
“I believe that Gresini is an excellent team that helps the rider more than 100% and not everyone succeeds,” he told GPOne.com. “I believe that Alex, after three years of MotoGP, has never given his best.
On a lighter note, however, Tardozzi jokes that signing Alex represents a chance to impress his six-time MotoGP title-winning brother Marc.
Indeed, while the older of the Marquez brothers has never outwardly indicated a desire to leave his familiar Honda surroundings for Ducati, it is known the Italian manufacturer does check-in now and again in case he’s had a change of heart.
While Tardozzi stresses Alex has been hired for his talent alone, he admits there could be some benefit for Ducati if he begins feeding back to Marc as to the strengths of the Ducati package relative to the Honda.
“For us it is a good advert for – joking of course – his brother,” he continues. “In my opinion, Alex will report to his brother the difference between Ducati and Honda.
“Let’s see what he will tell him, it will be a nice surprise. But I have reasonable certainty that Alex will go a lot better and will say good things about our bike.
“We have our riders and we believe in them. I have said it before and I emphasize it, we often joke with Marc. He is Honda, we are Ducati but there is an excellent relationship with Marc as a man.
“When Alex tries the bike and when, I believe and hope, he will achieve certain results, it will be my duty to go to Marc and ask him ‘how’s it going?’.
“It’s a joke! Then again…”
We’ll say this right away… it’s hard to believe Ducati has hired Alex Marquez as a convoluted way of one day securing the signature of Marc Marquez. At least, we hope not!
But, as Tardozzi says, it won’t have escaped notice that Ducati will get something of a ‘2 for 1’ by signing Alex, knowing there will be the likelihood Marc will gain a greater understanding of the Ducati’s inner workings by association.
So while it’d be extreme to suggest this is a premeditated tactic by Ducati, we’ll say it isn’t quite a coincidence either.
Of course, putting Alex – with his taller frame and less active riding style – on the Ducati does in no way reflect how Marc would fare on the same machine.
But, assuming Alex won’t swear himself to secrecy now he’s reverting from Marc’s team-mate to his rival, the notion of the 62-time MotoGP race winner getting to know the intricacies of the Ducati a little better represents an interesting scenario.
Of course, a Ducati in the hands of Andrea Dovizioso represented Marquez’s staunchest rival during his three most recent title wins, even if his dominance en route to them meant it wasn’t an evenly-weighted rivalry.
Nevertheless, it was only Ducati with its aggressive power-oriented development direction that could take the fight to Marquez at his peak, raising the occasional hypothetical that pondered how he’d fare swapping his Honda for a Desmo.
A lot has changed since 2019, of course, not least Marquez’s catalog of physical ailments and subsequent dip in performance, while it is far from guaranteed the Spaniard – currently taking a long time out to recovery from a fourth surgery on his troublesome arm – will ever be able to get back to the devastating form that had him on course to surge past every MotoGP record.
Nevertheless, the Ducati package has never been a stronger all-rounder than it has been for the last two seasons, a stark contrast to the decline in form for the once-metronomically formidable Honda.
Come the end of 2024 when Marquez’s long-term deal with Honda is up for negotiation, with that bit of Ducati intel being passed across the dinner table now and again, it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to think Marc might consider an alternative future beyond Honda.
Deja vu: Jake Gagne (1) got the jump on the pack in Saturday’s MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike race, leading Cameron Petersen (45), Mathew Scholtz (11), Danilo Petrucci (hidden) and the rest of the field. Photo by Brian J. Nelson
Plain and simple, Jake Gagne is on roll, the defending MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Champion winning his fifth race in a row and his eighth of the year in race one today at Brainerd International Raceway.
It’s really a case of déjà vu all over again.
On a sunny and warm day in Minnesota, Gagne was Gagne. As always, the Fresh N Lean Progressive Yamaha Racing-backed Californian, who now calls Colorado home, led from pole position, quickly gapped his pursuers, and maintained a lead that resulted in a 5.338 margin of victory in what was the 25th AMA Superbike win of his career.
Next best to Gagne was his teammate Cameron Petersen, the South African battling with Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC’s Danilo Petrucci for much of the race. With just a few laps to go, however, Petrucci hit a false neutral and ran off track, handing second place to Petersen. By the time Petrucci got back on the black stuff, he’d lost any hope of second place, and was some six seconds behind Petersen.
Still, the Italian former MotoGP star ended up on the podium in third, his 11th podium in 13 races as he continues a season of consistent podium finishes.
Petrucci ended up 9.3 seconds ahead of Westby Racing’s Mathew Scholtz, the South African riding with an injured left wrist after a big crash in Q2 on Saturday morning. Scholtz was in survival mode from the get-go and did well to finish fourth.
Fifth went to Tytlers Cycle Racing’s PJ Jacobsen just a second ahead of Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim with Gillim having his best Superbike finish of the season.
Aftercare Hayes Scheibe Racing’s Ashton Yates was seventh, three seconds behind Gillim and four seconds ahead of Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Jake Lewis returned to action after thumb surgery to finish ninth with ADR Motorsports’ David Anthony rounding out the top 10.
Tytlers Cycle Racing’s Hector Barbera had a rough day at the office, the Spaniard running off track on the opening lap before eventually crashing out of the race.
Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Richie Escalante was a non-starter after suffering an ankle injury in his Q2 crash on Saturday morning.
Gagne now leads the MotoAmerica Medallia Superbike Championship by 12 points over Petrucci, 240-228. Petersen is third with 195 points, 12 points better than Scholtz. Barbera remains in fifth with 122 points.
Superbike Race 1
Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
PJ Jacobsen (BMW)
Hayden Gillim (Suzuki)
Ashton Yates (BMW)
Corey Alexander (BMW)
Jake Lewis (Suzuki)
David Anthony (Suzuki)
Jake Gagne – Winner
“Like both these guys said, it’s just a tricky place. You can knock it back a couple percent and just try to use the littlest lean angle and things like that, but it can just bite you in weird places. I’ve had that experience from last year and in testing. I’ve had some weird, big crashes at this place in the past, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid. I got a good start. Like these guys said, even those first couple laps are a little tricky. I didn’t have any big, big moments, but from my seat I knew the rear wasn’t hooking up like it had in practice, so you just had to ride the tire a little bit differently. I’m just lucky I had a good couple clean laps and then once I had a little bit of a gap I could just ride and try not to make any mistakes. Like you said, you can’t just knock it back and ride around. You’ve really got to stay focused at this track. Some weird stuff could happen. Again, thanks to the Yamaha guys. They’re working hard. I think all of us want to try to figure out and understand how to get the tires to feel a little bit better and get a little more consistency. But it’s an interesting place. It’s tough to get that consistency and really know what the tires are going to do, until it’s too late.”
