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Author: David Bodapati
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Ajgar-Musthafa hat-trick: JK Tyre Himalayan Drive
Ajgar and Mustafa in action. JK Tyre Photos Siliguri, 2 March 2019: After four days of cross-country rallying, the formidable team of Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa successfully defended their JK Tyre Himalayan Drive 7 crown.
Hailing from the small port town of Haldia in West Bengal, Ajgar Ali, along with Erode’s Mohammed Musthafa, achieved the rare feat of winning their third successive title in the country’s only international TSD (Time, Speed, Distance) rally.In the national category, Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa ended with a final tally of 1110 penalty points to emerge victorious. Securing the second position were the team of Gagan Sethi and Rajkumar Mundra with 1847 penalty points while Jogendra Jaiswal and Nagarajan Thangaraj ended their campaign in third position with 2035 penalty points.In the open category, the team of Govind Dalmia and Anand Agarwal edged past category leader Rohit Agarwal and Kunal Joshi to finish with 9149 penalty points. The Agarwal-Joshi team scored 9691 penalty points. Finishing third in this category were the team of Suyash Raj and Mohammad Sharif with 10796 penalty points.Ajgar & Mustafa This year’s title battle saw a nail-biting finish. The team of Jogendra Jaiswal and Nagarajan Thangaraj who started the final day (Day 4, Saturday) as championship leaders lost their bid to the crown in the very final moments by missing the penultimate time control and suffering a 900-penalty points blow.
“We made a big mistake (by missing the second-last time control) and we handed the championship title to them (Ajgar and Musthafa). It is a disappointment for us, but the winners deserve the title,” Nagarajan Thangaraj said.“We are very happy to score this hattrick. It was a very exciting rally and I can say that the seventh edition of JK Tyre Himalayan Drive is the best TSD rally in the country till date. The competitive sections were superb and posed a tough challenge to drivers, navigators and our cars,” said Ajgar Ali.He was also all praise for Just Sportz, the rally organisers. “This rally is always well-organised and everything is transparent. The hospitality of the organisers is unparalleled,” Ali added.This year’s victory takes the total winning tally of Ajgar Ali and Mohammed Musthafa to four titles (2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019) since the Himalayan Drive was first held in 2013. The team of Sudip Ghosh and navigator Arindam Ghosh were the only other team to have won more than one championship title at this event (2014 and 2016). Anubhav De and co-driver Chandan Sen won the title in 2015.The last leg of the rally was flagged off from the Kalimpong stadium and started with a steep climb on the road from Mungpoo to Jorebungalow that was lined with verdant forests and offered majestic views of snow-capped peaks of the eastern Himalayas for a few kilometres. This was followed by another competitive section downhill through winding mountain roads of Rohini. The third and last competitive section was a tough drive stretching over nearly 23 kilometers through the bed of the Mechi river that forms the border between India and Nepal. -
0.003 seperates Vettel and Hamilton on final day of testing at Circuit de Catalunya
Vettal tops test on Final day in Barcelona 1 March 2019. An FIA image Barcelona 1 March 2019: Sebastian Vettel topped the timesheet on the final day of pre-season Formula 1 testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Ferrari driver ended the day just 0.003s ahead of 2018 F1 champion Lewis Hamilton, as Mercedes at last showed some true pace.
Vettel’s final day benchmark arrived in the morning session. The German bolted on a set of C5 compound Pirelli tyres shortly before the lunch break and posted a time of 1:16.221.
Vettel’s day ended early, however. The German added 42 laps to his morning total of 68 but then stopped on track on the exit of Turn 2 bringing out the red flags.
Ferrari later reported that an “electrical issue” had caused the stoppage and that due to the nature of the problem Vettel would not return to the action.
His morning time continued to serve as the benchmark during the afternoon, but only just. After days spent on long stints run on tyres from the harder end of Pirelli’s compound spectrum Mercedes finally put in performance runs on the final day and Hamilton made them count.
Bottas had run for the world champion team in the morning and the Finn ended his pre-season work three tenths of a second off Vettel’s best time of testing.
In the afternoon Hamilton chipped away at his lap time and when he switched to the C4 tyres he jumped to third with a 1:16.628s effort. With a little over an hour left on the clock he took on the softest tyres in the range and pushed past Bottas’ time to set a lap of 1:16.224s, just three thousandths of a second behind Vettel.
