All 11 teams have been confirmed yesterday to join the 2019 MotoE World Cup during the Qatar MotoGP round.
Representatives from Tech 3, LCR, Marc VDS, Pramac Racing, Angel Nieto, Reale Avintia and Gresini sat down for a briefing yesterday.
Sky Racing VR46, Pons Racing, Dynavolt Intact GP, and SIC Squadra Corse from Moto3 and Moto2 will be joining as well.
The folks over at Dorna and MotoGP have finalised all the teams that will be racing in the very first 2019 MotoE World Cup series which will start next year. After announcing the Energica Ego electric superbike as the official race machine just last month, the teams who will be joining the cup have been selected to compete in the inaugural world cup. (more…)
Andrea Dovizioso beat Marc Marquez at the last corner to win the first 2018 MotoGP race.
Pole sitter Johann Zarco had to contend with 8th place.
Valentino Rossi fought hard and finished 3rd.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso made it count when it matters by winning 2018’s opening MotoGP race at the very last corner.
It had looked like France will have her first premier class winner since Regis Laconi in 1999 but the other riders had other plans. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider and pole sitter Johann Zarco had taken the holeshot from the start and held on tenaciously, fighting off the intentions of first Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda, then Valentino Rossi on the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP.
Johann Zarco – from MotoGP.com
Rossi then followed Zarco around for a great number of laps until 10 laps to go when he decided to pass Zarco into Turn 1. Unbeknownst to him, however, was Marc Marquez slipstreaming up the inside. When both Zarco and Rossi overbraked into Turn 1, Marquez capitalized and overtook Rossi.
Valentino Rossi – from MotoGP.com
Rossi then either lost his rhythm or made further mistakes and got kicked back to as far as 5th, where he had to battle hard against Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Alex Rins (ECSTAR Suzuki), Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda).
Alex Rins – from MotoGP.com
Dovizioso had fought all the way to the front soon, passing Marquez but couldn’t find a way past Zarco for a few laps, until 5 laps to go when got into the perfect slipstream position. Dovizioso outbraked Zarco into Turn 1. Marquez was smart to tag behind Dovizioso, counting on the Ducati’s speed to also blast past Zarco.
Dovizioso held an small gap going into the last lap, but Marquez pushed hard to get back onto the back of the Ducati within three corners. As the pair braked for the final turn, Marquez went wide at the exit and Doviziso had a better drive to the finish line.
Marc Marquez – from MotoGP.com
By now it was visible that Zarco’s tyres were cooked as he started fading backwards. Rossi retook third and finished in that position.
Cal Crutchlow had been fast, fought with everyone in the group and held on to fourth at the flag.
Cal Crutchlow – from MotoGP.com
Danilo Petrucci, who had been equally as impressive as the top guys all weekend couldn’t find a way up higher than 3rd and ended in 5th.
Danilo Petrucci – from MotoGP.com
Dani Pedrosa looked promising at the start but fell behind in quick succession by midpoint to come home in 7th.
Dani Pedrosa – from MotoGP.com
Poor Johann Zarco who had worked so hard was packed all the way back in 8th.
The biggest comeback, however, belonged to Maverick Vinalez (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) on the factory Yamaha. He had a difficult weekend, only managing to qualify in 12th, where he pushed all the way back into 6th.
Maverick Vinalez – from MotoGP.com
Hafizh Syahrin had a great start to the season as he finished 14th in his first MotoGP race to earn Malaysia’s first two points in the class.
Francesco Bagnaia held off Lorenzo Baldassari to win the first Moto2 race of the 2018 MotoGP season.
Poleman Alex Marquez had to accept third place due to a brake problem.
Other than that, the race had been processional.
Just when the first Moto2 race of the year seemed like another procession, a mechanical problem threw the race open.
Francesco Bagnaia, Lorenzo Baldassarri and pole sitter Alex Marquez (younger brother of Marc) took off into the lead a few corners after the start as the rest fell behind.
Bagnaia managed to pull out an early gap and started riding at a consistently high pace, leaving Baldassarri and Marquez to battle it out. Indeed, the pursuing duo started to trade places, including three times in one lap before Marquez prevailed. He started chasing down Bagnaia.
Alex Marquez – Pic from MotoGP.com
With just a handful of laps to go, Marquez went straight past a corner, letting Baldassarri through. It was soon apparent that Marquez’s rear brake was glowing red hot, signaling that it had jammed.
Baldasasarri then hunted down Bagnaia; catching and then passing into the lead on the last lap. But he went wide at the exit and Bagnaia repassed and held on all the way to the finish line to win.
Lorenzo Baldassari – Pic from MotoGP.com
Marquez continued to struggle with the stuck rear brake and was in danger of falling victim to Mattia Passini. Fortunately, the glowing went away in the last two laps and Marquez pulled away to maintain his third place on the podium.
Behind him, Passini finished in fourth, followed by the KTMs of Miguel Oliviera and Brad Binder. The much-fangled late charge of the KTMs due to their rear tyre preserving qualities failed to materialize.
Jorge Martin wins the first Moto3 race of the 2018 MotoGP season.
Unlike last year’s race where as many as 17 riders fought for victory, the leading duo broke away from the chasing pack.
The Malaysian Petronas Sprinta Racing riders finished 8th and 11th.
Jorge Martin held on to edge out compatriot Aaron Canet to the line, to win the first Moto3 race of the year.
The pair had broken away from the pursuing group from early on to establish a two-horse race. The Losail International Circuit has the longest front straight of any circuit on the GP calendar and Canet had trailed Martin out of the last corner to set up a slipstream pass. But Canet could only show his front wheel alongside Martin just as the latter crossed the line first.