Cameron Petersen – Second Place
“Kind of same deal. There was a point where I actually even put my hand up because I thought there was something going on with the bike. I just couldn’t get into the corners. The thing was sliding everywhere. It’s actually been happening all weekend. It’s every time we put a new tire on; it’s like those first two or three laps it feels like an old tire. So, I think I was just kind of over-riding, like I have been all year, just to try and stay with Jake (Gagne). Ended up hurting me. It was an interesting race. I think we were all kind of battling with the same thing. It’s a weird surface here and the tires. With a brand-new tire, it feels like the thing has got 30 laps on it.”
Danilo Petrucci – Third Place
“No, at the end I made a mistake. The problem was that since the beginning, since the first lap, I thought I got a cold tire on the rear. Was really, really difficult to ride. Felt like got something wrong with the rear suspension or with traction control, don’t know. Now we checked the pressure and it’s really, really low the rear tire. It was much better at the end. I was pushing hard for go away from Cameron (Petersen), but I did a mistake and hit a neutral at the penultimate corner and I ran into the grass. Definitely one of the most difficult days. This morning I had a big, big crash, big highside like the all-time (biggest). It was not easy to rebuild the bike and go on. I’m so pissed off about my mistake but need to understand what happened on the bike. But definitely happy that tomorrow is another day.”
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MotoGP roars back into action at Silverstone for the British GP, one of the standout weekends on the calendar.
Fabio Quartararo has his sights set firmly on a second consecutive championship but will face a long-lap penalty at Silverstone which will seriously hamper his hopes.
The Yamaha rider holds just a 19-point lead in the 2022 standings ahead of Aprilia rival Aleix Espargaro.
Francesco Bagnaia will feature after failing a breathalyser test and crashing a car while on holiday in Ibiza.
“I have to go all in”: Quartararo and Bagnaia ready for #MatchPoint at Misano
The pre-event Press Conference talks title chances, the Doctor’s farewell, expectations for the weekend and more
Thursday, 21 October 2021
Do not adjust your sets! We are, indeed, back at the technicolor dreamboat that is Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and this time for the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna, with Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) facing down his first #MatchPoint no less. He headlined the Pre-Event Press Conference, joined by challenger – and winner last time at Misano – Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), as well as COTA victor Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), San Marino GP rookie podium finisher Enea Bastianini ( Avintia Esponsorama), compatriot and fellow rookie Luca Marini (Sky Avintia VR46), and, of course, the legendary Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) as he prepares to race on home turf for the final time. In addition, Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) joined the line-up, the South African freshly-announced as racing in the premier class next season with the new RNF Racing structure.
Here are some key quotes!
Fabio Quartararo: “I’m feeling really good but to be honest my head is not really on that part. I think we need to take it like a normal race but we know on Sunday something special can happen. But first of all on Friday and Saturday, we need to plan it like the rest of the year, and then on Sunday we will see the amount of risk we will take. But Friday and Saturday will be a normal situation for the moment and then we will see what will happen.”
Will he take as much risk as the San Marino GP?
“We want to see. It’s how I like to race but I have never been in that situation. Last year I learned a lot, not how to fight for a championship but to be leader of the championship for many races was an important step for my experience, and this year I think it’s much ‘easy’ let’s say to have it. At the moment it is a normal race and we will see how much risk we will take on Sunday.”
Francesco Bagnaia: “For me the only thing I can do is win, to try and stay in the Championship fight. We know 52 points are a lot, but we will try. We still have the possibility so we will try. It will be different this weekend because the conditions are different and looks like it could rain on Friday and Saturday. For sure this weekend I have to go all in and try to make something.
“For sure our ambition is always to improve. Looking at my last two seasons in MotoGP, it was not the year to try and win the Championship, this one, because I struggled a lot in the past years, I crashed a lot, I broke my tibia last year so I had problems. This year the objective was to continue growing. After the summer break we made a step forwards, and in the last races another one. I am happy with the work we have done in the last races but for sure the work we have done this year can be better for next year.”
Marc Marquez: “I arrive here at Misano with the feeling of the test more than Austin’s race, we know Austin is a special circuit and still I feel a big difference between left and right corners. But anyway let’s see. In Misano 1 was better than what we expected before the race and it was a result I didn’t expect. This weekend we will try to do a small step, top five will be a good result, but it’s true that here and in Portimao I would like to be a bit faster on the right corner circuits.
“I keep improving but too slow for my… I mean it’s really slow. The comeback is difficult, even like this I’m able to ride in an acceptable way and I’m able to finish on the podium three times this year but still it’s not the way and the performance I would like. So we need to keep pushing, keep going, three races to go. But what I predicted for the second half of the season is what’s going on, I’m constantly in the top five and closer to the top guys, so this was the target and at the moment I can achieve it every weekend..”
Enea Bastianini: “I’m very happy about my last races, and here three weeks ago I was on the podium and it was incredible for me. So, in Austin we did a really good race. It was difficult with the conditions; it was really hot and to finish the race wasn’t easy. I’m happy with the guys and the work inside the box, we made a good step and now it’s important we continue like this because it’s important. I’m confident ahead of Misano 2, it’s a nice track which I like a lot. It’s colder than last time, but we still have to be faster this time.
“I have to work a lot on this part of the weekend, always qualifying is a disaster for me. Here in Misano it was one of my best, and I have to try and repeat that to be more competitive in this race.”
Luca Marini: “For sure I would like to be a bit more forward especially about the results in the races, but anyway I’m quite happy about the overall season. Like you said I finished all the races but it’s something I’m not proud of, I would prefer to stay more in front and sometimes do mistakes. But with this I’m able to understand how the tires drop during the race, how the bike works and how the track changes in 40 minutes, and it’s great to understand what areas of my body I need to work more because on the Ducati I ‘m struggling a bit in the physical area. We worked a lot on the ergonomics and tried to use less strength – create a less physical bike. I’m quite happy now with the level I am compared to the start of the season, I have much more confidence and I’m feeling better, but we need to make some improvements in the last three races because I would like to stay in the top 10 positions.”