Those looking to see whether Honda-powered Red Bull Racing could join the battle at the top of the order were left disappointed, however. The team did manage to get the RB15 damaged in Pierre Gasly heavy day three crash on track in the morning, but Max Verstappen was only able to complete 29 laps before a gearbox problem halted his running. Red Bull attempted to resolve the issue but in the mid-afternoon called a halt to testing. Verstappen ended the day in P11.
With Bottas third, fourth place on the final day went to Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg who set a C5 time of 1:16.843s late in the session. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat took fifth place for Toro Rosso ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.
Hulkenberg was separated from eighth-placed team-mate Daniel Ricciardo Haas’ Romain Grosjean Haas who set a best time of 1:17.076 on the C5 tyres. The lap put him 0.038s ahead of Ricciardo.
Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen finished ninth ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen and Verstappen. The order was completed by Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Williams’ Robert Kubica.
2019 Formula 1 Pre-Season Test 2, Day 4
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:16.221s 110
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.224s +0.003 61
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:16.561s +0.340 71
4 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:16.843s +0.622 51
5 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:16.898s +0.677 131
6 Carlos Sainz McLaren 1:16.913s +0.692 134
7 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:17.076s +0.855 73
8 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:17.114s +0.893 52
9 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:17.239s +1.018 132
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:17.565s +1.344 94
11 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:17.709s +1.488 29
12 Sergio Perez Racing Point 1:17.791s +1.570 104
13 Robert Kubica Williams 1:18.993s +2.772 90 -
Viñales, Quartararo and Marquez on top with Rossi, Lorenzo, for close company: Qatar Test
Vinales tops final day of the test on 25 Feb 2019. A MotoGP image Losail, 25 Feb 2019: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) leaves Losail International Circuit after the Qatar Test having topped two of the three days, the first and final, and on Monday it was with a 1:54.208 to end the test 0.233 clear. The top spot was again under threat from an incredible performance from rookie Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) in second, however, with reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) completing the top three. And, after a tougher Day 2 for Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), the ‘Doctor’ was back inside the top four just behind Marquez, with Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team) another resurgent runner as he completed the top five.
So it’s Yamaha who leave Qatar on top despite a windier Day 3, with Viñales putting in 50 laps on Monday and Rossi 38. The Italian was pretty positive and said it came from putting “everything together”, but the Spaniard did still insist they need to improve and one of the big things he pointed out was edge grip, where he said the Yamaha is lacking a little compared to other manufacturers. Quartararo, meanwhile, did 48 laps and showed his Day 2 showing was far from a fluke, with teammate Franco Morbidelli shooting up the timesheets to sixth on Monday too. That makes good reading for both the Iwata marque and the new Petronas Yamaha SRT team, with all Yamahas in the top six.
Repsol Honda were the only other team and manufacturer to mix it with them on Monday, although both machines took tumbles – riders ok. Marc Marquez was third with a 1:54.613 and did 53 laps, again showing the capacity to put more mileage on his shoulder, and teammate Jorge Lorenzo took P5 just 0.040 off Marquez and 0.002 off Rossi. After two much tougher days on the timesheets hovering outside the top 15 as he both changes bike and comes back from a scaphoid broken only a month ago, the five-time World Champion catapulted himself up to a 1:54.653 on Day 3.
Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), meanwhile, also had a solid final day as he finished the Qatar Test in eighth despite a crash, and the Japanese rider concludes testing with a sheet of consistent top tens. He did 50 laps with a best of 1:54.789, with teammate Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) down in P17 after 39 laps.
Another big headline on the last day of preseason came from the consistently impressive Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who was a stunning seventh on a best effort of 1:54.770. The Spaniard put in 37 laps as the Austrian factory continue working on the details, and the second quickest KTM was actually Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) on Monday as the Portuguese rookie was within around a second of Espargaro. Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was a little further down the timesheets on Monday in P22.
Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati Team), meanwhile, retained his stronghold on the timesheets amongst the Borgo Panigale machines. The Italian was ninth on Day 3 after another 43 laps, with teammate Andrea Dovizioso down in P15 after 50 but they focused on long runs and race setup. The engine and fairing and bigger decisions were already made before the end of action. Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) improved to tenth on his final of 57 laps, and his teammate, rookie Francesco Bagnaia, wasn’t far off in P13 – just two tenths in arrears. He was closely followed by Reale Avintia Racing’s Tito Rabat.
