KTM’s Miguel Oliveira produced a sensational display on a soaking wet surface to win the 2022 Indonesia GP at Mandalika.
Despite starting at seventh place, the Portuguese rider wasted no time to overtake early leaders Fabio Quartararo and Ducati’s Jack Miller.
Quartararo then dropped to 5th place behind Suzuki’s Alex Rins before climbing up the pack to second and threatening to catch Oliveira.
However, Oliveria managed to keep his calm and claimed his first victory of the season with a comfortable margin of 2.2s.
The win at Mandalika was Oliveira’s fourth MotoGP win and his first podium since Assen 2021.
Meanwhile, Pramac’s Johann Zarco completed the podium at third place. The Frenchman had a late scare when trying to keep his lane during Quartararo’s pursuit for third place, as his GP22 had a bit of a slip before gaining control.
On another note, rookie Darryn Binder claimed a Top 10 finished at 10th place despite starting the race in 23rd place on the grid.
The 24-year-old South African gave his all in the wet and even managed to pass his brother Brad (Binder) before the two swapped places in the final lap, which saw Brad go up to 8th and Darryn dropping down to 10th and securing his first points of the season nonetheless.
Pelumba Red Bull KTM, Miguel Oliveira merekodkan podium pertama musim ini selepas menjuarai GP Indonesia di Litar Mandalika.
Walaupun perlumbaan ditangguh sehingga jam 4.15 petang ekoran hujan lebat namun perlumbaan bermula dengan baik bagi kesemua pelumba.
Bagaimanapun, pengalaman di litar basah ternyata memberikan kelebihan besar buat Oliveira dan pelumba Ducati, Jack Miller yang mendahului kedudukan satu dua.
Namun, selepas mengekori Miller untuk beberapa lap, Oliviera seakan memiliki keyakinan dan cengkaman yang lebih baik untuk memintas dan terus mengekalkan kedudukan pendahulu sehingga garisan penamat.
Tempat kedua jadi milik pertahan juara dunia, Fabio Quatararo yang meskipun pada suatu ketika berada di kedudukan kelima berjaya memintas Alex Rins (Suzuki) dan Johann Zarco (Pramac) untuk mengesahkan kedudukan.
Zarco juga kembali ke podium selepas kali terakhir di Litar Catalunya musim lalu untuk melengkapkan podium di tempat ketiga.
Sementara itu, pelumba ‘rookie’ dari RNF Racing, Darryn Binder, boleh berasa bangga kerana berjaya menamatkan aksi di kedudukan ke-10.
Berikut keputusan penuh perlumbaan:
Ducati is set to feature eight machines in 2022 MotoGP after securing VR46 and Gresini Racing at the end of last season.
The Italian marquee will go all out after missing out on the 2021 World Championship title as Francesco Bagnaia slipped behind eventual winner, Fabio Quartararo with just a 26 points gap.
Despite the disappointment, Ducati was one of the dominant forces last season, as five out of their six riders managed to secure a podium finish.
Nevertheless, MotoGP manager, Carlo Pernat suggest that two of the riders could be on their way out at the end of the 2022 season.
“Jack Miller and Johann Zarco will, if there are no surprises, be in the riders’ market, I would say with 99.9% certainty.
“Jack is a good bet, but he comes from a lot of ups and downs.
“Yamaha, on the other hand, is the best-positioned factory as it has three strong riders: Quartararo, Morbidelli and Toprak,” said Pernat.
Moreover, Miller and Zarco will enter their final year contract with Ducati whereas Bagnaia has already secured a place with the team considering he is the main bet for the title in 2022.
Considering how well Jorge Martin did in his rookie season with Pramac, Ducati might reward him the factory seat in 2023.
Martin already told what his wishes are for the 2023 season, as quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport; “My goal is to be world champion at Ducati and for that, I have to join the factory team. We hope to be on that team in 2023.”
Current MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo has been hit with a total of 6-second penalty at the GP Catalunya.
The race saw Miguel Oliveira took his first win of the season after a fierce battle against Quartararo before Johann Zarco overtook his fellow Frenchman to finished second.
Quartararo had to settle for third place before Race Direction slapped a 3-second penalty due to a ‘shortcut at Turn 1-2’, thus seeing him losing his place to Ducati’s Jack Miller.
However, after further investigation, Quartararo was hit with another 3-second penalty, this time for finishing the last 3-laps with an open racing suit while also caught throwing away his chest protectors.
The initial penalty dropped the factory Yamaha ride to 4th place while the new penalty demotes the Frenchman to 6th in classification.
The situation now reduces his title lead from 17 to 14 points ahead of Zarco.
Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin will remain with Pramac Racing for the 2022 MotoGP season after agreeing on a new deal with the Ducati satellite team.
Zarco currently sits second in the championship thanks to three podium finish after six rounds of MotoGP.
The Frenchman, alongside Martin (who are directly under contract with Ducati), will race onboard the Desmosedici GP 2022 next year.