A very methodical rider in adapting, is that his approach to MotoGP?
“Sincerely, yeah maybe it looks like it but in five years I can achieve and arrive to MotoGP, so I’m not so slow to adapt to the situation. I think when I arrived to the World Championship in Moto2 it was a completely different world compared to the European championship, and also with the Forward team we missed something on the technical side, so it was difficult to arrive to the top guys. But when everything was at 100% I was there and I was really fast and strong, and when I am comfortable on the bike I feel that I can do everything on the bike, I can be very strong. I want to have this feeling in the races to improve my position in the race.”
Valentino Rossi: “It’s a bit of a strange situation because it is already the second time here in Misano and the second race is particular, because usually we race just once, but with the Covid situation we’ve learned to stay at one track for more than one race. It’s a great chance to say Ciao! to all the Italian fans so it is great to race here in Misano at my home circuit. I hope the weather will be good for the weekend, because this period in Italy is a bit more difficult so I hope for a dry weekend, especially on Sunday. Try the maximum during the weekend to be competitive during the race.
“It’s a long story, more than 400 races in my career. I just have to say thank you to everybody. I have had incredible support all over the world, especially in Italy. I always give the maximium, we enjoy a lot together as it’s a long career with a lot of great races. We will see on Sunday, anyways after Misano we will have 2 more races, it’s always a sad moment when you arrive at the end but anyways it was good. We’ll enjoy it!”
Darryn Binder: “First off I would just like to say a big thanks to WithU RNF Yamaha Racing for giving me this opportunity. It feels unreal, it feels like I am in a different world right now. It’s a childhood dream to ride in MotoGP and not everybody gets this opportunity, and I definitely never expected it to come from Moto3. I’m super excited and it’s a huge step forward so it’s going to be a big learning curve for me, but yeah I’m super excited, I’m ready to work as hard as I can and it all starts at the end of the year when I get the first ride on the M1.
“You know it’s definitely an opportunity you can’t turn down, it’s a no brainer for me. It’s definitely a big step and I think I’ll be asking my brother a lot of questions and I’m going to be trying to follow his footsteps very closely over the holiday to train and try and get ready for the bigger bike. From my side I definitely feel like I’ve been in Moto3 for way too long, I’m quite big so I think my size should suit the big bike a bit better. It’s going to be a huge learning curve but I’m up for the hard work and I will do my best to get stronger and stronger.”
Now it’s time to get back out on track and let the racing do the talking. Tune in as Free Practice begins on Friday morning, before Sunday sees the lights go out for MotoGP at 14:00 (GMT +2)! Will we have a new champion? We’re about to find out!
Philipp Öttl and Team Go Eleven confirm the agreement for the 2023 season, riding the Ducati V4-RS!
The German rider and the Italian team will continue their project in WorldSBK together, with the aim of realizing and improving the good performances shown in the debut year. The harmony within the Team is amazing, Philipp has achieved a seventh place as the best result so far, in a season also conditioned by the injury suffered at Estoril. Physically back to 100%, Öttl has resumed his growth path showing improvements session after session, even on totally new tracks. His attitude is truly a great professional, he works methodically to study the areas on which to improve and the potential is really high. In his debut year it was difficult to ask and expect more, but the fact that he is always fighting with the factory bikes and more experienced riders shows that he has the talent to aim high. We can’t wait to start a new season with all the references from the previous year!
Now, sign the deal, with a free mind and the peace of mind to continue together, it’s time to focus on the second half of 2022, six more races await us in which the goal is to try to conquer some Top Independents!
Philipp Oettl (Rider): “I am excited about another year with the Team Go Eleven! We matched very well, and after Assen we were already quite close to the front group. We had some misfortunes during the year so far, I am happy that the Team wants to continue with me. This season is and will be all about learning, sometimes we can do steps forward and sometimes steps back, but it’s part of the growing process. We know we have a good potential, so I am super happy to be with them one year more!”
Denis Sacchetti (Team Manager): “I believe it is the natural continuation of a path that we have started together at the end of 2021 and it is exciting to carry on this project in which we believe even more, precisely because we have had the opportunity to work with Philipp and appreciate him both professionally and personally. He has enormous potential and I am very happy to work with him, there is a special feeling between him and the whole team and we have important goals that unite us. So full speed ahead, now the motivation is very high, we have to have fun!”
MotoGP’s newest team, the WithU RNF Yamaha outfit with Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder as its riders, has revealed its 2022 machines at an event in Verona’s Philharmonic Theatre.
The team’s presentation was soundtracked by Italian opera, with a new color scheme that bears little similarity to its previous iteration as Petronas Yamaha.
Now sponsored by Italian energy WithU following the withdrawal of Malaysian oil company Petronas and the subsequent collapse of the former Sepang Racing Team after only three seasons in the premier class, the iconic teal has been replaced with a rather busy blue and black scheme first hinted at in the team’s testing debut in November in Jerez.
Speaking in a statement, team founder Razlan Razali (formerly both the CEO of the Sepang International Circuit and team principal of Petronas Yamaha SRT) says that the historic venue is the perfect place to launch its new project.
“This presentation in this beautiful backdrop settings of Verona,” the Malaysian said, “signifies a number of things for the team; Firstly, we are rebuilding, rebranding and with the riders that we have engaged for this year, Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder, the target is to become competitive, surprise everybody and do the best we can in achieving our goals.
“Secondly, for the first time, WithU is the title partner for a MotoGP team. WithU has been with us since 2019 and we appreciate their continued commitment, Matteo Ballarin’s support, trust and confidence in us in this new journey for the next three years.
“For this 2022 season, we aim to be amongst the best of the independent teams at least. We want to fight for the rookie of the year, although we know it’s a huge challenge with five rookies in 2022 and Darryn being the only one of them to jump from Moto3 to MotoGP.
“For Andrea, he has a lot to prove coming back after more than six months of sabbatical. He definitely wants to prove not only to himself, but everybody, that he still has the motivation, the experience and the drive to fight for the world championship.
The verdict is out on Andrea Dovizioso’s ‘second’ MotoGP career. There is a widely acknowledged inevitability that the Italian will sign off from the premier-class after the next nine races, and considering the previous 15 have yielded a meager 22 points, it will take something extraordinary to change the narrative on Dovi’s RNF Yamaha stint.