Between that Ducati invasion were nestled both of the Team Suzuki Ecstar machines. Although third overall from his Day 2 laptime, Alex Rins ended Monday in P11 on a 1:54.852 after 41 laps and rookie teammate Joan Mir was the second quickest rookie in P12. The gap between the two Hamamatsu factory machines was only a tenth and a half…
Aprilia, meanwhile, were happy with their improvements and although Andrea Iannone (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) was P16 and Aleix Espargaro P19, they were focusing more on longer runs, for Espargaro especially – and overall across the test Espargaro was P14. The Noale factory were also happy with the adaptation shown by Iannone after the Italian had to sit out much of Sepang with illness, which is a big positive after a difficult recent run.
That’s it from Qatar and preseason is officially over – now all that remains is to race. With fifteen riders ending the test within a second, KTM in the top ten, the likes of Quartararo looking incredibly fast…what will the VisitQatar Grand Prix bring? Find out from the 8th to 10th March.
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Raghul rangasamy crowned `Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year’: FMSCI awards
Gautam Singhania (CMD Raymond Group), Raghul Rangasamy winner of the FMSCI Upcoming Motorsports Person of the Year Award, Jean Todt (president FIA), J. Prithiviraj President of FMSCI on Monday. An FMSCI image Mumbai, 25 Feb 2019: India’s top performers in the world of motorsports were felicitated during the 2018 FMSCI Annual Awards function here on Monday, with Chennai’s Raghul Rangasamy winning the coveted ‘Upcoming Motorsports Person Of The Year Award.
The awards function once held at a make-shift venue under tents some years back, under the guidance of the late Bharat Raj now travels every year to five-star hotels, with pomp and show. Lakhs and lakhs of rupees, which ideally need to be spent on the sportspersons, riders and drivers, end up in corporate kitties. Many more lakhs are being paid as income tax to the government every year for lack of any innovative programmes by the FMSCI which can reduce such taxes in productive expenditure for the promotion of sport.
Rangasamy, the 25-year-old racer had a spectacular year, completing a fine double by claiming the LGB Formula 4 title in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship and the FF 1600 category in the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship to pocket the prestigious Raymond Gautam Singhania Trophy.
The chief guest at the glittering function, the President of FIA (Le Federation Internationale de l’Automobile), Jean Todt, gave away the top prize as also a number of other important trophies in the presence of a galaxy of stars.
Todt, famously known as the force behind Ferrari’s spectacular rise in Formula 1, expressed his delight at the way Indian motorsport has progressed and believed that the country was on its way to bigger things on the world stage. But sadly, the fact is that the Formula One continues to elude the country and there is no positive sign that it would return to India in the near future. The Indian Government and the Indian Olympic Association lay down rules where the sport needs to be democratically governed and represented by all States in its governing body to get the nod for recognition.
The annual function, held under the stewardship of new FMSCI president J Prithiviraj, saw as many as 61 winners receiving the trophies. The former president of FMSCI (1981-82 & 1985-87), GR Karthikeyan, was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his valuable contribution to Indian motorsport.
Basking in the progress made in the year gone by, and appreciating the efforts of all the stakeholders, promoters, sponsors and winners, Prithiviraj revealed that much more was in store.
“We are entering the golden period of Indian motorsports. We have events in virtually all the disciplines possible and our boys and girls are competing and winning at the world level, like never before,” he said. “We are going to introduce many other exciting verticals very soon,” he added.
The FMSCI handed out Special Awards to all those made the country proud at the international level too while making a special mention of multiple winner Gaurav Gill, for taking part in the World Rally Championship.
Among others, Armaan Ebrahim (podium finish at the Lamborghini Trofeo series), Anindith Reddy Konda (podium at Lamborghini Trofeo Series), Amiitrajit Ghosh and Ashwin Naik (winners at ERC 2 Acropolis Rally) and Malswandawngliana (2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing India round) received these awards.
Leading female drivers of the country, including Mira Erda, Sneha Sharma and Shriya Lohia, were also bestowed with the ‘Outstanding Women in Motorsport’ trophies.
The FMSCI meanwhile underlined its new philosophy, ‘equal investment in competitor & training officials’, to take the sport to the next level.
