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Author: David Bodapati
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Albert Arenas is the 2020 Moto3 World Champion
Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) is the 2020 FIM Moto3 World Champion. The Spaniard, who started the year with a win in Qatar, sealed the deal in the final race of the season with a 12th place, taking his first World Championship by four points after three wins and two further podiums.
Arenas hit the ground running in the CEV 125 Championship, as it was then, with the Spaniard’s first season in 2011 seeing him score some solid points. The next year it changed to Moto3 and he took his first podium and pole position, and the season after that his first win in the series. The end of 2014 saw Arenas makes his Grand Prix debut in the final round in Valencia before 2015 proved one of the most pivotal seasons on his journey to becoming a World Champion.
The first year it became the FIM Moto3™ Junior World Championship, Arenas gained traction from top fives early on to take podiums and then go on a winning spree to close out the season, ending 2015 in second overall after an impressive run. He then made some appearances as an injury replacement in the 2016 Moto3™ World Championship earlier in the year with Mahindra, before becoming a permanent fixture from Austria on.
His first full Moto3™ season in 2017 was a tougher one but Arenas scored points and took a top 10 in Misano before it all started to come together for 2018. After a tougher start, glory was just around the corner as the Spaniard took his first Grand Prix victory in a stunning French Grand Prix at Le Mans. He won again before the end of the year as he stood on the top step Down Under, having become a bona fide contender at the front.
2019 was more consistent. A victory came his way in Thailand that began a run of three consecutive podiums in Japan and Australia, with Arenas eventually ending the year 11th in the Championship on 108 points after one win, one second place and one third. Then came 2020.
Arenas’ season began with a phenomenal victory in Qatar before COVID-19 put a halt to proceedings, and he would have to wait until July to reignite his title charge. But on home soil in Jerez, the number 75 proved he was the real deal with a second win in two to extend his lead at the top.
A DNF in the Andalucia GP was quickly put to the back of his mind with two more podiums in the Czech Republic and Austria, the latter a third win of the campaign, and Arenas seemed the secure favourite for the title. However, he wouldn’t return to the rostrum until the French GP, five races after Austria, as he was hit by DNFs and bad luck. But Le Mans saw him back on the box after another impressive ride, and although that would turn out to be his last podium of the season, the points would prove crucial.
A tough European GP saw Arenas DNF and get DSQ’d, but he arrived in Portugal as the Championship leader with just two rivals remaining for the crown. In an outstanding final battle of 2020, a hard-fought 12th place under intense pressure was enough for the Spaniard to crown himself the 2020 Moto3™ World Champion.
Albert Arenas: “I’m still enjoying the moment, I don’t really believe it yet what happened today! I knew it was a matter of time, races, we were close in the last races but there were many things we couldn’t control. What was in my hands I was trying to have under control, enjoy riding. But today we made it and it’s incredible.
“I started the race with a lot of energy, I wanted to push and do a great result and enjoy the race. Until half race distance, I was really comfortable then I started to have some problems, I don’t know, nerves, the rear tyre… but it was ok. There was a moment I was suffering more then I got the pace again. The last lap was out of control, I was catching Arbolino and then it was a typical Moto3 moment with a lot of touches, everyone didn’t have anything to lose and overtook everywhere, but I was there. I was pushing and when I crossed the line it was a relief. We made it, but until I saw my team I didn’t believe it! It’s incredible.”
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Pure class: Oliveira makes history on home turf to take first Portuguese pole
The Red Bull KTM Tech 3 rider storms Portimão in some serious style to head the grid for his home Grande Premio MEO de Portugal, joined by Morbidelli and Miller on the front row
Portimao, 21 Nov 2020: Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) became Portugal’s first premier class winner earlier this season, and what better place to become the nation’s first premier class polesitter than home turf? With a spectacular final lap, that’s exactly what he did – making a little history and putting himself in the best possible position for his first MotoGP™ race on home soil. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) was the man just denied, with Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) completing the front row.
In Q1, it was close but in the end Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) came out on top as he started his final MotoGP™ qualifying on top form, just a few hundredths ahead of Morbidelli. Morbidelli had a tense end to the session, however, pulling into pitlane with a minute still on the clock and left to wait and see if Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) could knock him out. The South African was setting red sectors until the final sector, where the lap just went away and he ended up third; 13th on the grid as he aims to secure Rookie of the Year.
Behind the fight for the top, newly-crowned MotoGP™ World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) equalled his worst ever premier class qualifying after a very difficult Saturday at the office. Not able to pull anything out the hat in Q1, he starts P20 and third to last on the grid.
Next up, Q2 was ready to go and the stage was set. The majestic Algarve International Circuit was the perfect host for the last qualifying dance of 2020, but who would come out on top? Zarco was the first man into the 1:39s, but there would be plenty more where that came from. Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) exchanged P1 in quick succession before Morbidelli shot to the top with a 1:39.245, sitting provisional pole position after the first runs.
With six minutes to go, most of the riders left pitlane for their final time attack of the season. Quartararo was up in Sector 1, so was Crutchlow and so was Zarco. Morbidelli was under his own time in Sector 2 as well. Coming over the line, Quartararo moved himself up to P5 from P9 and Morbidelli improved his time once more.
Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) then shot into an amazing second, but it didn’t last too long as Crutchlow then demoted his fellow HRC rider to third and Quartararo moved onto the front row. Morbidelli and Miller, however, were flying. The first 1:38 was slammed in from the Italian, but could Miller snatch it away? Not quite, although the Aussie took over in second.
Then though, all eyes turned to the local hero. Oliveira was one of the last men who could deny Morbidelli and giving it his all on home soil, more than in touch. Rising over the brow of the hill, the number 88 got it done and crossed the line to set a new all-time lap record, a phenomenal 1:38.892. The celebrations couldn’t be too vigorous just yet though, with fellow KTM rider Pol Espargaro still out on a charge. The number 44 was faster in Sector 1 and 2 but by the end of the lap, the time faded away for the Spaniard and that was all she wrote: the dream was realised for Oliveira, Tech3 and Portugal. His maiden MotoGP™ pole, Portugal’s first MotoGP™ pole and Tech3’s first pole of the year.
Morbidelli’s qualifying was outstanding, however, the Italian turning Q1 into just 0.044 seconds off pole. Miller takes third and his fifth front row of the season, with his great mate Crutchlow next up. P4 is the British rider’s best qualifying result since his Aragon front row, can he fight for a dream goodbye podium from there?