It hasn’t worked out. Really hasn’t. Dovizioso has been the first to acknowledge that. At the Sachsenring, when asked about his strategy for the race, he said: “During this year, every race has been a nightmare for me. I was surviving.
“It’s not about making strategy and deciding something – because I don’t have the speed in my control.
“And when you are behind [other bikes] now, the MotoGP really becomes bad about that, it affects a lot your way to ride, the performance of the tyre, especially the front.”
“This year has been very bad, very bad for me,” he acknowledged after Assen. “Unfortunately. But this is the reality. We keep fighting.”
His predecessor in the ‘veteran satellite Yamaha rider role’, Valentino Rossi, had a bad 2021. Dovizioso’s 2022 is worse still – he has 10 points after 11 races, with Rossi having scored double that at the same point last year.
It is a more-than-unusual predicament for somebody who has until now put up triple-digit points with ease in his every full-time season of grand prix racing but one – his 2002 125cc debut campaign (pictured below, with Dovi behind Youichi Ui).
“Not being competitive is a completely different story to my career,” Dovizioso acknowledged in a recent MotoGP.com interview. “That is the difficult thing.
“To not be there, it’s the first time for me. It’s difficult to manage, and especially practice by practice, race by race, it becomes more the reality.”
That same interview contained other Dovizioso answers that were widely taken as confirmation of his impending retirement. But, truthfully, his position doesn’t seem to have really changed – he’s not competitive, and as long as he’s not competitive he won’t bother trying to get himself on the 2023 grid. The only difference is that now that grid is more or less full.
Dovizioso finds himself in the Rossi position of last year. He’s a few years younger and a fair few titles short, but he’s also set to end his MotoGP career on something of a sour note, an obvious, glaring low point on the CV.
So, does that mean it wasn’t worth it to return? Well, in hindsight, maybe – the financial factor aside, Dovizioso would’ve probably got more out of spending another year motocrossing at his leisure than putting himself through MotoGP weekend after MotoGP weekend of “always the same story”, as he put it.
But he can’t have known for sure. And in that sense, it was worth finding out.
That’s what makes it different from Rossi’s situation. Dovizioso’s 2020 Ducati departure was a surprise, and he’d still finished fourth in the championship after the split was announced. And that fourth place followed three consecutive runner-up finishes.
MotoGP was going away from him – that much was clear – but a 2020 retirement after consistent frontrunning form would’ve inevitably raised the question about whether he’d left a win or two on the table, whether he was still fast enough to make his title dream happen on a different machine.
And the Yamaha was ideal for that role, given Dovizioso looked so handy on it back in 2012 before beginning his long Ducati journey.
Dovizioso acknowledged in discussing the move that it was irresistible but “risky”. He was clearly right on the latter point, because it hasn’t worked out in the least. Despite having what he describes as a “completely opposite” riding style to Franco Morbidelli, he’s been getting very similar results – unable to make the most of fresh tires in qualifying, stuck in traffic in races – and has been left convinced that only Fabio Quartararo can give the current Yamaha M1 what it needs.
Whether that theory is correct is not so important here – what is important is that whoever else can crack that puzzle, Dovi himself is increasingly convinced it’s not him. And it’s probably not just the M1, else he would’ve at least entertained pursuing other opportunities.
“MotoGP changed. The bike changed. The competitors changed. The way you have to ride the bike is different. There are a lot of big and small reasons – and if you put it all together, it happens what I’m living now.”
One of the big reasons is clearly the new Michelin rear introduced in 2020 that severely blunted Dovizioso’s peak speed. The other – well, it may well be age. He is a 36-year-old in a series dominated by riders in their 20s.
So maybe it was never going to work out. But Dovizioso – whose time in MotoGP has painted him as one of the most introspective and flat-out interesting characters of this past premier-class era – deserved the chance to find out.
And when the Valencia finale comes and goes, he will walk away from the premier class with – very likely – no extra silverware in his trophy cabinet, but no lingering ‘what if’ either.
With Suzuki quitting MotoGP at the end of this season, the premier class is being reduced from 24 to 22 grid places. While Andrea Dovizioso, the oldest rider on the grid, has signaled he won’t be back for 2023, it looks like at least one of the current rookies could also be forced out.
With Iker Lecuona, still only 22, now impressing in WorldSBK after being left without a MotoGP seat at the end of last season, podcast host Harry Benjamin asked Huewen and Crash.net MotoGP editor Pete McLaren if MotoGP now has a problem in terms of finding room for young talent.
“Dorna has made a success of all the formulas, or all the ladders, that take us up to MotoGP,” said former British champion and Grand Prix rider Huewen.
“But as all the talent starts to drift up it’s creating a log-jam like we’ve never had before, which is going to make things difficult for the rider market. Where do you put all the young talents?
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“Dorna has got another great product in World Superbike as well as MotoGP, but to try and bring another top class into the fray – or somewhere like MotoAmerica, for guys to slide off to the side when there isn’t room in MotoGP or World Superbikes – is not going to be commercially viable at the moment.
“What that all means is it’s going to turn over people quicker at the top in MotoGP. Rins might not have got a second chance at LCR if the market had been a little bit further down the road. As happened to Iker Lecuona, who you keep telling us about Harry!
“Quite rightly, by the way, I think Iker Lecuona got a real shitty end of the stick to be honest. He got dropped out a bit too quick for his talent, which was a shame, but I can see more of that happening.”
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Keith Huewen: If Toprak doesn’t go to MotoGP? It ought to be illegal!
And where does that leave WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, currently trying to break into MotoGP?
“Toprak is one of the big talents that just about everybody wants to see in MotoGP,” said McLaren. “His manager Kenan Sofuoglu has made clear that only a factory team will do, so he’s staying in WorldSBK for 2023. But in terms of factory MotoGP rides there won’t be many opportunities for 2024 either, simply because most riders will be on two -year deals.
“The one big chance will be to take over from Franco Morbidelli at Yamaha, whose contract expires at the end of next year. So it’s probably going to be Yamaha or nothing, I would think, for Toprak in MotoGP in 2024.”
Huewen added: “How much of a crying shame will it be if Toprak doesn’t go to MotoGP? It ought to be illegal!