Lifetime achievement award: G R Karthikeyan; Upcoming Motorsport person of the year: Raghul Rangasamy
JK Tyres FMSCI National Racing Championship
Euro JK 18: Karthik Tharani; LGB Formula 4: Raghul Rangasamy; Champion Team (LGB Formula 4): Msport; Rookie Driver (LGB Formula 4): Sohil Shah
MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Racing Championship
MRF FF 1600: Raghul Rangasamy; FLGB 1300: Sohil Shah; Champion Team (FLGB 1300): Msport; Super Stock K Srinivas Teja; Champion Team (Super Stock ):Performance Racing; Indian Junior Touring Cars: AS Prabhu; Champion Team( Indian Junior Touring Cars): Arka Motorsports; Indian Touring Cars: Ashish Ramaswamy; Champion Team (Indian Touring Cars): Arka Motorsports
FMSCI Indian National Autocross Championship
Driver Stock (2-wheel drive upto 1400 cc ):Sahil Khanna; Driver Stock( 2-wheel drive Over 1400 cc upto 1650 cc): Samrat Yadav; Driver Stock (2-wheel drive Over 1650 cc) Arjun Rao; Driver Open (2-wheel drive upto 1400 cc): Abhishek Mishra; Driver Open (2-wheel drive, over 1400 cc upto 1650 cc): Dean Mascarenhas; Driver Open (2-wheel drive Over 1650 cc): Arjun Rao; Driver (Open, Unrestricted): Abhishek Mishra; Driver (Ladies): Bani Yadav
MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship
Driver Indian (Open Stock Body): Vivek Ramachander; Driver Indian (Open Altered Body): Jayant V; Driver Indian (Touring Cars): Kasha Sai; Driver (Unrestricted Class): Vivek Ramachander
MRF FMSCI Indian National Rally Championship
Driver Overall INRC: Gaurav Gill; Co-Driver Overall INRC: Musa Sherif; Team Overall: INRC Mahindra Adventure; Driver (INRC 1): Gaurav Gill; Co-Driver (INRC 1): Musa Sherif; Team (INRC 1): Mahindra Adventure; Driver( INRC 2 ):Karna Kadur; Co-Driver( INRC 2 ): Nikhil V Pai; Team (INRC 2): Arka Motorsports; Driver (INRC 3): Aroor Vikram Rao; Co-Driver (INRC 3): Somayya A.G; (Team INRC 3): Falkon Motorsports
Meco Motor Sports FMSCI National Rotax Max Karting Championship
Micro Max: Ishaan Madesh; Team (Micro Max ): Peregrine Racing; Junior Max Shahan Ali Mohsin; Team (Junior Max) Msport; Senior Max: Debarun Banerjee; Team (Senior Max): MSport
MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship
Rider (Pro Stock 301-400 cc): Satyanarayana Raju; Team (Pro Stock 301-400 cc): Gusto Racing India; Manufacturer: (Pro Stock 301-400 cc KTM); Rider (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): Jagan Kumar; Team (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): TVS Racing; Manufacturer (Super Sport Indian upto 165 cc): TVS; Rider (Pro Stock upto 165 cc): Anish D Shetty; Team( Pro Stock upto 165 cc): Honda Ten10 Racing; Manufacturer (Pro Stock upto 165 cc): Honda; Rider (Stock upto 165 cc Girls): Ann Jenifer; Team (Stock upto 165 cc Girls ): Sparks Racing; Manufacturer (Stock upto 165 cc Girls): Yamaha; Rider (Stock upto 165 cc): Karthik Mateti; Team (Stock upto 165 cc): Sparks Racing; Manufacturer (Stock upto 165 cc): Yamaha
MMSC FMSCI Indian National Drag Racing Championship
Rider (2 Stroke upto 130 cc): Hussain Khan; Rider (2 Stroke 131 to 165cc): Hussain Khan; Rider (4 Stroke upto 165 cc): Aravind Ganesh; Rider (4 Stroke 166 to 225 cc): Harshil Thakur; Rider (4 Stroke 226 to 360 cc): Shankar Guru; Rider(4 Stroke 361 to 550 cc): R Ashwin Kumar; Rider( 4 Stroke 851 to 1050 cc): Hemant Mudappa; Rider( 4 Stroke 1051 & above): Hemant Mudappa; Rider (4 Stroke Unrestricted): Hemant Mudappa; Team: Mantra Racing
MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Supercross Championship
Rider (Group A SX1 2 Stroke 250 cc & 4 Stroke 500 cc): Harith Noah; Rider (Group C 2/4 Stroke: 260 cc Novice) Imran Pasha; Rider( Group C 2/4 Stroke:260 cc Indian Expert): Imran Pasha; Rider( Group C 2/4 Stroke 260 cc Expert): Jagdeesh Kumar; Rider (Group A SX2 2 Stroke 250 cc & 4 Stroke 500 cc): Saijith ES; Rider( Junior SX 1 2/4 Stroke 250 cc): Yuvraj Kondedeshmukh; Rider (Junior SX 2 2/4 Stroke 250 cc )Sarthak Chavan