Another man hoping to end the season on a high will be Quartararo from P5 on the grid, which also hands the Frenchman the BMW Qualifying Award for 2020. In addition, his fifth ensures the top five in qualifying are all Independent Team machines. In terms of the Independent Team rider standings, meanwhile, it’s Morbidelli vs Quartararo with the Italian ahead by 17 points…
In sixth place, it’s hats off to test rider turned increasingly impressive stand-in Stefan Bradl. The German HRC rider has been quick all weekend and was less than two tenths away from the front row, set to start the season finale as the top factory rider to boot. He beats Zarco by 0.034 seconds as the Frenchman took seventh despite a crash, with Viñales set to line-up in P8. Both he and ninth place Pol Espargaro finish just three tenths away from pole, but lock out the third row – showing once again how close the margins are in MotoGP™.
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is going in search of P2 in the overall standings and the Constructor title for Suzuki, but he’s got a bit of work to do from P10. However, we’ve seen Rins reach the podium from further back in recent times, so never say never! The top Ducati – with the Borgo Panigale factory equal on points with Suzuki in the constructors’ standings – is Miller on the front row, however.
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemtisu) had a big FP4 crash and will line-up 11th on tomorrow’s grid, the first time he’s been off the front row in a few weeks, with Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) finishing Q2 in P12 – 0.695 away from pole position and suffering a lap cancelled.
What a way for MotoGP™ qualifying to end in 2020. After seeing their man grab a first win in Styria, Portuguese fans now have a premier class pole position to celebrate thanks to the superb efforts of Oliveira. The job isn’t done yet though, can the Portuguese superstar end the season in fairytale fashion with a race win?
The final premier class battle of 2020 kicks off at 14:00 local time (GMT). The Constructor title is up for grabs, second in the riders’ Championship is up for grabs and the final bragging rights of 2020 are very much up for grabs as well. Don’t miss a single lap of action as MotoGP™ go racing in Portimão for the first time!
1 Miguel Oliveira* – Red Bull KTM Tech 3 – KTM – 1:38.892
2 Franco Morbidelli* – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +0.044
3 Jack Miller* – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +0.146
*Independent Team riderMiguel Oliveira: “I’m feeling really good and enjoying every moment on track, happy with every lap. Tomorrow we want to finish the job! That’s for sure, that’s the goal. We need to keep our feet on the ground and do a good job. I think for everyone it will be unknown territory because we had a lot of tyres to test and to work on the setup of the bike at the same time, so you know… we just hope we’ve done a good job and can finish the season well!”
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Top honours for Suhail Ahmed; Double for Sachin
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 21 Nov 2020: Astride a KTM 450EXC, Suhail Ahmed survived minor hiccups to win the top honours on Saturday while Sachin D bagged a brace in the third round of the Motorsport Inc FMSCI Indian National Rally Sprint Championship for two-wheelers at the closed dirt tracks in Korlahalli, 53-km from here, on Saturday.
Organised by Motorsports Inc, the promoters of the Sprint Nationals, the event attracted 82 entries in 9 classes, and is supported by Red Bull and Hero MotoSports.
Bengaluru rider Suhail clocked the fastest time of the day in Group A up to 800cc class, the ribbon event of the day, beating Sinan Francis of Ernakulam 2.19 seconds, but the Ernakulam rider placed his KTM450EXC in the second to keep the championship lead going into the fourth round on Sunday. “I was bogged down by technical issues and had to manage and finish the stage,” said Suhail, who faced suspension issues.
Suhail Ahmed, who won the fastest rider of the day tag on Saturday. Sachin D, who won a double on Saturday, negotiates a bump in the Star of Karnataka class. In the Group B classes, it was Sachin D from TVS Racing, who had the upper hand winning the 166cc to 260cc Class, astride a TVS Apache with a time of 7min 49.43seconds, the second-fastest time of the day to shoot into the championship lead following two podiums in the first two rounds. Sachin defeated Hero Motosports, Yuva Kumar by a margin of 8.49seconds and Sanjay Somasekhar, also of Bengaluru, took third on a Hero Xpulse, as he finished another 7 seconds behind.
Yuva Kumar of Hero Motosports, showcases his skills on a Hero Xpulse, but had to be content with a second place on Saturday. He collected enough points to stay in title hunt. “It’s a hard and very technical track but I had a good ride and enjoyed the day. Everything went off smoothly today. Hats-off to the organisers, for it is not easy to put together such a show in these days of Corona,” said Sachin at the service park.
In the Star of Karnataka class, Sachin D won clocking 7min 54.24sec and Yuva Kumar once again finished second. “I finished second in both my classes but it was a good day for me. The track was tricky with bumpy terrain and it was a fast stage and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s round,” quipped Yuva of Hero MotoSports.
The big daddies: Devaraj Venkatesh, astride a Himalayan negotiates a corner on way to his win in the Bullet Class Round 3 Sprint Nationals on Saturday. Photo by David Bodapati While Bengaluru’s Pavan BK won the 131 to 165cc Class, Mangalore’s Sudeep Kottary bagged the first place in 261 to 400cc Category and Ernakulam’s Nordin Thomas, put his Yamaha YBX on the top pedestal in `Upto 130cc Class’.
Sudeep was streets ahead as he won by a huge margin with over 47-seconds on Bengaluru-based Sajeesh, also on a KTM Duke. He had to be content with a second place over one minute ahead of Uday Ganguli of Kolkata, astride a KTM 390.
In the Ladies Class, Ryhana Bee, the 2019 National racing champion in her class, continued to dominate the Sprint Rally Nationals as she posted another hard-earned win brushing aside the challenge of Tanika Shanbhag of Satara. Astride a Hero Impulse, the Chennai lass posted a perfect 75 points from three rounds to complete a hat-trick of wins. Arpita VM of Mangalore, who had two podiums in the first two rounds was off-colour today on her Honda Stunner, with Bengaluru’s Dimpy taking the third place today ahead of Arpita. All the top three are riding an Impulse.
“The terrain is pretty technical with rocky pebbles. But I enjoyed the straights where we can gain time. Relatively, it is a hard track when compared to the others, as it requires mental strength to absorb the technicalities of different corners,” said Ryhana, about the 7.75km terrain. The village road from Korlahalli to Melakote amidst the Raagi fields ready for harvest had pebbles, hard rocks and loose soil at different points.
The Bullet class was dominated by Himalayan bikes and the all-Bengaluru podium saw Devaraj Venkatesh on the top step. Mohammed Zaheer came second pushing Vishwas SD to third place.