“I just can’t imagine not seeing Toprak in MotoGP at some stage. We will all feel cheated if he doesn’t go across to MotoGP. I want anyway.
“I think he’s got a great personality. The way he conducts himself on and off the track is brilliant.
“And to miss out on that talent in the premier class would just seem to be so wrong, in my view.”
Keith Huewen: Rins ‘will flourish’ at LCR Honda
Of Rins’ new deal Huewen said: “Lucio Cecchinello is a really, really good guy. To ex-rider. Superb rider at the time. Maybe Alex Rins needs someone like him in his corner. We’re going to see. Personalities count in a team. It’s what’s going to bring the best out of him.
“Rins has obviously got massive talent, but he’s made quite a lot of unforced errors in the past. It’s ironing those problems out and that all comes from north of the eyebrows.
“Lucio is a really good guy and I think they’ll work well together. So I think a good move, for both.
“Has Nakagami underperformed in recent years? Rins is also going to prove that one way or another, which for me is also the interesting part of it.
“But I think he’ll flourish at LCR. I really do.”
For McLaren, the two-year nature of the agreement, and particularly the latest spec machinery, look to have been crucial factors for Rins:
“It’s always a gamble, changing bikes. You never quite know how it will turn out. But he’s got no choice, he’s got to move, Suzuki is disappearing.
“MotoGP riders usually look for three main things in a new contract, apart from money: The latest bike, at least a two-year deal and ideally a place at the factory team. Rins hasn’t got the last part, but he’s got the other two and I think that is probably why he signed on the dotted line for LCR.
“He did have other options, but it seems like they didn’t involve having the latest bike and that was the real clincher for him in moving to Honda.
“Now Rins needs to take inspiration from Dovi, who lost his factory (Honda) seat in 2011, moved to a satellite team (Tech3 Yamaha) the following year, did a great job, which enabled him to bounce back with a return to a factory team and the best years of his career at Ducati.
“Rins can also take inspiration from the performances of Cal Crutchlow, who took podiums and wins for LCR not that long ago.
“It’s going to be interesting, will Rins thrive in a different environment? Now as a satellite rider and without all the factory engineers, having only ever ridden for Suzuki since joining MotoGP.
“It’s a big move for Rins and let’s see what he can do come November, when he’ll be on that bike for the first time at the Valencia test.”
Listener questions include which manufacturer looks the strongest heading into the second half of the season and whether Miguel Oliveira should choose RNF Aprilia or Tech3 KTM for 2022.
MotoGP World Champion Fabio Quartararo is apparently set for a Formula One test with the Mercedes F1 team.
Quartararo was in Le Castellet at the weekend for the 2022 Formula One French Grand Prix, and spent some time in the Mercedes box.
For the AMG Mercedes team, it was a positive Sunday, as they took their first double podium finish of the season after a crash for Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and confusion for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez at the end of a late Virtual Safety Car.
It also seems to have turned out to be a positive weekend for Quartararo, who now seems set for a test with the Mercedes team.
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Crash.net reports that Sky F1’s pit lane reporter, Ted Kravitz, said at the weekend that “Quartararo is doing a Mercedes test at the end of the year.”
Fabio Quartararo bags Mercedes F1 test!
That would make Quartararo the third factory Yamaha MotoGP rider of the past six years to do a Formula One test with Mercedes.
Valentino Rossi famously tested for Ferrari between 2006 and 2008, during his first stint in Yamaha’s factory team, and displayed pace such that a move to Formula One was on the cards for a while.
Of course, Rossi stayed in MotoGP, where he went on to win the title in 2008 and 2009, and another 12 Grands Prix after that between 2013 and 2017 after returning to Yamaha from Ducati.
During Rossi’s second stint with Yamaha, his then-teammate Jorge Lorenzo tested the 2014 Mercedes car in 2016 at Silverstone.
Three years later, Rossi was back in a Formula One car himself, at Valencia at the end of the 2019. He drove the 2017 title-winning Mercedes, while Mercedes driver and (now) seven-times Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton hopped on a Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP machine.
There have also been Formula One tests for Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa, back in 2018. They drove a 2012 Red Bull painted in the colors of what was then the Toro Rosso team, because at that time the Red Bull team was with Renault engines, while Toro Rosso had already switched to Honda.
Antonio Cairoli, the nine-times Motocross World Champion, also took part in the test at the Red Bull Ring with Marquez and Pedrosa in 2018, the year after he won his final world title.
Of all the MotoGP riders who have tested an F1 car, Rossi was the only one who came close to making the switch full-time, back in the mid-to-late 2000s. For the Italian, a sense that he would not be as competitive on four wheels as he was on two, in combination with a love for motorcycle racing, saw him take the decision to stay in MotoGP.
Whether Quartararo would have a chance to switch to four wheels would firstly depend on his pace and understanding of the car in his test later this year. In any case, it is surely too early to be considering such a switch; Quartararo has at this point just agreed a deal to make one test, and he is secured at Yamaha in MotoGP for the next two years.
Further to that, F1 teams are currently too scared to take a chance on a top IndyCar driver over a middling F2 driver, so the chances of one taking a motorcycle racer seem skinnier than a Monza-spec rear wing.
But, the point of the test is for Quartararo to have fun driving one of the fastest cars in the world, while Mercedes get some relatively easy marketing points.
In any case, when the rumors about a switch for Rossi began, the feeling in MotoGP was that he had already passed his peak, and his title-winning days were behind him (such feeling turned out to be wrong, of course).
Quartararo is 23-years-old, and his ability to win MotoGP titles for the next few years is not a point worth discussing.
Fabio Quartararo says he is starting to “get used to” the engine power deficit he currently faces with his Yamaha M1 following a tough Circuit of the Americas outing.
The reigning MotoGP world champion looked to possess front-running performance throughout Friday and Saturday running for the Americas Grand Prix, the Frenchman ending the opening day third on the timesheets before topping Saturday morning’s FP3 test.
A costly crash in the pole shootout while looking good to at least challenge for a front row spot would limit him to sixth on the grid though, Quartararo dropping as far back as ninth in Sunday’s contest as he struggled to fight off the more powerful machines around him.
Having eventually crossed the line seventh – and pressing Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez heavily across the closing tours – Quartararo conceded that he was now having to “get used to” the lack of straight-line performance afforded to him, affirming that he fought for as many points as possible like “it was for the victory.”