Paolo Campinoti, Pramac Racing Team Principal, expressed his satisfaction over the new deal.
“We are very satisfied to be able to continue on this “project” with Johann and Jorge, two boys with whom we get along very well and with whom we are reaching excellent results.
“Both Ducati and ourselves firmly believe in their abilities; we couldn’t be happier,” he said.
Meanwhile, Paolo Ciabatti, Ducati Corse Sporting Director, revealed the decision behind it because the two riders were able to compete at a very high level with the GP21.
“Johann and Jorge this year have inserted themselves very well in the Pramac Racing team. For this reason, together with Paolo Campinoti and Francesco Guidotti, we have decided to proceed with them into 2022.
“We will put at the disposition of both, the official bikes for next season as well. We are certain that they will provide us with many satisfactions,” said Ciabatti.
It was only 35 days ago since Johann Zarco was given a chance to test the Ducati GP21 at the pre-season testing in Qatar.
Who would have thought, the 30-year-old rider, who was in limbo after his surprise departure from KTM in 2019, now leads the championship with 40 points after securing back-to-back second place at Losail International Circuit.
The Pramac Racing rider finished 1.092s behind Maverick Vinales in the first race before losing out to race-winner Fabio Quartararo on Sunday.
Not only that, the Frenchman is currently top Ducati rider, edging Ducati factory rider Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.
“I did not expect to be leading the championship when I came here 35 days ago to start testing and learn the Ducati.
“I still have things to control better, to feel more comfortable and have more options during the race. So if I can still grow up in that way and use the full potential of the Ducati, then I can enjoy myself also at other tracks”, Zarco said.
Zarco can breathe easily now, having made one of the hardest decision in his life, to quit a factory team (KTM) to pursue a better machine that suits his riding.
“What happened two years ago is part of life. I took some decisions, and I’m pretty happy now that I’m back with the top guys.
“The first two races were a lot of fun and it was such a nice feeling. So it’s not the time to think of redemption or something like that. Just live your time and right now is this moment with Pramac and Ducati.
“What I decided two years ago, it’s done. So, happy. I cannot say I took the right decision or not. I took a decision then I did my way and thanks to Ducati I’m here,” he added.
Ducati is set for the 2021 MotoGP season after announcing that Francesco Bagnaia will be moving up to the factory squad together with his current teammate in Pramac, Jack Miller. The 23-year-old Italian has shown very good progress on the Desmosedici GP20, good enough to secure the second factory seat. (more…)
If you’ve missed yesterday’s MotoGP round in the Czech Republic, it was one hell of a race as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) delivers KTM’s first-ever win in MotoGP. In his rookie season (and only his third race), Binder also set the record for the first South African rider to win a premier class race. (more…)
We’re excited when we say that MOTOGP IS BACK, BABY! This weekend marks the first premier class of the 2020 championship in Jerez, Spain and to kick things off, Reale Avintia Racing now has a brand-new sponsor – Hublot! (more…)
Five-time MotoGP world champion and current Yamaha factory test rider, Jorge Lorenzo, dropped one hell of a burn pointed towards the new Reale Avintia Racing Ducati rider, Johann Zarco. Somehow, it’s related to money, financial status, and the fact that Zarco had to take a mortgage loan to buy a house? (more…)
Baru-baru ini, pelumba Avintia Ducati, Johann Zarco menyifatkan tindakannya untuk keluar lebih awal daripada KTM membuktikan dia tidak mengejar duit seperti Jorge Lorenzo.
Ketika sesi temubual bersama akhbar Sepanyol, Marca, Zarco menjelaskan dia enggan memilih jalan sama seperti Lorenzo, yang menghabiskan baki kontrak bersama Repsol Honda meskipun bergelut.
“Lorenzo mengutamakan duit sebab itu dia sanggup kekal sehingga tamat musim. Tetapi saya tidak mempunyai mentaliti seperti itu.
“Saya tidak mengutamakan duit seperti dia. Saya pun beli rumah secara berhutang, dia pula tinggal di negara yang tidak perlu membayar cukai. Di Perancis, saya perlu membayar cukai dan rumah. Saya ada banyak sebab untuk kekal di KTM demi mendapatkan bayaran tetapi itu bukan keutamaan,” jelas Zarco.
Menyedari perkara itu, Lorenzo kemudiannya membuat jawapan balas menerusi Instagram Story miliknya.
“Saya tidak gemar bercakap tentang situasi ekonomi orang lain, semua orang ada hak masing-masing dalam melakukan apa yang perlu.
“Tetapi disebabkan dia berminat untuk bersuara tentang isu yang tiada kaitan dengannya, jadi saya rasa Zarco perlu bertanyakan kepada diri sendiri kenapa dia perlu berhutang sedangkan telah 10 tahun berada dalam arena MotoGP, menang dua kejuaraan dunia dan pernah menandatangani kontrak bersama pasukan factory KTM?” katanya.
Pedih.
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