Provisional final results (Round 3):
Noldin Thomas, who won the Upto 130cc Class, in action on Saturday. Group A:
Upto 800cc: 1. Suhail Ahmed Competition Number #5 (Bengaluru, KTM450EXC) (07 minutes, 48.74 seconds); 2. Sinan Francis #1 (Ernakulam, KTM450EXC) (7: 51.55); 3. Vishwas SD #2 (Bengaluru, Suzuki) (8:09.82);
Group B:
131cc to 165cc: 1. Pavan BK #30 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (8:07.83); 2. Ishan Chandra #29 (Mangalore, Hero Impulse) (8:23.19); 3. Vinay Prasad #24 (Bengaluru Hero Impulse) (8:25.58);
261cc to 400cc: 1. Sudeep Kottary #66 (Mangalore, KTM Duke) (8:38.65); 2. Sajeesh #67 (Bangalore, KTM Duke) (9:26.86); 3. Uday Ganguly #63 (Kolkota, KTM 390) (10:37.97).
Upto 130cc: 1.Nordin Thomas #19 (Ernakulam, Yamaha YBX) (8:53.53); 2. Durgesh J #18 (Mysore, Honda Stunner) (8:55.59); 3. Joseph Jinu #22 (Ernakulam, Yamaha YBX) (9:00.54).
166cc to 260cc: 1. Sachin D #51 (Bengaluru, TVS Apache) (7: 49.43); Yuva Kumar #46 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (7:58.36); 3. Sanjay Somasekhar #45 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (8:05.32).
Bullet Class: 1. Devaraj Venkatesh #88 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:23.12); 2. Mohammed Zaheer #87 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:29.94); 3. Vishwas SD #91 (Bengaluru, Himalayan) (8:32.31).
Ladies Class: 1. Ryhana Bee #73 (Chennai, Hero Impulse) (9:44.10); 2. Tanika Shanbhag #72 (Satara, Hero Impulse) (9:53.33); 3. Dimpy A #70 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (11:30.01).
Scooter Class: 1. Karthik Naidu #79 (Bengaluru, TVS N-Torq) (9:10.86); Pinkesh Thakkar #80 (Pune, Aprilla SR125) (9:27.57); 3. Subramanya #83 (Bengaluru, TVS Wega) (9:43.07).
Star of Karnataka: 1. Sachin D #105 (Bengaluru, TVS Apache) (7:54.23); 2. Yuva Kumar #109 (Bengaluru, Hero Xpulse) (8:05.11); 3. Ishan Chandra #102 (Bengaluru, Hero Impulse) (8:11.67).
Clerk of the Course: Jaidas Menon.
Chief Steward: Gautham Shanthappa, Steward: Rakesh D, Club Steward: Uday Kumar.
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Zarco tames the rollercoaster as MotoGP™ meets Portimão
The Frenchman tops the timesheets from Viñales and Aleix Espargaro after a flying start – almost literally – on Friday
Portimao, 20 Nov 2020: Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) is now the owner of the fastest ever two-wheel lap of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, the Frenchman putting in a 1:39.417 to top Day 1 of the Grande Premio MEO de Portugal. Second went the way of Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as he ended the day just over a tenth off, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) impressing to put the Noale factory in third by the end of play.
FP1
The day began with the home hero on top as Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) set the pace in the extended 70-minute FP1 session with the fastest-ever Algarve International Circuit two-wheel lap: a 1:40.122. Portugal’s first premier class winner had close company, however, heading Viñales by 0.040. Aleix Espargaro completed the top three as Aprilia got off to a solid start.It was Oliveira who led the opening stages, before Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) took over at the summit with the Hondas of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) sitting P3 and P4 with 50 minutes to go, before Viñales slotted into P3.
The Yamaha man then took over at the top with a 1:41.427 and with a fitting 36 minutes left on the clock, 2020 World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) showed some early cards to take second. It was close from the off, eight tenths covering the top 14 with just under half an hour left.
Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) was the next man to take over, before Quartararo then became the first rider to dip into the 1:40s with a 1:40.877. Improvements were being fired in across the board late on though, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) leapfrogging Aleix Espargaro for third too.
With two minutes to go, the goalposts were moved by Viñales once again, Oliveira and Aleix Espargaro then taking second and third respectively. Lorenzo Savadori, who has experience in Portimão from his superbike days, then made it two Aprilias in the top three as the Italian went P2.
On his final flying lap though, Oliveira returned to the summit and made it a Portuguese number one in Portuguese FP1. Viñales ended the morning in second ahead of Aleix Espargaro and an impressive showing from Savadori, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top five ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Mir, Quartararo, Nakagami and Bradl, the German rider locking out the top 10.
FP2
All the times tumbled in the afternoon, although some shuffles were more drastic than others. Before many laps were ridden in anger though, the first MotoGP™ crash of the weekend came courtesy of Rins. The Team Suzuki Ecstar rider was down at Turn 8, the Spaniard perfectly ok but that not an ideal start to the afternoon.Aleix Espargaro led the early stages with a 1:40.969, less than a second away from Oliveira’s FP1 pace, before Zarco got down to a 1:40.723 to sit top with just under an hour to go thanks to his best time of the weekend. Bradl, as he had in the opening session, then went fastest. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Iker Lecuona’s replacement Mika Kallio (Red Bull KTM Tech3) were the other riders to have already gone quicker in FP2 with 50 minutes to go, but the shuffle only continued from there on.
By 11 minutes to go, just 0.8 seconds split the leading 18 riders. The final push began as Miller launched himself to P1 with a 1:39.895, Nakagami and Mir making moves as well, with the top four covered by less than a tenth as the clock counted down.
Zarco then struck to take to the top. The Frenchman went a tenth and a half faster than the field before Miller improved again to cut that gap, Bradl got back up to P3, and then Viñales wrestled back top spot with a 1:39.664. That didn’t last long though as Zarco took back over by nearly a quarter of a second, the Frenchman stamping some authority on the timesheets.
It was a scintillating end to the session and by the end of the final charge for the top, Zarco held on and everyone had improved. Viñales and Aleix Espargaro were second and third as they had been in FP1, however, with Quartararo moving up to fourth overall.
Brad Binder jumped up from P20 to complete a top five split by 0.280 seconds, ahead of the reigning World Champion as Mir finished P6 on Day 1. He was just 0.009 seconds ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) though, with Pol Espargaro, Miller and Morbidelli completing the top 10.
Bradl missed out by just 0.021 despite his impressive showing, with Nakagami and Oliveira shuffled down to P11 and P12 respectively by the end of play.
They will be joining Rins – who ended Friday in P17 – as some of the most eager to get back out in FP3 to try and move up the order. More track time will likely mean more shuffles though, so there’s plenty time left yet! Tune in for FP3 at 9:55 local time (GMT) to see who’s heading through, before qualifying will then decide the grid from 14:10.
Click here for combined timesheets
1 Johann Zarco* – Esponsorama Racing – Ducati – 1:39.417
2 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +0.119
3 Aleix Espargaro* – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia – +0.228
4 Fabio Quartararo* – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +0.275
5 Brad Binder – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM – +0.280
*Independent Team rider -
Road to MotoGP: 5 Talent Cup riders for 2021 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Five riders from Dorna’s talent promotion projects have been selected to take the next step on the Road to MotoGP and race in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2021: Harrison Voight, Eddie O’Shea, Freddie Heinrich, Soma Görbe and Jakob Rosenthaler.