MRF MOGRIP FMSCI National Rally Championship
Overall R Nataraj; Rider (Super Bike Pro Expert Group A Rider): R Nataraj; Rider (Super Bike Expert Group A Rider): Jatin Jain; Rider (Super Sport 130 cc Group B Rider): Rakesh Kumar V; Rider (Super Sport 165 cc Group B Rider ): Imran Pasha J; Rider (Super Sport 260 cc Group B Rider) Rajendra R.E.; Rider (Super Sport 400 cc Group B Rider ): Venu Ramesh Kumar; Rider( Super Sport 550 cc Group B Rider): Vinit Sharma; (Rider Scooters Group B Rider): Pinkesh Thakkar; Rider( Ladies Class): Aishwarya P.M.
Outstanding Achievement In World Motorsport
Abhilash PG: Winner APRC 2 Cup for Drivers; Abdul Wahid: 2nd Overall in category of Rally of Morocco , a FIM Cross Country World Championship Event; Armaan Ebrahim: Podium in Lamborgini Super Trofeo Asia; Anindith Reddy K: Podium in Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia; Amittrajit Ghosh:Podium ERC Acropolis Rally ERC 2 Driver; Ashwin Naik: Podium ERC Acropolis Rally ERC 2 Co-Driver; Jehan Daruvala: Several Podiums in FIA Euro F3 Championship; Karthik Matei: 2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing (Indonesia Round); Musa Sherif: Winner APRC 2 Cup for Co-Drivers; Malsawndawngliana: 2nd in Asia Cup of Road Racing India Round.
Outstanding Women in Motorsports
Mira Erda; Sneha Sharma; Shriya Lohia
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Bautista becomes first rider to win both races on debut: WorldSBK
Philip Island, 24 Feb 2019: The final race of the Yamaha Finance Australian Round in the opening meeting of the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship went the way of Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), who completed a dream WorldSBK debut. The Spaniard becomes the first rider to win both WorldSBK races on his debut weekend since John Kocinski – also for Ducati – at Misano in 1996.
Initially taking the lead at Turn 1, Bautista started putting time into Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who managed to pass teammate Jonathan Rea at Turn 4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) made a fast start and was fourth whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi escalated from eighth on the grid into fifth, with Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) remaining sixth.
At Turn 1 on lap two, Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven) made a brief appearance into sixth, passing Melandri, only for the Italian to repay the compliment to his former WorldSBK teammate. Back in the fight for second position, Haslam began to pull away from Rea, the reigning Champion not having things his own way.
Marco Melandri got his way ahead of van der Mark and immediately set about closing down the KRT pairing of Haslam and Rea. Further up the road, Alvaro Bautista was building his own gap, setting the fastest lap to confirm his relentless pace. The gap between the two Kawasakis was now at 0.5s, with Haslam seemingly able to put distance between Rea. Behind Melandri and van der Mark, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was back into sixth.
Further down the order, Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was making good progress from 16th on the grid and was now ninth, almost passing Laverty at Turn 10 but deciding to wait for another time.
Whilst throughout most of the weekend the rivalry between Bautista and Rea was headlining, Haslam and Rea started to get close on circuit too. From lap seven, the reigning World Champ started to close his new teammate down and with just eight laps to go, the Northern Irishman made his move at Turn 1, only for Haslam to take him back at Turn 4 with a traditional block pass. This started a succession of nine passes between the pair. Haslam put an audacious Jonathan Rea-style pass on the four-time champion at Turn 1, with Rea responding immediately almost every time.
