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Remy Garnder admits it was difficult to overcome set-up challenges at the Aragon grand prix last weekend, which put the Australian on the back foot for the 21-lap Moto2 encounter.

Qualifying in P13, the SAG Racing contender was unable to progress throughout the Spanish race, crossing the line in the same position he started.

“Qualifying was a disaster and we were struggling all weekend to be honest,” Gardner admitted. “The problem is grip – after one lap I had nothing left. We planned to try something in the warm-up but there was overnight rain which compromised us a little.

“The race itself was awful. Qualifying ruined what we could do in the race and Friday ruined what we could do in qualifying, so that was the story of the weekend really. We made mistakes with regards to tyres and set-up, but to be fair in the race the bike was the best it had been all weekend, I just lost too much time fighting for the lower positions.

“Unfortunately, that’s the way it goes. The mid-race pace was good, I just lost too much at the beginning. It was the first weekend that we haven’t really been there, so we just need to regroup, and come back strong in Thailand and the remaining flyaway races before the season ends in Valencia!”

Garnder is ranked 12th in the championship standings as the series heads to Thailand on 6 October.

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Australian Broc Parkes says he figured the podium would be out of reach at Sepang’s penultimate round of the 2019 Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) after experiencing a pair of close calls due to a lack of rear grip.

The Yamaha Racing Team Asean rider, who sat out of his regular duties in the Endurance World Championship (EWC) last weekend following a clash in dates, recorded a 4-5 scorecard, enabling him to hang onto the points lead with a 19-point advantage.

“Basically I couldn’t get any rear grip in the race so it was really tough,” Parkes explained. “I could tell it would be like that from the first few laps so I tried several ways to get around it. I almost highsided twice, so I figured the podium would be out of reach.

“I thought about the championship and tried to ride as best I could without crashing. In the end Azlan Shah won and picked up a lot of points, but on the last lap I tried hard and got fourth so that was good.”

The next stop on the ARRC calendar is the season finale, scheduled for November 29-1 December at Chang International Circuit in Thailand.

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A first-look at the 2020 MotoE World Cup calendar has been released, with the provisional outline confirming two keys changes for next year.

In 2020 there are more rounds planned at more circuits, where MotoE will take on the TT Circuit Assen and the season finale now set for Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

The 2019 MotoE series, the inaugural season of the electric-powered category, was delayed after a devastating fire destroyed the entire fleet and equipment in March at a Jerez test.

Provisional 2020 MotoE World Cup calendar:
Rd1 – 3 May – Jerez, Spain
Rd2 – 17 May – Le Mans, France
Rd3 – 28 June – Assen, Netherlands
Rd4 – 16 August – Red Bull Ring, Austria
Rds 5-6 – 12-13 September – Misano, Italy

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Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has confirmed the signing of Alvaro Bautista to its newly-formed official factory team that will contest the 2020 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).

Bautista has scored 15 race wins in his rookie WorldSBK season this year with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati, however after just one campaign with the Italian manufacturer, the Spaniard is set to pilot what is understood to be a new-generation superbike from Honda in 2020, as HRC strengthens its intentions in the series.

“We are very happy to welcome Alvaro Bautista to our WSBK racing project for next year,” said HRC president Yoshishige Nomura.

“His arrival in the Honda racing family underlines our strong commitment to compete at full force in every motorsport category, fighting to achieve top sporting results and looking for the best technological innovations, in order to offer our fans and customers fun, joy and excellent products.

“Alvaro is a very fast, experienced rider who has already shown his strong racing attitude and competitiveness in his GP years and in his first season in the WorldSBK Championship. We are confident that he will make a significant contribution to the growth and development of our project in the exciting and challenging Superbike World Championship.”

Bautista stretched out a 60-point lead in the opening rounds this year before numerous mistakes and crashes demoted him to second, where he currently sits 91 points behind leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Former MotoGP rider Scott Redding will fulfil Bautista’s spot alongside regular Chaz Davies, while the future of the Honda-supported Moriwaki Althea squad is unclear.

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Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro has undergone successful surgery on his left wrist after fracturing it in a nasty crash during FP4 on Saturday at the Aragon grand prix.

Espargaro was ultimately forced out of Sunday’s race, and underwent surgery to have a titanium plate installed on the multi-fragment fracture of the left distal radius.

He’s expected to undergo further medical evaluation this week as the Austrian manufacturer completes two days of testing at the Spanish venue on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“We missed Pol and he was performing well this weekend up until the crash but he had successful surgery this morning and we wish him all the best,” said team manager Mike Leitner. “We have the test on Tuesday and Wednesday now and then we’ll look to Thailand.”

The Spaniard is hopeful of being on the line at the next stop of the MotoGP World Championship in Thailand, scheduled on 6 October.

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Jack Miller insists he kept his cool in the closing stages of Aragon’s 23-lap MotoGP encounter yesterday, where he made a thrilling last-lap pass on Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) for his third podium of the season.

The Pramac Racing ace started from P4 on the grid before quickly finding himself in second, however he was demoted back to fourth following passes from Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) and Vinales.

Keeping himself in the hunt, Miller remained calm in the final laps of the race as Vinales evidently struggled with his tyres – the Australian striking on the last time around the Spanish circuit to cross the line in P3.

“I just tried to keep my pace,” said Miller. “We did a lot of runs throughout the weekend, just working on that, and I sort of stuck to it. I switched map really early and tried to save the rear tyre, I didn’t want to get sucked into trying to chase Marc.

“I rode my own pace, Mav came past but I think he was trying to chase down Marc. Towards the end he just started struggling in the long corners – I kept my cool and was able to bring home a podium.”

Miller is ranked eighth in the MotoGP World Championship standings, and second in the Independent Team rider classification.

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Following an injury-riddled season, McAms Yamaha rider Jason O’Halloran returned to the podium in race one at Assen’s 10th round of the 2019 Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB) in the Netherlands.

The Australian charged to third in the opening encounter after capitalising on a safety car intervention, marking his first appearance on the rostrum this year and his first with the factory Yamaha squad.

Admitting he struggled with grip in race two, O’Halloran could only manage a seventh place finish to round out the weekend.

“It’s been a really good day,” O’Halloran stated. “I’m really happy to have been up on the podium in race one. Everything worked for us in that race, I felt really comfortable and did my own thing and got our first trophy for the McAMS Yamaha team which I’m really pleased with as the guys have worked so hard this year.

“The second race was a little more difficult, I don’t know if we had an issue with the tyre or something as I struggled for grip from the early stages. Nonetheless it’s been a good day, so we’ll go to Donington and see what we can do.”

Compatriot Josh Brookes (Be Wiser Ducati) went 2-4 at Assen, while Ben Currie (JG Speedlift Kawasaki) recorded 15-17 race results. Current ASBK Supersport points leader Tom Toparis made a guest appearance in the Supersport class, however crashed out on the opening lap.