Harrison Voight began his Road to MotoGP in the Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup in 2019 and made impressive progress from the off, becoming a frontrunner by early 2020 as he took a debut podium in Qatar. The Gold Coast native also took on the new challenge of racing in the Hawkers European Talent Cup in 2020 and put together an impressive rookie season, ending the year in the top ten overall and taking two podiums. The Australian has been selected by Dorna Sports to race in the 2021 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.
Eddie O’Shea came third overall in the 2020 Honda British Talent Cup. A frontunner from the off in 2020, he started the year in the top five and was on the podium by Round 2. From there his run of rostrum finishes continued and his consistency saw him lead the standings for much of the latter part of the season. O’Shea showed impressive pace and progress throughout 2020 to earn himself a place in the 2021 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, selected by Dorna.
Freddie Heinrich won the first Northern Talent Cup race and fought for the inaugural crown, taking a podium in every race before ending 2020 in third overall after his season was curtailed by injury. The German’s impressive performances were nevertheless enough to see him selected by Dorna to join the Red Bull Rookies Cup grid in 2021 as the NTC rider deemed to have shown the most impressive progress and/or potential this season.
Heinrich’s fellow NTC competitors Soma Görbe and Jakob Rosenthaler will also take the next step on the Road to MotoGP™ and race in the Rookies in 2021. Görbe is the inaugural Northern Talent Cup Champion and took the most wins in 2020, and Rosenthaler showed consistent speed before becoming a podium finisher by the close of the season. Both have been selected by Red Bull as part of the selection process for the 2021 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup as the NTC takes its place as a valuable stepping-stone on the Road to MotoGP.
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Moto3 and Moto2 contenders to fight it out
Portimao, 19 Nov 2020: At the Grande Premio MEO de Portugal, there’s everything to play for in the Moto2 and Moto3 classes, so ahead of track action the title contenders joined two special pre-event Press Conferences.
In Moto2, Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) was joined by second overall Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS); who trails by 14 points, third-placed Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46); 18 points adrift, and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46); fourth overall and 23 points back, as they all fight it out for the crown.
Here are a few key quotes!
ENEA BASTIANINI: “For the moment, the feeling is incredible. It’s been a fantastic season with three victories and seven podiums, and the team work has been fantastic. Now it’s the last race and also my last race in Moto2, and I hope to be also fast on this track. It’s my first time here and Portimao I think is not so easy but tomorrow I’ll try to do my best to be fastest in qualifying and we’ll se what happens on Sunday but I’m confident in being fast and the team is ready.
“It’s important to learn from other riders because I think six or seven riders have been on this track, not with Moto2 but with other bikes.. Luca with Moto2. But I hope to learn a bit on the first runs, but after I think it’s possible to be fast and the plan is to be in the first or second row in qualifying and battle in the race.”
SAM LOWES: “When you can come to the last race of the year and have a chance at the championship it means the season’s been good. It’s easy to look at the last couple of races and say they’ve been bad but the championship is long and you have to be there every race. These guys have had some bad luck and unlucky race, we all arrive here with a chance which is great I’m looking forward to it, I’ve been to this track before, I have good memories, in 2011 I rode for the Parkalgar Honda Team, sponsored by this track, it’s a good place for me. I won here in 2013 and can say this track is beautiful and great to ride, it’ll be a fun weekend for everybody.
“In the end I think maybe I have a bit of advantage from that but these guy are great riders, they’ve been fantastic at every circuit all year, by the time we get to qualifying and the race everyone will be on the rhythm. Maybe it’ll help me a little tomorrow, my hand is stills ore so maybe I can manage the session differently, but when it comes down to it, everyone will be on the pace. And for me – 2013 is the last time I was here! So I know the track, but now I’m getting older it’s hard to remember that far back…!”
LUCA MARINI: “First of all it’s fantastic to be here in Portimao. I rode here in the European Championship in Moto2, my first Moto2 race! It was just amazing. The track is unbelievable, a rollercoaster like everyone says. And I hope to enjoy it all weekend, try to be fast, and enjoy the weekend until the last moment. I try to do my best, work harder compared to every other weekend because it’s my last race in Moto2 and I want to finish in the best way. My crew is very prepared for this race, and we want to enjoy it.”
“I don’t think the prior experience helps so much, the tarmac was different, the tyres were different, the bike, the engine, everything was different. It was my first race in Moto2, I don’t remember anything! And in the World Championship they are the best riders in the world, so being at a track for the first time isn’t a problem for everyone. It’s just about finding the correct set up because it’s a strange track, difficult with different points, hard braking but you need a good flow in fast corners. I think it’s important to find a good setup from the beginning and work well in FP1 and FP2 to be ready for qualifying.”
MARCO BEZZECCHI: “I’m very happy to arrive here and able to fight for the Championship. It’s very important because I didn’t expect it at the start of the season. So this already for me is a big result, then for sure it will be hard because 23 points, even if you win, something has to happen for the other riders so it would be very hard. But it’s not a big problem for me, I want to focus myself and my team to do a normal race weekend, trying to fight for the win and podium and try to finish the season in the best way we can. Obviously when you fight for the title you always think a bit about it, it wouldn’t be normal to say something else, but my main target is just to make the best race I can, the closer to the win the better, but if I don’t achieve the title it’s ok.
“In the end, this season was important . Coming from 2019 where I struggled a lot and didn’t get any result, no podiums or anything, I’m very happy about the season I’ve had; two wins, seven times on the podium… it’s very nice. For sure if I look back some mistakes I’d like to not make, but at the end you can’t go back in time. This is where we are and we just have to try to look forward, be focused and try to fight to the end.”
Meanwhile in Moto3™, there are three contenders remaining. In the Press Conference they were headed by points leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3), who comes into the Portuguese GP with an eight-point cushion ahead of Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia), with Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) 11 points off the top following his win last time out.
ALBERT ARENAS: “It’s special being here and being the leader in the last race of the season. From the beginning it was really good for us, winning in Qatar, and then came the lockdown and everything. No one knew if we were going to restart or not. Starting again and winning gave me a lot of confidence for the season. It’s true we had some not good moments, but races are like this. We’ve achieved leading the Championship despite those bad moments and it’s made us stronger. I think I’ve improved a lot in riding and also approaching the races, I’m ready for the weekend.”
And racing at a brand new track?
“It will be a special moment and a big challenge or sure. I think it’s good for everyone because we all start from zero. We’ll see who will take the pace earlier, or if anyone can make the difference! Lets see how it goes, for sure I’m looking forward to riding this track with my bike and seeing how fast we can go.”