Behind the squabbling Kawasaki riders, the Yamaha riders of Melandri and van der Mark decided to have their own fight, passing and re-passing, hindering their chances of taking the fight to Rea and Haslam, less than half-a-second up the road at times. Van der Mark was up to fourth at Turn 4 with four laps to go, although Melandri got back ahead at Turn 10.
However, despite all of the fighting with the Kawasaki Racing Team and Yamaha riders, Alvaro Bautista was oblivious to the squabbling left in his wake. The 2006 World Champion crossed the line to become a WorldSBK winner for a second time, with the Tissot Superpole Race win also going to the Spanish sensation.
Rea eventually took second place ahead of Haslam, whilst van der Mark finished fourth ahead of teammate Alex Lowes, who put in a stunning late charge to demote Marco Melandri to sixth. Chaz Davies finished a fine seventh place and ended a poor weekend with his best result, with reigning WorldSSP Champion Sandro Cortese completing the top eight once more. Eugene Laverty took ninth place and his joint-best finish of the weekend, whilst rounding out the top ten was Leon Camier.
P1 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) “Before coming to Australia, I couldn’t expect a weekend like this. During the two-day of official test, we worked hard, and we arrived at the race weekend ready for the battle. This morning during the Tissot Superpole Race, Rea and I fought hard, and I really enjoyed it, but in the afternoon track conditions were a little bit worse. My pace was still good, but after the 10-lap race, I expected Jonny to stay with me in Race Two. I pushed hard from the beginning and the gap increased and I was able to win again. I want to thank Ducati and all the guys for their incredible job! It has been an amazing weekend for us”.P2 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“I am happy about the race weekend. Phillip Island is not one of the stronger tracks for me and my bike but to come away with a lap record, a pole position and two second places, I couldn’t have asked for more. My congratulation goes to Alvaro. It takes a lot of work to come here as a rookie and win three races in a row, so a big congrats to him”.P3 – Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“With this podium, it was able to make up after the silly crash I had yesterday. It was a good Race Two, with a lot of passing and I had so much fun. With two laps left, I thought it was made and that I was going to finish in second, but Jonathan is not a four-time world champion for no reason and he beat me. Third on the podium is a good result and it’s perfect for the team as we finished second and third. Now we can move on to Thailand and try to progress”.#AUSWorldSBK at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit: Race 2
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +12.195
3. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +12.454 -
Viñales and Rins face off: MotoGP Test Day 1
Two Spaniards a tenth apart at the top, ahead of Dovi and Petrucci 40 and going strong:: Rossi heads out under the lights at Qatar on Saturday. A MotoGP image Qatar, 23 Feb 2019: Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy MotoGP) topped the first day of the Qatar Test, putting in a 1:55.051 to head the grid after a late charge for supremacy. It was close though, with the Suzuki of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) just 0.108 back – and the two set those laps close together on track. As always when action returns to Qatar, track conditions need to improve throughout the day and it was therefore fairly late on that a lot of the action took place – and the latter part of the day when Viñales blasted to the top.
That 1:55.051 to put Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP on top was one of 50 laps completed by Viñales on Day 1, and the signs look good for the factory – with teammate Valentino Rossi not far back as he completed the top five after 47 laps. Team Director Massimo Meregalli confirmed the engine had already been decided and that focus was first on comparing data with that from Sepang. Aero, however, remains up in the air – with more to try for the Iwata marque at Losail.
Petronas Yamaha SRT, meanwhile, had more positives – first for rookie Fabio Quartararo. Quickest debutant by a stretch on Saturday, the Frenchman was a stunning seventh overall and less than two tenths off Rossi after 49 laps. Franco Morbidelli was a little further down after the first session, ending the day seven tenths further back in P14.
Alex Rins put in a similar lap count: 48. The Spaniard showed more good form for Hamamatsu factory Suzuki after threatening the top on the first days of the Sepang test too, and this time rookie teammate Joan Mir began the test further up the timesheets as he ended the day in P11. Suzuki had a new exhaust on show and Team Manager Davide Brivio confirmed that the chassis is defined, the engine spec is decided and said that focus was now on fine tuning and the details – including some final aero checks and work on the suspension and settings.