“It is what it is, to be honest I gave my 100% all the time but unfortunately this was the best I could get today,” explained Quartararo.
“From the first races I’m getting a bit used to this deficit of power, it’s important to get used to it and today I fought with what I had and gave it all.
“Even if it’s P7 it’s more important than having nothing, and one that I can even say I’m happy (with) about the result but the race I had and how I fought like it was for the victory.”
Quartararo laid out the Spanish GP at Jerez early next month as the next “really good opportunity” for he and Yamaha to hit the very front again, the eight-time premier class race winner not overly confident his M1 will feature at the forefront of the Action in next weekend’s Portuguese GP despite having taken victory at the venue last April in the first of two encounters held there last season.
“Portimao has quite a lot of acceleration (zones), last year in the second race there I couldn’t overtake (Jorge) Martin but Jerez will be a really good opportunity for us that we can’t afford to miss, so we will focus on these back-to-back races,” added Quartararo.
“I had many opportunities to see things on the bike (Honda) but when you ride with someone who is an eight-time world champion you can always learn, and today it was important to have this fight and take a good look at him. ”
Hayes (4) in action at VIRginia International Raceway earlier this season and leading Kevin Olmedo (16), who he will fill in for this weekend at Brainerd. Photo by Brian J. Nelson.
Hot on the heels of Josh Hayes’s announcement on Wednesday that he will reunite with Squid Hunter Racing and race their team’s Yamaha YZF-R6 in Supersport at New Jersey Motorsports Park and Barber Motorsports Park later this season, news has broken that Hayes will, in fact, also be aboard a Yamaha R6 in Supersport this weekend at Brainerd International Racewsay.
Hayes has been pressed into duty by N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto as he fills in for team rider Kevin Olmedo, who is recovering from Guillain–Barré syndrome at home in El Salvador. Olmedo is hopeful to make a quick recovery and rejoin the team, but there is no timeline for his return at the moment.
Josh Hayes is currently riding the N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R1 in the N2/WERA National Endurance Series by Dunlop where the team recently team scored their first overall win at Roebling Road Raceway. Hayes brings an incredible amount of experience to the team that will help develop the Yamaha YZF-R6 in Olmedo’s absence.
Shiloh Salopek, crew chief for N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto said, “I am saddened to hear about Kevin’s recent diagnosis. Our team stands beside Kevin and his family during his road to recovery, and we look forward to when he will be healthy enough to be back on his Yamaha YZF-R6 fighting for podiums. I also would like to say thanks to Josh for being willing and able to fill in for Kevin at Brainerd International Raceway on such short notice.”
Hayes commented, “I am very thankful that N2 has entrusted me their Yamaha YZF-R6 during this tough time. After riding with Kevin Olmedo and working with them at Roebling Road Raceway during the N2/WERA National Endurance Race, I know the level of the equipment and how tight they are as a team. I hope I can do a good job at Brainerd in Kevin’s absence, and I look forward to gridding up with Kevin soon.”
A four-time AMA Superbike Champion, Hayes has won 84 AMA professional motorcycle road races in his career, and he currently ranks second to AMA Hall of Famer Miguel Duhamel’s 86 AMA race victories on the all-time wins list.
For the full 2022 MotoAmerica schedule and to purchase tickets for MotoAmerica events, click HERE
For information on how to watch the MotoAmerica series, click HERE
After one season with Pol Espargaro and two with Miguel Oliveira, next year Brad Binder will have a new teammate in MotoGP – Jack Miller, with whom he already has a strong relationship even if the Australian currently competes for Ducati and not are of the same generation nor did they make a coincident trajectory before MotoGP.
In an interview with the Youtube channel Moto Rider World, the # 33 was asked if he is excited about his new future teammate, and in the answer he did not hesitate: ‘For sure. Jack is probably one of my best friends. I spend most of my time with him when I’m in Europe. He lives right down the street here in Andorra. We train a lot together, we do cycling, we do some trials. And I think Australians and South Africans seem to get along well, because we have a very similar way of doing things’.
In addition to the personal relationship, Binder believes that Miller could be an asset when it comes to the bike: ‘It will be fantastic to have him on the team, I’m excited to see how he discovers the bike. The good thing is that he has already ridden a Honda, he comes from a Ducati which seems to be the strongest bike at the moment. He can bring all that knowledge and feedback and help us make some progress on our project’.
We love thumbing through the classifieds with our eyes peeled to spot classic or a bargain to add to our collection… but this KTM RC16 MotoGP bike isn’t your average ‘deal of the week’.
While we’re assuming KTM isn’t doing this just to drum up a bit of extra cash, it has just put the For Sale sign on the RC16 contested by Pol Espargaro during the 2019 MotoGP season.
It’s certainly an eye-catching deal, one that gets you the full fat MotoGP bike complete with striking orange livery with the Red Bull decals and leaves the race number so you can truly imagine you are Senor Espargaro himself.
It’s got some achievements under its belt too. In all, Espargaro scored 100 points, finished inside the top ten on eight occasions and had the privilege of a clear road ahead in Misano when the Spaniard secured a maiden front row start for the manufacturer.
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The classified comes out hot on the heels of the opening two 2020 MotoGP rounds in which KTM had a starring role with competitive pace, which at least shows it won’t need to rinse the 2019 machine for aero parts like Honda has.
The price is a princely 288,000 Euros before VAT (just over £260,000) if you have a spare wad of cash lying around, though that does get you an impressive privilege package, including:
– A full set of Pol Espargaro’s race leathers – A signed Espargaro race helmet – A VIP MotoGP Event Pack for any 2021 event*. The experience includes a behind-the-scenes tour, a meet-and-greet with the MotoGP riders and a full set of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team wear – Weekend access to the Red Bull Energy Station unit with full catering and refreshment options
We’ll assume demand may not be so high for the RC16 briefly campaigned Johann Zarco until he complained he couldn’t adapt to it and promptly left the team…
Just One Point Separates Three Men In The Battle For The Mission King Of The Baggers Title
Action-Packed Weekend On Tap For Brainerd International Raceway With Seven Classes Of Racing Slated For July 29-31.