AI OGURA: “Since the beginning of this year we’ve made a really good job with my team, we started the first race on the podium and then we’ve got may podiums, but we still don’t have a victory. Now I’m in a position to not think about the Championship, and just let’s enjoy the last race. We’re ready to give everything. Let’s enjoy the weekend.
“My motivation this weekend is the victory more than the Championship. No pressure, normal, I’m ready to enjoy the race.”
TONY ARBOLINO: “Our objective is always the same. This track this weekend our objective is to win the race and try to be competitive in all conditions and practices. We’ve had some bad luck, but we got the victory and I’m in a perfect position, we’re working so hard, to find everything in the same way, we’re pushing, everyone the same, so this gives me so much energy for the weekend, The last race, we won. What can I say? I’m so motivated to make a good job. I can’t think about the Championship but it doesn’t matter, I just want to win the race and that’s my mentality, I’ll give everything to do it and after we’ll see in parc ferme what we achieved.
“I can’t wait to start tomorrow. I was here in 2015 and 2016, and from what I remember I enjoyed this track a lot. With new asphalt we’ll see, but seeing the other Moto3 races here it looks very enjoyable. I can’t wait to start the weekend, start working and start to make something good.”
That’s a wrap from the Moto2™ and Moto3™ pretenders to the crown on Thursday. Watch them head out on track for practice in Friday as we count down to the final showdown on Sunday, with the Moto3™ title decided from 11:00 (GMT) before Moto2™ from 12:20.
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MSCC gears up for Rally of Chikmagalur, a National-level TSD event
Chikmagalur, 18 Nov 2020: Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur (MSCC) will host the Rally of Chikmagalur, a National-level event in Time, Speed, Distance (TSD) format for 4-Wheelers in the Coffee town on December 11 and 12. The rally will offer night sections reminding the good-old long-distance rallies which used to run day-and-night on the hilly treacherous terrain near Baba Budangiri hillocks.
The 250-km rally will begin in Chikkamagaluru around 5pm and will end the next day morning at Horanadu, where the Prize Giving function will be held, after breakfast.
Most of the core team members of MSCC are seen in this file photo. One of the oldest and prestigious motorsports clubs in India, MSCC has a chequered history hosting the ‘Coffee 500′ rally that began in 1982 and used to run in the `closed roads’ with ABC being a vantage point for briefings, parc ferme and PD (Prizegiving ceremony). Many years it ran on the narrow and steep ghat terrain and during nights, usually at the foothills of Sahayadri mountain ranges. The current ‘Indian National Rally Championship’ round which happens annually began with Special Stages that are run in private Coffee Estates from 1996.
Farooq Ahmed, multiple national champion co-driver and current FMSCI vice-president The blend of the scenic beauty and the sounds of the screeching tyres make the fans eagerly look forward to the most-awaited rally. Not just the features mentioned above but the meticulous efforts by the organisers, a bunch of die-hard fans, working as a team day-in and day-out, make it a special event for the participants and the fans alike. It is also one of the rallies in the National Calendar which attracts a huge number of media, usually more than 50 reporters and photographers thronging to the ceremonial start and the PD. In recent years, the Super Special Stage in private school premises has attracted the attention of huge fan following, and is one of the highlights of the event, making it an annual festival.
So much so, the Coffee which 500 became Coffee Day Rally from 1997, after the sponsors started Coffee Day chain in 1996, got the FIA recognition for their good efforts and a Candidate Rally was awarded and the round of Asia Cup was approved and ran in 2015, christened as the Coffee Day India Rally. Ably led by Farooq Ahmed, a champion rallyist himself, the team works like a well-oiled machine.
The FIA later awarded the MSCC a prestigious round of APRC for the year 2016. The MSCC now looks forward to hosting a successful final round of APRC and to cement a permanent spot in the FIA APRC calendar and even look ahead in the coming years but due to the unfortunate demise of the long-standing sponsor’s key man behind the promotion of motorsports, late VG Siddhartha in July 2019, and the arrival of COVID 19 in 2020, the club had to skip the INRC rounds for both the years for different reasons.
However, the club kept their track record clean, of conducting national-level events by organising the South Zone Gymkhana, a qualifying event for entry into the Nationals and for Indian teams. Leaving the coffee estates, MSCC even hosted the event in December 2019 at Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru. But the popular one as ever, is their TSD event.
File photo of Marshals and other volunteers of MSCC, courtesy MSCC With a keen motive to go back to roots and spread motorsports at grassroots level, the club officials decided to organise, this year too, the national-level TSD rally, which are now called as time-regulated rallies. The TSDs are famous for the challenges they offer in navigation and are often seen as a gateway to bigger things in motorsports because they lay a good foundation of basics and nurtures drivers and navigators to graduate smoothly into stage rallies.
A 2018 group photo after the successful conduct of the fourth round of INRC. The following Categories are on offer:
1.Pro-expert
2.Pro-stock
3.All ladies
4.Couple class
5.Corporate class*
6.Veterans class*
7.Novice Class*
8. Star of Chikamaglur*
(* Terms and conditions apply please refer to Supplementary Regulations)
(The entry fee Rs. 7,500 per Car for 2 persons and Rs.11,250 for 3 persons, plus GST)
For details call or WhatsApp Dilip Doshi 9902211792 since the entries are limited on a first-come-first-serve basis. https://www.facebook.com/motorsportsclubofckm/
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Champion drive under adverse conditions brings Hamilton a 7th World crown
Lewis Hamilton put in a sublime drive to win the wet-and-greasy Turkish Grand Prix, securing his 7th Formula 1 World Championship for drivers, equaling the record of legend Michael Schumacher. Racing Point’s Sergio Perez achieved highest career finishing position in P2 as Sebastian Vettel got his first podium of the season in P3.
London, 15 Nov 2020: Lewis Hamilton put in a champions drive to win the Turkish Grand Prix by over 30-seconds after starting from P6. Last lap overtaking moves saw Perez finish in P2, ahead of Vettel and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc- who lost a podium place on the last lap. Leclerc’s future teammate and McLaren driver Carlos Sainz finished in P5, while Lando Norris finished in P8, taking the bonus point for the fastest lap. Red Bull had a disappointing day as spins for both drivers meant that Max Verstappen and Alex Albon finished P6 and P7 respectively. Polesitter and Racing Point driver Lance Stroll’s race unravelled in the latter half, eventually finishing in P9, ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo in P10.