So behind the duo at the top, who came next? Both Mission Winnow Ducatis, with Andrea Dovizioso leading teammate Danilo Petrucci by a mere 0.044 – although they were half a second back. Both put in less laps than some of their competitors, with Dovi doing 29 and Petrucci 37. The latter was only just ahead of Rossi, but 0.010 can make the difference in MotoGP™. Team Manager Davide Tardozzi says, like many up and down pitlane, focus is now on the details – but the Borgo Panigale factory plan to make their final aero decision on Sunday.
Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) kept the good news rolling for Ducati machinery as he ended the day in P6 after 44 laps, happy there’s more room to improve, too, but Alma Pramac Racing, who starred in the Sepang test, were a little further back on Day 1 in Qatar. Francesco Bagnaia was P15 after a 1:56.738, with teammate Jack Miller in P19. Miller said, however, he spent the session doing six to eight lap runs, testing different parts – and lacking the time to be able to put in a tyre to push for a hot lap.
Another surprise on Saturday came from the fastest Honda: Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). The Japanese rider showed more top pace and put in 45 laps. Teammate Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) spent some time testing parts for HRC and finished the session in P18. Reigning Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), whose shoulder remains less than 100% after surgery, ended the day in tenth and, like in Sepang, put in only 34 laps. But he was positive and said he’s now back to riding in his more natural style, and he had his first crash of the season with no consequence. On the other side of the garage, the return of Jorge Lorenzo saw the ‘Spartan’ struggle in braking as he comes back from a broken scaphoid, and he focused on continuing to understand the bike. Despite not so many laps and not too many new things to try as yet, the five-time World Champion did mention his desire to modify the seat in an effort to make his new machine a little more ergonomic. Repsol Honda Team Manager Alberto Puig said work on engine and aero is continuing until the last moment for the team – because every possibility is something worth trying – and a new exhaust was one thing spotted.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) impressed on Day 1. The Spaniard, who took the Austrian factory’s first premier class podium at Valencia last season, was the trailblazer once again as he finished up Saturday’s action in P9 after 47 laps. Teammate Johann Zarco put in 53 laps and was P16, around eight tenths back, and he was just 0.121 ahead of rookie KTM rider Miguel Oliveira on the Red Bull KTM Tech3. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager Mike Leitner specified they’re working on confirming chassis and aerodynamic modifications, and said the goal was to first finish off the test program from Sepang and then find a base setting for the race – as you’d expect. He also added that the items on the agenda are now less, something that speaks of the scale of KTM’s development program given the amount of track time already gone in preseason.
Aprilia, meanwhile, slotted into P12 and P13 with Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone respectively – despite crashes for both. Espargaro did 34 laps and confirmed the bike is a definite improvement on last year’s, and Iannone catapulted himself up the timesheets after struggling with illness and missing much of the Sepang test. The Italian managed 30 laps and was only 0.089 off Espargaro by the end of the day. One key thing the Noale factory were spotted trying was an aero fairing.
That’s it from Day 1 and it was ruled by Viñales and Rins – what will Day 2 bring? Find out from 16:00 local time (GMT+3) on Sunday with more laps in the desert at Losail International Circuit.
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Rookie Alvaro Bautista of Aruba.IT racing wins the opening WorldSBK race
Philip Island, 23 Feb 2019: The opening race of the 2019 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship was a classic and went the way of Rookie, Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), who set a scintillating pace and was able to clear off at the front of the pack from lap one. Bautista took the win in a convincing manner, winning by more than 15 seconds to become the first Rookie to win a WorldSBK race on his debut since Max Biaggi in 2007.
Off the line for the first time in 2019, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got a good start before being sandwiched into Turn 1 by Alvaro Bautista and early race leader and pole-sitter, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). However, Bautista soon blasted into the lead at Turn 3 and from there, built a gap, setting back-to-back fastest laps and before half race distance, the 34-year-old had a gap of over eight seconds.
The battle was then firmly on for second position, with Rea, Haslam and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team). Tom Sykes also had a good start to the race, with fifth place secured and chasing the leaders down hard. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was in sixth and made a rampant start, despite opting for a harder compound tyre choice. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) was a big mover and shaker after one lap, up to seventh from 14th on the grid.