IRVINE, CA (July 28, 2022) – A single point separates three riders in the 2022 MotoAmerica Mission King Of The Baggers Championship with just two races remaining in the seven-race series, the first of which will take place at Brainerd International Raceway this weekend, July 29-31.
Hot off his victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, defending Mission King Of The Baggers Champion Kyle Wyman is tied with his brother Travis and just a single point behind Tyler O’Hara as the title chase heads to Brainerd, Minnesota. Photo by Brian J. Nelson With Mission King Of The Baggers set to make its Minnesota debut on Sunday in Brainerd, the battle for the championship couldn’t be closer as wins in the past two races have moved the Wyman brothers – Kyle and Travis – and their factory H-D Screamin’ Eagle Harley-Davidson Road Glides to within a point of Mission Foods/S&S Cycle/Indian Challenger Team’s Tyler O’Hara and his Indian Challenger. O’Hara has led the championship since winning the opening round at Daytona International Speedway back in March.
With the title chase certain to go to the final round at New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 9-11, the Brainerd round may be the season’s most critical as it will set the stage for the finale.
With his win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca a few weeks ago, Kyle Wyman became the first two-time winner in the 2022 Mission King Of The Baggers series. The win moved him into a tie with his brother Travis for second – just that single point behind O’Hara. Fourth place in the chase for glory is held by Ulsterman Jeremy McWilliams, the teammate to O’Hara and the fourth rider to win a race thus far in 2022. McWilliams also is in the hunt for the title as he trails his teammate by just nine points with two races to go.
After failing to finish the opening race at Daytona, Vance & Hines’ James Rispoli has proven to be a thorn in the side of the four factory riders ahead of him with two podium finishes in the past three races. Rispoli’s V&H teammate Taylor Knapp rounds out the top five as the series lands in Minnesota.
Supersport – Will Anyone Stop Herrin?
Josh Herrin and his Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC Panigale V2 have dominated this year’s Supersport Championship, and he rolls into BIR with a gaudy 81-point lead in the championship.
Herrin has seven wins on the season – and four in a row – in what is his first season on the Panigale V2. In the two races he didn’t win, Herrin finished fourth and third. Thus, he has podium finishes in nine of the 10 races held thus far.
Four riders have won the MotoAmerica Supersport races with Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, four-time AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes and one-off wild card racer Jason Farrell the three who join Herrin as race winners in 2022.
The 16-year-old Scott sits second in the title chase with six podiums, but he also has two non-finishes as he learns the ropes of the class in his rookie season. Scott is just five points ahead of Landers Racing’s Rocco Landers as the two youngsters fight it out for second in the championship while trying to stop the runaway Herrin train.
N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Kevin Olmedo and the injured Sam Lochoff, Scott’s Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki teammate, round out the top five heading to Brainerd.
SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup – Wyman Gaps The Field
Alpha Omega’s Cody Wyman had a successful weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with a victory in race two and a second-place finish in race one. As for the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship… well, it was an extremely good weekend for Wyman as most of his competition hit some bumps in the road.
Wyman scored 45 points over the two races in California while those closest to him in the championship didn’t fare as well. Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Gus Rodio scored 25 points at Laguna, SportbikeTrackGear.com’s Joe LiMandri Jr. matched Rodio with 25 points, Altus Motorsports Racing’s Kayla Yaakov scored just seven points and LiMandri’s teammate Max Van came away with 10 points.
And just like that, Wyman leads the championship by 18 points over Rodio heading into Brainerd, 166-148, with LiMandri two points farther adrift with 146, while Yaakov and Van fall 44 and 52 points behind Wyman, respectively.
Yuasa Stock 1000 – Alexander On A Roll
If Disrupt Racing’s Hayden Gillim hopes to take the fight for the Yuasa Stock 1000 Championship to the end of the season, he needs to start beating Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing’s Corey Alexander sooner rather than later.
With his fifth win of the season and fourth in a row, Alexander arrives in the Land of 10,000 Lakes with a 17-point cushion on Gillim and a 22-point lead over his Tytlers Cycle/RideHVMC Racing teammate Travis Wyman with those three separating themselves from the rest of the class.
If you take away his qualifying crash at VIRginia International Raceway that forced him out of both races with a concussion, Alexander hasn’t been beaten thus far in 2022. The race wins in his absence in Virginia went to Gillim, and those two are the only riders to win Yuasa Stock 1000 races so far this season.
Travis Wyman and DiBrino Racing’s Andy DiBrino, meanwhile, are the only riders in the top five who have finished all seven races.
REV’IT! Twins Cup – Barry By The Skin Of His Teeth
It’s rare when a racer can have two non-finishes in a row and still hold on to the lead in their respective championships, but Jody Barry has somehow managed to do that. With four wins in the first six REV’IT! Twins Cup races, Barry and his Veloce Racing Aprilia RS 660 looked to be cruising right along to a class championship. Right up until the point that he wasn’t.
Barry’s troubles began with a non-finish in race two at Ridge Motorsports Park and continued with zero points coming his way in the lone Twins Cup race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
With Rodio Racing/Warhorse HSBK Racing’s Anthony Mazziotto winning both races at Ridge and finishing sixth at Laguna Seca, the New Jerseyan gained 35 points on Barry and now trails by just four points as the series arrives in Minnesota. Although there’s plenty of racing left, those two appear to have the edge on the rest of the field as N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto’s Blake Davis is 36 points behind Barry in third place. Davis, however, did find himself back on the podium with a second-place finish at Laguna Seca, thus ending a podium drought that dated back to his victory at Daytona in the very first race of the season.
Cycle Tech’s Hayden Schultz is just three points adrift of Davis in fourth and just nine ahead of defending class champion Kaleb De Keyrel, with De Keyrel set for a return to his home track at BIR this weekend.
Five riders have won Twins Cup races so far in 2022: Barry (four), Mazziotto (two), Davis (one), Schultz (one) and Cory Ventura (one).
Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. – The Girls Are Back In Town
The Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. program will race for the third time in 2022 with a return to Brainerd International Raceway for the 15-strong field of Royal Enfield Continental GT 650s.
The class championship is led by Washington’s Jennifer Chancellor by just seven points over Georgian Jessica Martin and by 11 over VIRginia International Raceway round winner Kayleigh Buyck. But this is anybody’s title at this point with the top 10 separated by just 18 points as the series hits Brainerd.