Esteban Ocon recovered to P11, after being tagged by teammate Ricciardo during the start, spinning and puncturing his tyre. AlphaTauri duo of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly finished in P12 and P13. The only person who could stop Hamilton from winning the title, Valtteri Bottas, finished P14, spinning 6-times and being lapped by Hamilton en route to the chequered flag. Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen crossed the line in P15 and Williams’ George Russell was the last driver classified in P16. Haas duo of Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean as well as Nicholas Latifi and Antonio Giovinazzi DNF’d.
The start of the race was wet. There was drama even before the race had begun as, Giovinazzi slipped into the gravel while going to the grid and Russell damaged his front wing coming into the pit lane.
At the start, Stroll and Perez launched well, while Verstappen incurred wheel spin and was overtaken by Hamilton and both Renaults. As Hamilton looked to get past Ricciardo, in an attempt to avoid the Brit, Ricciardo took evasive action and tagged teammate Ocon. Ocon spun, so did Bottas behind him- first of his six spins. Vettel had jumped from P11 to P4. Hamilton running in P3 fell to P6 as he locked up his cold brakes and was passed by Vettel, Verstappen and Albon.
Hamilton leads Sergio Perez in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images Leclerc was first to pit and change from full wets to intermediate tyres on lap 6. He lit up the timing boards as the inters were much faster than wet tyres. This prompted Mercedes to pit Bottas on lap 7 and subsequently Hamilton on lap 8 for inters.
The whole field pitted by lap 13, Stroll extending his leading by 10s over Perez, with Verstappen in running in P3, who had jumped Vettel in P4. Hamilton was all over Vettel but locked up his breaks and fell to P6 after being overtaken by Albon. The Red Bull then overtook Vettel’s Ferrari. Meanwhile, Hamilton could not find a way past the prancing horse.
Verstappen and Leclerc were the fastest cars on track. By lap 17 Verstappen caught up to Perez, who in turn was catching race leader Stroll. With the help of DRS Verstappen tried to overtake Perez on the back straight. His impatience led to his downfall, as he got behind Perez’s gearbox through the kink of turn 11, edged onto the slippery run off and spun. He flat spotted the tyres as a result of the spin, pitted and emerged in P8.
The track was drying out, but no one wanted to risk putting on dry tyres as the track was still slippery with no grip from the tarmac. By lap 29, Stroll’s lead was slashed down to 3s over Perez, Albon right behind the Mexican and, Vettel and Hamilton closing in on the top three, all of them within 10 seconds of the leader.
In the midfield, Ricciardo running in P6, spun and was overtaken by Sainz. Leclerc pitted again for intermediate tyres as he started the second round of pitstops. Vettel pitted on lap 33, releasing the fast-charging Hamilton in free air in P3. Albon pitted on lap 34 and Stroll followed suit on lap 36. All pitting for intermediate tyres. Polesitter Stroll spiraled as he could not make his new inters work as Vettel, Leclerc, Albon and Sainz passed him on lap 41.
Hamilton closed up to Perez, passed him using DRS and assumed the lead of the Grand Prix. By lap 46, he had an 18s lead and he was still on 38 laps old inters. While Leclerc passed Vettel and Verstappen and was running in P3. Verstappen pitted for the third time, as his tyres were worn out and emerged in P8. Bottas’ race worsened as he got lapped by race leader Hamilton, which also signalled that he was out of contention for the championship.
Valtteri Bottas, left, greets, Hamilton, after he won the 7th World title on Sunday – LAT Images With five laps to go, dark clouds and rain threatened to arrive on the last lap. Hamilton and Perez had only pitted once and were running on inters so old, they had effectively become slick tyres. The rain did not materialise as Hamilton won his 94th F1 grand prix by 31s and with it record-equalling 7th world drivers title.
Behind the drama was not over as Perez made a mistake on the last lap and Leclerc slotted into P2. But he overdid and went wide in turn 12, allowing Perez to repass him for P2 and Vettel for his first podium of the season in P3. Sainz finished just six tenths behind Leclerc as the Red Bulls capped off a disappointing race, finishing in P6 and P7.
The accolades belonged to Hamilton as he equalled yet another record and one wonders what new heights he will reach.
Racing Point showed supreme qualifying pace as they secured pole position and P3 on the grid. They had decent race pace but could not challenge for the win as they struggled with overheating and wear in the latter stages of the race. Stroll, the early leader, suffered graining due to which he fell back to P9. Renault like Mercedes struggled with tyre warm-up as neither Ricciardo nor Ocon was rapid in the early stages. Spin for Ocon, and a mistake by Ricciardo, meant they could not maximise their race result and lost ground in the constructor’s championship. McLaren showed a good turn of form in qualifying and race. Grid penalties before the race hampered them, otherwise, both cars had the potential to challenge the squad from Maranello.
Mercedes were clearly not the fastest car, especially on Saturday as they struggled with tyre warm up due to the lack of grip from the tarmac. As the race progressed, the Mercedes got stronger due to tyres warming up and Hamilton was able to extract the maximum from the W11. Red Bull arguably had the fastest car this weekend but seemed to work better on the wet tyres than the intermediates. Verstappen was disappointed not to start on pole as they switched to inters during qualifying. Ferrari had a disappointing qualifying but showed good race pace in the wet conditions as both drivers finished in the top-5.
Hamilton car with World Champ tag in the 2020 Turkish GP Sunday – LAT Images AlphaTauri struggled in the wet conditions and on the newly re-surfaced tarmac as both cars finished outside of the points. Alfa Romeo showed impressive qualifying pace as both cars made it to Q3 but could not hold their positions, Giovinazzi retired with a mechanical problem from the race and ultimately it was a no scoring race for them. Haas’ both cars got knocked out in Q1 and they struggled in the race with their tyres. Ultimately both cars retired. Williams story is similar as well, unable to challenge for Q2 on Saturday and points on Sunday.
Hamilton on way to victory in the 2020 Turkish Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images The race was preceded by wet qualifying on Saturday. Starting grid for the Turkish GP.
P1: Lance Stroll- 18 (Racing Point) P2: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull Honda) P3: Sergio Perez- 11 (Racing Point) P4: Alex Albon- 23 (Red Bull Honda) P5: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (Renault) P6: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P7: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Renault) P8: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P9: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P10: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P11: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Ferrari) P12: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P13: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas) P14: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren)*** P15: Carlos Sainz- 55 (McLaren)** P16: Daniil Kvyat- 26 (AlphaTauri) P17: Romain Grosjean- 8 (Haas) P18: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P19: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P20: George Russell- 63 (Williams)* *Russell and Gasly required to start from back of grid for use of additional power unit elements.
