News 6 Oct 2019

Marquez earns sixth MotoGP title with Thai GP victory

Image: Supplied.

In yet another head-to-head scrap, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) took on Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) in a thrilling climax, leaving it to the last lap to take victory in a final corner showdown that saw him lift his sixth premier MotoGP crown and his eighth world championship.

With tension mounting, it was lights-out and a fantastic start from Fabio Quartararo, as the 20-year-old Frenchman blasted into the lead at turn one, with Marc Marquez almost colliding with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) on the short shoot to the first turn.

Maverick Vinales made a good start and held on to third whilst Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) also got away well, pushing through into fourth. Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) didn’t make big gains but was seventh by the end of lap one, moving through from ninth on the grid. It was a catastrophe for Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), who stalled his bike on the grid and had to start from pitlane.

The race settled down and Quartararo set an incredibly hot pace out front, pulling Marquez along with him as the two began to trade fastest lap times. Valentino Rossi had got ahead of Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) at the final corner, whilst Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) loomed in the background. There was a disaster further down the field as Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed out at turn eight. The Finnish rider was okay, but his race was run.

Lap seven and Vinales had dropped out of contention for victory as the Spaniard struggled with a full fuel load in the early laps of the race. Andrea Dovizioso hadn’t been able to make any further in-roads on the riders ahead but had pulled out a half-a-second advantage over Franco Morbidelli, whilst Valentino Rossi was under pressure from the Suzuki pairing of Mir and Rins. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) had dropped to ninth but was two seconds clear of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) in tenth.

There was drama for Valentino Rossi on lap 10 and 11, as the Italian experienced a sudden drop-off in pace and found himself behind Rins and then Mir, the latter getting through at turn three. The 40-year-old nine-time champion picked his pace back up but was just 1.7s off the back of the Suzuki. With Rins in clear air, he set of after Morbidelli.

At half race distance, the gap was down between the leading two and Marc Marquez had hit stalking mode; the Honda rider just sat in behind the rookie Frenchman, shadowing him. However, Quartararo responded a lap later, setting a scintillating pace as the two riders duelled. Behind them however, Maverick Vinales was closing in and set his personal best lap of the race for a third consecutive time. The race was reaching an incredible climax, as the leaders began to concertina together.

Lap 15 saw Alex Rins make his way into fifth place, getting ahead of Franco Morbidelli, who was having a very strong and solid ride inside the top six, a position he had held all weekend. There was disappointment behind though, as Aleix Espargaro retired into the pits from a top ten placing. This promoted Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) into the top 10.

The race was coming to a close and on lap 23, after a few laps of more-or-less riding pillion with Quartararo, Marquez showed his hand at turn three but ran wide, allowing Fabio back ahead. The crowd were on their feet as a second grandstand finish for a second consecutive year beckoned at the Chang International Circuit. Cheers and screams, the atmosphere was electric with history on the horizon in more ways than one.

On the final lap, Marquez tried again at turn three and this time it worked, as he pulled his Honda down to an apex and then blasted onwards to turn four. Quartararo had been strong in the final sector for the entire race however and built in momentum all the way through from turn eight.

Closing through every corner, Quartararo tried one massive lunge at turn 12, as the enormous Thai audience watched on. Going slightly wide, an opportunistic Marquez didn’t settle for a safe second and sliced back through to take the win on the run to the line, whilst the Petronas Yamaha SRT outfit had to settle for second. Maverick Viñales couldn’t get in on the action and in the end, was third.

Behind them, a magnanimous Andrea Dovizioso held on to fourth and Alex Rins took fifth from tenth on the grid. Franco Morbidelli was secured a sixth place ahead of Joan Mir, whilst Rossi could only manage eighth. Completing the top 10 were Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Takaaki Nakagami. Miller recovered for 14th.

The Moto2 class saw Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) storm to a first victory in almost a year, whilst Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) locked out the podium places on a day where Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) had no answer for his opposition, losing points in his championship lead. Australian Remy Gardner (SAG Racing) finished 12th.

An enthralling Moto3 World Championship rumbled into Thailand with great anticipation and expectation. Starting from pole position for the first time in his career, Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) looked to get the better of his rivals in order to achieve success at a track he’d never seen before.

However, a dramatic race happened nonetheless, going down to the final lap, and it would be Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) who snatched victory, ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) and Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), who took a career-first Moto3 rostrum. MotoGP now heads to Twin Ring Motegi in Japan on 20 October.

Detailed results

News 6 Oct 2019

Jones declares Maxwell clash a ‘dog move’

Image: TDJ Media.

Mike Jones (DesmoSport Ducati) and Wayne Maxwell (Team Suzuki Ecstar) have reacted to their race two clash at Phillip Island’s penultimate round of the 2019 Motul Pirelli Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK), with Jones declaring the incident a ‘dog move’, while Maxwell suggests it was a racing incident.