BIR Pre-Race Support Class Notes…
With 2021 Yuasa Stock 1000 Champion Jake Lewis moving up to the Medallia Superbike class full-time this season, Michael Gilbert suffering a broken leg at Ridge Motorsports Park and Stefano Mesa not entered for Brainerd, the top three in Stock 1000 is guaranteed to be different in 2022. Last year, Lewis topped Gilbert by 3.7 seconds with Mesa third, another two seconds adrift.
Sean Dylan Kelly had a perfect weekend at BIR last year with victories in both Supersport races en route to what would be a championship-winning season for the Floridian. His rival Richie Escalante, meanwhile, had his first non-finish of 2021 after five straight runner-up finishes to Kelly. Kelly is now racing in the Moto2 World Championship with Escalante moving up to the Medallia Superbike class on the Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki team.
Homeboy Kaleb De Keyrel won race one and finished second in race two of the REV’IT! Twins Cup class last year, the Minnesota native ending up atop the championship point standings at season’s end. Anthony Mazziotto topped De Keyrel in a close race two a year ago.
The next win in REV’IT! Twins Cup for De Keyrel will be the 10th of his career in Twins Cup racing and that will make him the all-time winningest rider in the class. De Keyrel is currently tied with Rocco Landers with nine career wins in Twins Cup.
The young rider who won the SportbikeTrackGear.com Junior Cup Championship last year won his sixth race of the season in race two at BIR a year ago. Tyler Scott, who now competes in the Supersport class on a Vision Wheel M4 ECSTAR Suzuki, beat Cody Wyman in race two – a day after losing out to Ben Gloddy in race one. Gloddy now competes in the MotoAmerica REV’IT! Twins Cup series.
The Royal Enfield Build. Train. Race. series made its debut last year at Brainerd International Raceway with CJ Lukacs winning the inaugural race.
About MotoAmerica
MotoAmerica is the North American road racing series created in 2014 that is home to the AMA Superbike Championship. MotoAmerica is an affiliate of KRAVE Group LLC, a partnership that includes three-time 500cc World Champion, two-time AMA Superbike Champion, and AMA Hall of Famer Wayne Rainey, ex-racer and former manager of Team Roberts Chuck Aksland, motorsports marketing executive Terry Karges, and businessman Richard Varner. For more information on MotoAmerica, visit www.MotoAmerica.com. Also make sure to follow MotoAmerica on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
More, from a press release issued by Ducati North America:
MotoAmerica Supersport Round 6 – Herrin Looking to Extend his Massive Supersport Title Lead as MotoAmerica Heads to Minnesota
Josh Herrin (2). Photo courtesy Ducati North America.
Sunnyvale, Calif. — Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #2) will face off against America’s best Supersport protagonists this weekend as the series moves to the Great Lakes area of Minnesota.
It will be Herrin’s first time at the 2.5-mile, 13-turn Brainerd racetrack, a place steeped in history as the first venue to host an American round of WorldSBK in 1989, after missing MotoAmerica’s return to the venue in 2021.
The Californian holds an astonishing 81-point advantage in the title chase—over three race wins—from Suzuki’s Tyler Scott, and a good performance here could see Herrin put one hand on the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship. This would be a first not just for him but also for Ducati North America.
Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati NYC – #2): “I’m super excited about this weekend. We tested at Brainerd earlier in the year to make sure we had the gearing all dialed in, so that is one thing less we have to do at this track,” Herrin said. “I’m just hoping to have as much fun this weekend as we’ve had all year. The Ducati V2 is fantastic to race and gives me so much motivation to do my absolute best each time I go out on the circuit. We’re in a good position in the championship, and I’m excited to get out to Minnesota and meet some of the fans, as I know this is a huge event. This is a new racetrack for me after missing last year, and I can’t wait to get after it.”
Round six of the 2022 MotoAmerica Supersport Championship kicks off with the opening practice on Friday, July 29 at 9:40 AM CDT. Race one is scheduled for Saturday, July 30 at 2:10 PM CDT with race two due to take place on Sunday, July 31 at 2:10 PM CDT.
From 15th on the grid to 4th in the race, French rider, Fabio Quartararo, takes home his first ever MotoGP Championship crown.
After a dramatic decider at the Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia Romagna, the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider sliced from 15th on the grid to fourth. Sole rival for the crown, Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), crashed out from the lead. Quartararo is the first French premier class World Champion in history and is the first Yamaha rider to win the crown since 2015
From pole position, Bagnaia got a decent getaway but it was teammate Jack Miller who got the best launch from the front row. Pecco grabbed the holeshot though as Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) carved his way into P2 from the second row. Miller grabbed P2 from Oliveira at Turn 4 though, with Marc Marquez then getting the better of Oliveira down into Turn 8. Quartararo didn’t make a rapid start, but more importantly, he stayed trouble-free.
Unfortunately for Bagnaia, he crashed his Ducati on Lap 23 (or so), which left Marc Marquez in first position, Pol Espargaro in 2nd and Quartararo in 3rd, just enough to secure the World Championship title in a sensational fashion all the way from the 15th on the grid.
“I still can’t believe it! I can’t even talk… It feels amazing. Maybe later I can talk a bit more. Right now, I’m living the dream! It feels good to also have my family with me, and we will enjoy this a lot tonight and until the end of the season,” said the 22-year-old Frenchman.
Quartararo’s impressive 2021 results earned Yamaha its 755th premier class podium finish during Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd.’s 60th anniversary year of World Championship Road Racing participation, adding to the Japanese constructor’s extensive list of MotoGP milestones.
Quartararo brought Yamaha’s premier class rider titles tally to 18 so far, of which three were secured by Lorenzo (2010, 2012, and 2015), four by Valentino Rossi (2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009) in the MotoGP class, three by Wayne Rainey (1990, 1991, 1992), three by Eddie Lawson (1984, 1986, 1988), three by Kenny Roberts (1978, 1979, 1980), and one by Giacomo Agostini (1975) in the 500cc class.
Quartararo’s achievements combined with his teammates’ efforts have also helped keep both the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team and Yamaha in contention in this year’s Team and Constructor Championships with two rounds remaining. Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli (his former teammate in 2019 and 2020 with PETRONAS Yamaha SRT) reunited at the 2021 San Marino GP in the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP garage and are keen to fight down to the wire for the Team and Constructor Titles until the last MotoGP round in Valencia.
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