**Sainz penalised three places for impeding Perez during Qualifying.
***Norris and Russell penalised five places for not respecting yellow flags during Qualifying.
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K-1000 winners from 1975: KMSC Hall of fame
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 16 November 2020: Karnataka is rich in its motorsport history. The state is not only home to many champions of the past but is a cradle of talent and contributed to the Indian motorsport history with many activities. K-1000 rally, the flagship event of the State is a popular and vibrant stage rally that is being organised from 1975. In 1988, it officially joined the calendar of the Indian National Rally Drivers and Co-drivers’ Championship and later, the Nationals were rechristened as Indian National Rally Championship under its current format. K-1000 for the first time shifted to the European Special Stage format in 1996 before which, the rallies were hardcore long-distance endurance events covering many states and usually more than 1000-mile long, and hence the name Karnataka-1000. It is one of the few events that were organised and run successfully by hardcore and passionate motorsports lovers and ran regularly. Some of the other rallies that had multiple editions are the Popular Rally in Kerala, the South India Rally in Chennai, the Charminar Challenge or the Deccan rally and the Coffee Day rally.
INDIAinF1.com has put together all the winners of the K-1000 from 1975, a compilation first undertaken in 2009 by the late Bharat Raj and Annabelle Manwaring, the promoters of INRC from 2009 to 2011. The last 11 years were added and some gaps were filled. The IMG-PSP duo also sourced historic images of Indian rallying and specially of K-1000 from many sources, with the major contribution coming from the Father of Indian Motorsport Photography, the late George Francis. A poster was released to commemorate the 35th K-1000 celebrations as KMSC completed 35 long years of dedicated service to motorsports, then. Now the club is getting ready to host both the 2w and 4w K-1000 rally once again for the 45th year.
Here is a list of the all the winners of K-1000, a jewel in the pride of Indian Rallying. Each round’s report will be added shortly. Or you can check the reports at INRC: Winners’ Hall of Fame here. Currently the list contains only the 4-wheel winners and the 2-w biker champions’ list is work in progress and will be updated soon.
Multiple Asia Pacific Rally champion Gaurav Gill tops the table with six K-1000 wins followed by 7-time INRC champion N Leelakrishnan who bagged the K-1000 five times followed by Naren Kumar, who won it for three times, along with Ravi Gupta, who also had three wins, but it appears he may have navigated for the inaugural edition winner DR Sivaram in 1980, for his second K1000 trophy. Kiran Mody, too had won the K1000 three times.
K-1000 Winners from 1975 No. Year Dates The man… Machine Surface 1 1975 DR Sivaram, D Vinod Sivappa, Feroze Asgar Ali & Shivprasad, Bangalore Ambassador 1850 km of mixed roads… gravel, kutcha, tarmac 2 1976 Ravi Gupta, Devendra Gupta, Bangalore FIAT 3 1977 Undecided 4 1978 Dayanand Mandre, Jagadish Reddy, Hyderabad FIAT 5 1979 Kiran Mody, Dr Rajesh Kakkadia, Hyderabad FIAT 6 1980 DR Sivaram, Kiran Mody, Bangalore/Hyderabad FIAT 7 1981 Arindam Ghosh, Saswati Ghosh, Sk Yeasin Ali, Nani Chanda, Kolkota FIAT 8 1982 BM Ravi, Noel Gojar, Bangalore FIAT 9 1983 Uday Eswaran, Dr Ravi Prakash, Bangalore FIAT 10 1984 Kiran Mody, Damaraju Kumar Rao (DK Rao), Hyderabad Dolphin 11 1985 Mohammed Harris, Deepak, UAE SUBARU* 12 1986 Subash Goel, Rajan Siyal, Chennai FIAT 13 1987 Aug Kamlesh Patel, KD Madan, Chennai 118 NE 14 1988 Kamlesh Patel, KD Madan, Chennai 118 NE 15 1989 Harish Samtani, Rajiv Chaudhary, Chennai Maruti Gypsy 16 1990 Leelakrishnan, Mahendran, Coimbatore Maruti Gypsy 17 1991 Aug 12-13 Leelakrishnan, Mahendran, Coimbatore Maruti Gypsy Gravel 18 1992 Leelakrishnan, Mahendran, Coimbatore Maruti Gypsy 19 1993 Aug 14-15 VInyl Varghese, Anil Devaraj, Team Paarel, Kerala Maruti Gypsy 20 1994 Leelakrishnan, Farooq Ahmed, Coimbatore/Chikmagalur Maruti Gypsy 21 1995 Aug 12-14 Naren Kumar, MK Chander, Coimbatore Esteem, Group N 22 1996 K1000 Ashphalt Samir Thaper, Koka Rao, Chandigarh /Hyderabad Esteem India Mines 23 1997 The Club K1000 Hari Singh, GS Mann, Delhi Esteem 24 1998 24th Castrol K1000 Leelakrishnan, Farooq Ahmed,
Coimbatore/ChikmagalurEsteem 25 1999 25th K1000 Hari Singh, GS Mann, Delhi Esteem 26 2000 MAI 26th K1000 TSD Rally – Not part of the National Championship round. 27 2001 Aug 10-12 Karandeep Singh, Jaidas Menon Baleno 28 2002 Oct 11-13 Naren Kumar, Doraikumar Ramkumar, Coimbatore Honda City Asphalt 29 2003 Nov 14-16 Karandip Singh, Jaidas Menon, Chandigarh/Bng Honda city Gravel 30 2004 Aug 6-8 Naren Kumar, Doraikumar Ramkumar, Coimbatore Baleno Asphalt 31 2005 Aug 12-14 Naren Kumar, D Ramkumar, Coimbatore Baleno Asphalt 32 2006 Aug 11-13 Gaurav Gill, Farooq Ahmed, Delhi/Chikmagalur Cedia Gravel 33 2007 Aug 17-19 Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif, Delhi/ Mangalore (Kasargod) Cedia Asphalt 34 2008 Aug 8-10 Vikram Mathias, Srinivasa Murthy, Masinagudi (Karnataka) Cedia Asphalt 35 2009 Aug 21-23 Arjun Balu, Sujith Kumar BS, Coimbatore/ Bengaluru Cedia Gravel 36 2010 Dec 3 -5 Arjun Rao Aroor, Satish Rajagopal, Karnataka Cedia Gravel 37 2011 Aug 19-21 Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif, Delhi/Kasargod Cedia Gravel 38 2012 Sept 21-23 Lohitt V Urs, Sujith Kumar BS, Mysore/ Bengaluru, Privateers Cedia Gravel 39 2013 Nov 9-10 Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif, Delhi/Kasargod Mahindra XUV 500 Gravel 40 2014 Nov 21-23 Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif, Delhi/Kasargod Mahindra XUV 500 Gravel 41 2015 Nov 20-22 Pallath Ganesh Abhilash, Anoop Kumar, Kerala/Bangalore Lancer Evo 8 Gravel 42 2016 Dec 17 -18 Amittrajit Ghosh, Ashwin Naik, Kolkata/ Mangalore Mahindra XUV 500 Gravel 43 2017 Jan 19-21, 2018 Gaurav Gill, Musa Sherif, Delhi/Kasargod Mahindra XUV 500 Gravel 2018 NOT HELD Promoters RRPM did not include the event in the Natioinal INRC calendar 44 2019 Nov 22-24 Chetan Shivaram, Dilip Sharan, Bengaluru VW Polo, Team Akshara Gravel 45 2020 -held 2021 Jan Feb 13-14, 2021 Cancelled Gravel *Corrected from BMW to Subaru, thanks to Zuhin, the 2012 IRC winner -
Morbidelli, Miller stage a last-lap thriller; Mir crowned MotoGP World Champion
Valencia, 15 Nov 2020: Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) put on a spectacular duel in the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana as a tense race-long chess match turned into a final lap scrap for glory. It was decided by less than a tenth but it’s Morbidelli who comes out on top, gloves off to take his third win of the year and move up to second in the standings. Miller was forced to settle for second in the end, with Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) once again completing the podium. Slightly further back, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) made dreams a reality as he took seventh place and secured the 2020 MotoGP™ World Championship, with key rivals not able to do enough to stop the Majorcan’s history-making charge.