After a fierce battle in the opening half of the second encounter, former points leader Jones made a slight error on lap seven which Maxwell looked to capitalise on, however the Suzuki pilot made contact with Jones on the exit of the turn that ultimately forced the Ducati rider to crash out of the race.

The incident immediately underwent investigation by Race Direction, however no further action was deemed post-race, meaning the provisional results would in fact be official, with Maxwell retaining second.

Jones, who was demoted to third in the standings after previously holding the points after rounds four and five, believes there was intent behind the manoeuvre that has come at a significant cost to his title campaign.

“Look, it was obviously a bit of a dog move really by Maxwell,” Jones told CycleOnline.com.au. “I was wide, and I felt like I left enough space for him to take the line on the inside and have the position, but at the end of the day, he wanted to run it out to the edge of the track and take me with him.

“It was the type of move the certainly didn’t need to be done – there have been plenty of times where people have run wide and the guy coming up the inside keeps their line and goes into the lead.

“I think it was definitely a hard move and it definitely had some intent to do some damage – at the end of the day, it did. It’s a shame for me, a shame for the championship because were going really well and it was looking like a really strong race.”

Race one winner Maxwell maintains his innocence on the matter, although he admits the thought of a post-race penalty crept into mind during his thrilling battle with eventual race two and overall winner Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing).

“He went in to cover his line, couldn’t stop and went deep, I got sucked in there a bit and picked up the throttle to drive and block the line – he tried to hang on around the outside and I think he clipped my foot and he went down,” Maxwell explained to CycleOnline.com.au.

“I’ve been on the end of that twice this year, and that’s not what I want to see and it’s not what I’m about. I’ll go see Mike and see if he’s alright. As for the race, it was a tough race. It’s a race we probably should’ve won.

“I was thinking about Mike [on the last lap], because I was thinking am I going to get a penalty? How is it going to be read and how is everyone going to react to it? It is what it is and we still got a strong result.”

Herfoss now leads Maxwell by three points heading into Sydney Motorsport Park’s finale, while Jones sits in third, 1.5 points behind Maxwell.

News 5 Oct 2019

Quartararo edges Vinales and Marquez for Thailand MotoGP pole

Image: Supplied.

Rookie wonder Fabio Quartararo claimed another pole position in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship at the PTT Thailand Grand Prix at Chang International Circuit.

After a titanic duel, it was Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) who got the better of Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and champion-elect, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).

The first times came in and it was a head-to-head duel for the outright lap record. Marc Marquez went top initially and was just a fraction away from the lap record, but it would be first blood drawn for Fabio Quartararo.

The Frenchman stormed on to be the first rider to complete a lap of the Chang International Circuit on a motorcycle in less than 90 seconds during a full-blooded race weekend. Marquez also went sub-90 seconds but was no match for Quartararo. Vinales was pushing hard and completed a long first stint and was third.

It was disaster for Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), as the nine-time world champion crashed unceremoniously at turn five, with the front-end tucking as he looked to make the apex. In a frantic hurry, ‘The Doctor’ returned to the pits and went straight back out on the second of his Yamaha M1 machines. After his first go at it, he was 10th.

Rossi wouldn’t be the only rider to bin it at turn five. As the field took to the circuit again, more history would reign down on the MotoGP grid, and high drama would provide one of the most exciting finishes to a session of the year.

Quartararo, not content with his lap record, went even quicker, blitzing his own lap record and securing a 1m29.719s on his seventh lap. This made it his fourth pole position of the season, a stunning achievement for the Independent team rider.

Drama awaited the rookie though, as he crashed at turn five. And he had reason to want to push for an even better lap record, as Vinales ended up just 0.106s behind his fellow Yamaha-man in second. Marquez was demoted to third and he wouldn’t get the chance of fighting back for pole either, as he too had already crashed at turn five.

Marquez would be third for the first time since Jerez, on a day when Quartararo headed a Yamaha 1-2 as well. Row two features another Yamaha, with the Japanese manufacturer securing three of their bikes inside the top four, something they achieved on Friday too.

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was right in the mix all the way through the session but ended up half a second back of the front row. Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), fresh from Q1, was best Ducati in fifth place for his best qualifying result since Mugello, when he was third. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completes the second row.

It is a star-studded third row with no less than 11 world championships coming from there. Andrea Dovizioso’s (Ducati Team) ambitions of keeping his title hopes alive took a blow as he was only able to manage seventh.

Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) took his best qualifying slot since he was fifth at Assen. Rossi remounted and salvaged ninth and a third row start, while Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed the top 10.

In Moto2, Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took a fifth pole position of the season and his fourth-consecutive front row, whilst Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) and Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) joined the championship leader on the front row. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) qualified in P5.

Moto3 qualifying was as explosive as ever and it was Italian rising star Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) who took a career-first pole, ahead of Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) and Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) who completed the front row.

Detailed results