Aaron Canet – Pic from MotoGP.com
The real spectacle, however was the manic battle for third among those in a group of ten riders, including eventual third-placed finisher Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Niccolo Antonelli, Ayumu Sasaki, John McPhee, among others. Gentlemanly racing soon gave way to argy-bargy and paint-swapping hard moves with two laps to go, John McPhee was among the casualties. It was heartbreak for the Scotsman having fought up through the field into the fight for the final podium position.
Ayumu Sasaki – Pic from MotoGP.com
Ayumu Sasaki of the Petronas Sprinta Racing team fought tooth and nail to come away eighth at the checkered flag, having gone as high as fifth. He had lost the slipstream to the group midway through the race but had managed to fight back into the group. Adam Norrodin languished in the 15th to 16th positions all days, but crashes up ahead promoted him up to 11th at the finish.
15-time Isle of Man TT winner Michael Dunlop has confirmed his split with Suzuki for this year’s road races.
The Ballymoney Ace released a statement on his Facebook page last night stating his situation.
He will be racing his own MD Racing machines in the Superstock and Supersport races.
15-time TT winner Michael Dunlop has confirmed that he won’t be racing with the Suzuki squad this year at the Isle of Man TT and other road race events. This was confirmed by the man himself after months of speculations and rumours. (more…)
Johann Zarco captures Pole Position for the 2018 Qatar Grand Prix.
Him, Marc Marquez and Danilo Petrucci all broke the old record to qualify in the Top 3.
The previous record had stood for ten years.
We had been expecting a thrilling 2018 Qatar Grand Prix Q2 final qualifying session, but we had no idea it was THIS exciting that we forgot to breathe! And this was only the first MotoGP round of the season.
It all came down to the last 2 minutes when Jorge Lorenzo went out onto the track. He had posted the fastest times through the first three sectors but somehow lost time to qualify 4th fastest, up from 9th. He had a troubled weekend and was seen stomping into the Ducati pit on many an occasion.
Pic from MotoGP.com
But the real action was behind him as Zarco, Marquez, Rins, Petrucci, Rossi ran in a tight group to gain some advantage by slipstreaming their rivals. Zarco managed to break away and posted 0.382 second faster than his previous best as he passed Sector 3. Meanwhile, Marquez, stuck behind Alex Rins and Danilo Petrucci who was some ways behind the group had also went some 0.300 second under their earlier times.
Pic from MotoGP.com
The TV commenters went rabid like the speakers at a political ceramah as Zarco crossed the line with a time of 1’53.680”, smashing the outright fastest qualifying lap of 1’53.927” held by Jorge Lorenzo since 2008 when he was on a Yamaha, during the time when Michelin supplied supersoft qualifying tyres that sacrificed their lives in two laps.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Marquez slingshot past Rins to end up second fastest, 0.202s behind at 1’59.882” while Petrucci recorded his fastest time of 1’59.887”, a mere 0.005s behind.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Yes, the Top 3 went under Lorenzo’s record.
Cal Cructhlow rode clear of traffic to finish fourth, 0.392s adrift of Zarco at 1’54.072”.
Pic from MotoGP.com
What about Andrea Dovizioso who had led the way into Q2? He had actually bested his FP2 time, recording 1’54.074” but the extremely hot pace set by the front four meant he will start from fifth.
Pic from MotoGP.com
It was a similar scenario for the impressive Alex Rins, who had been posting the third fastest times through most of the practice sessions up to FP4. He found himself blocked by slower traffic in the early part of the session and was then hounded by Marc Marquez in the closing moments, pushing him to ride defensively and ending Q2 in sixth.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Dani Pedrosa had a quiet weekend so far, qualifying seventh fastest.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Valentino Rossi had consistently posted the eighth and ninth fastest times and there’s where he finished, in eighth. It’s evident that Yamaha couldn’t solve the issue with lack of rear end grip on their factory bikes.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Lorenzo may have thought that he had fourth in the bag but was kicked all the way down back to ninth in the very next lap.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Jack Miller had been promoted to Q2 after posting the fastest time in Q1 but was visibly disappointed to end up in tenth with a time of 1’54.449”.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Andrea Ianone on the second Suzuki had traded fastest times with his teammate during the opening part of Q2 but was relegated all the way back to eleventh.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Rossi’s teammate and winner of the 2017 Qatar Grand Prix, Maverick Vinalez, had also complained incessantly about lack of rear grip, putting him in Q1, after FP2, prompting his team to shift his bike’s chassis balance to put more weight to the rear tyre. The adjustment saw immediate benefits as he was one of the quickest riders during the untimed FP4. He had initially gone fastest in Q1 but was upstaged by Miller at the end. Vinalez finished in a forlorn twelfth position with a time of 1’54.707”.
Pic from MotoGP.com
Zarco was emotional when interviewed after his record pole time. As if there’s no end to the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 saga, rumours had started circulating that Honda is after him to replace Dani Pedrosa, who had been in the team since 2006. There were also other rumours that said he could be going to the KTM factory team. Zarco had been the strongest contender to Rossi’s factory Yamaha seat should the latter retires, but Rossi had just announced the renewal of his contract for another two years. Zarco had also crashed heavily in FP4 and was fortunate to walk away unharmed.
Pic from MotoGP.com
It is also good news for us Malaysians as Hafizh Syahrin impressed many to qualify 15th fastest in his very first MotoGP qualifying, one spot behind Franco Morbidelli as the second fastest rookie rider.
Pic from MotoGP.com
As the clock strikes 2am on this Sunday morning, all we could say is that the qualifying sessions were worth staying up for. If the qualifying had been so competitive, we hope it’ll carry on to the race tomorrow, and the whole season.