As the lights went out, Miller put in a characteristically good start to take the holeshot before then heading wide out of Turn 1, leaving Morbidelli in the lead as the Yamaha man kept it clean to take over. Pol Espargaro pounced for third ahead of front-row starter Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), but then some shuffles just behind pulled immediate focus.
First, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) had sliced through from P14 on the grid to seventh after a storming start, but things didn’t go so well for fellow contender Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT). The Frenchman struggled to get it stopped into Turn 6 on Lap 1 and dropped back – right back – before it went from bad to worse. Sadly, his title hopes were over, ‘El Diablo’ sliding out of the race and contention.
Meanwhile at the front, Morbidelli had the hammer down and Rins was up to fifth – one place gained ‘thanks’ to a crash for Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) as the day sadly came to an early end for the Frenchman after a good start and a battle with the number 42. And Mir? Mir was in eighth, but was getting into the groove and past Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) to set off after Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ahead of him.
Morbidelli rode on, Miller remained his shadow, and the two men kept edging away to make it a duel. It became a brief duel over third too as Nakagami homed in on Pol Espargaro, the Japanese rider once again showing some stunning pace. But the charge would end with disappointment as just as he struck, Nakagami slid out – leaving the KTM to take back third and now with a small cushion back to fourth.
The man in fourth by then was Rins, and with Suzuki’s late race pace of late, Pol Espargaro couldn’t afford to relax too much. But this weekend it seemed just off the podium was the maximum the Aragon GP winner could manage as he held station, two more KTMs on his tail. Initially the first was Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), but Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder was coming in hot. The South African was also keeping Mir at bay as the number 36 failed to make inroads into the gap, seemingly set to take the crown from seventh.
Back at the front, Morbidelli was steadfast but the Petronas Yamaha SRT rider wasn’t getting away as he had done for his previous wins. Miller was with him and gaining, gaining, until he was within touching distance with two to go. And over the line for the final lap, the Australian struck for the front.
Heading up the inside, the number 43 was past and it was game on – but he also headed wide. Morbidelli reacted to hug the apex and slice back through, the Yamaha back ahead and Miller reloading for another shot. That came not long after at Turn 4 as Miller chucked it up the inside, but Morbidelli snapped straight back to grab P1 again at Turn 5.
Down the back straight they went, the Ducati able to show a wheel but no way through. Miller then set himself up for a dive up the inside at Turn 11, but once again there was no way through as the duo got very close for comfort.
Attention then turned to the final corner, but Miller wasn’t close enough to lunge. Could the number 43 get the power down and use the extra grunt to scream past Morbidelli on the run to the line? It was his final chance at the win, but it wasn’t to be. Morbidelli emerged victorious for the third time this season after a magnificent boxing match, and the Italian now sits second in the Championship. Petronas Yamaha SRT are also the top Independent Team. The gap over the line was just 0.093 seconds, tantalisingly close, but it’s a great third podium of the season for Miller nevertheless. Pol Espargaro goes back-to-back in Valencia for his fifth podium of the year in third, another fantastic effort from the Spaniard in his penultimate race for KTM.
Rins’ comeback ride was impressive from P14, but the Suzuki man ran out of steam and eventually missed out on the podium by six tenths as he was forced to settle for fourth. The Spaniard did, however, help Team Suzuki Ecstar claim the Team Championship after a stunning year that’s seen both riders win and challenge for the crown, Mir ultimately taking it.
Binder got the better of Oliveira to return to the top five for the first time since the Austrian GP, and the South African also strengthened his grip on the Rookie of the Year title as he heads for the finale 20 points clear of Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). Oliveira in sixth make it three KTMs in the top six too, and the Portuguese rider arrives on home turf in form.
Just behind the KTM duo, Mir took the chequered flag. Pandemonium raged on the pit wall as Suzuki witnessed their rider come across the line to win the 2020 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship, the young Spaniard joining Barry Sheene, Marco Lucchinelli, Franco Uncini, Kevin Schwantz and Kenny Roberts Jr. as a Suzuki Champion. An incredible achievement from the sophomore, and the entire Hamamatsu factory, after a stunning season.
Dovizioso almost sprung a late surprise as he crossed the line just 0.026 behind Mir and could have possibly gone for a lunge, but he was the second Ducati home and took some solid points. Aleix Espargaro crossed the line in a solid P9 to grab his second top 10 of the season, the Aprilia man taking the flag one place ahead of Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after a tougher one for the number 12.
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) finished P11 and three tenths ahead of Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), as Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol), Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) and Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) completed the points.
And so, Valencia plays host to yet another Championship-deciding MotoGP™ race – and an amazing last lap duel. Suzuki now head to Portimao with the triple crown in sight, although the Japanese marque are equal on points with Ducati in the fight to become Constructor Champions. Whichever bike crosses the line first will win the Championship. See you in less than a week’s time for another stunning MotoGP™ showdown!
1 Franco Morbidelli* – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha 41:22.478
2 Jack Miller* –Pramac Racing – Ducati +0.093
3 Pol Espargaro –Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM +3.006
*Independent Team ridersFranco Morbidelli: “It was an unbelievable win, I gave everything all race long and finally I had to dig deeper to find something else at the last lap because Jack was there and was able to catch up at the end and fight at the end. I had to find something extra and luckily I was able to pull it out! It was a wonderful fight against Jack. It’s always nice to fight with him, win or lose, so I enjoyed the battle and congrats to him, he was just as good as me. I have a great feeling about this year, we did great and I’m looking forward to party tonight and then go to Portimao!”