The race evolved and began to take shape, with the KRT WorldSBK pairing of Rea and Haslam exchanging position frequently, whilst Tom Sykes and Alex Lowes also battled. Razgatlioglu made massive progress through the field and was soon into fourth place with an exciting move into Turn 1. It wasn’t long until the first race crasher of the year occurred, with Leon Camier at Turn 2 (Moriwaki Althea HONDA Team).
With Leon Haslam managing to get ahead of Jonathan Rea and pull clear, disaster struck for the former WorldSBK runner-up, as he crashed out of second at Turn 4. ‘Pocket Rocket’ Haslam eventually finishing 15th. This left Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes at the front of the battle for second position, whilst Toprak Razgatlioglu and Tom Sykes battled hard. The BMW of Sykes struggling to keep Toprak’s Kawasaki behind it on the front straight but then managing to get back ahead at the hairpins.
Later in the race, Marco Melandri started to make big in-roads to Dutchman, Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team). It wasn’t long before the Italian made his move into sixth place and then chased down the riders ahead of him. Soon, he got ahead of Tom Sykes and then Razgatlioglu at Turn 2 with six laps left, releasing him into clear air to hunt Alex Lowes and the final spot on the podium.
At the flag and Alvaro Bautista romped home with 14.9s to spare, a remarkable achievement; one that echoed Anthony Gobert’s dominant victory at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in 2000. Jonathan Rea took second position and conceded the first race of the season for a second consecutive year. The battle for third saw a remarkable effort from Marco Melandri flourish, able to get ahead of Alex Lowes to take the final position on the podium.
Michael van der Mark took fifth place to make it three Yamaha riders inside the top five, whilst Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the top six ahead of Tom Sykes. Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was top German in eighth place ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) and a disconsolate Chaz Davies (ARUBA.ITRacing – Ducati) in tenth, some 27 seconds behind his victorious teammate.
With the first race complete for 2019, Alvaro Bautista breaks many records. He is the first Spanish Rookie to set a fastest lap at Phillip Island on a Ducati since Ruben Xaus in 2001, whilst also becoming the first Spanish rider to win a WorldSBK race since Jordi Torres in 2015 at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar.
P1 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I am so happy to start my WorldSBK career this way. I missed the Superpole because I am still not used to work with the Superpole tyres but I was quite confident for the race. I tried to find my rhythm immediately and I found my pace from the beginning. The gap was increasing every lap, so I tried to manage the tyres and save them for the final part of the race. I am really happy and I want to thank Ducati and my team because they did an absolutely amazing job over the winter.”P2 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“It was a tough race, Bautista did a really good job and my congratulation goes to him. I had some issue with the rear tyre and my target was just to finish the race. It wasn’t really one of the most beautiful races because I was riding half gas the whole time but anyway, we finished second, we did the Superpole so I am really happy, and it is the best result we could have got today.”P3 – Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)
“I was struggling a bit with the new tyres at the beginning but after a few laps, the bike started working well. Yamaha and the team did an awesome job and I was riding very comfortable and just tried to keep my rhythm. Then I saw Lowes in front of me and I started to push hard. We passed each other many times on the final lap. Lowes didn’t give up but I wanted this podium so much! Thanks to all the team and the guys who have been working so hard for me”#AUSWorldSBK at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit: Race 1
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +14.983
3. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) +16.934 -
Qatar MotoGP Test: the final countdown begins
It’s just over two weeks until the season starts and Losail hosts the second and final preseason test Image courtesy MotoGP Losail, 22 Feb 2019: Sepang certainly gave us a tantalising first glimpse of the season ahead, and now it’s time to up the ante even further as Losail International Circuit in Qatar welcomes MotoGP™ for the second and final preseason test of 2019. Final decisions on engines, aero fairings and more await – and there’s the chance to compare data from Malaysia, as well as set up for the VisitQatar Grand Prix. It’s three full days on track, but plenty to get done.
One of the biggest talking points ahead of the test and, undoubtedly after, is the return to action of Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team). After breaking his scaphoid near the end of the winter break, the Spaniard was forced to sit out Sepang and lose valuable time on the Honda, but now he’ll be able to get another three days of familiarisation under his belt as he joins new teammate Marc Marquez on track. Marquez himself is also a talking point but this season not just for win rate – the reigning Champion put in a much lower lap load in Malaysia than he often has at testing in the past, and although he was pretty quick, he said his shoulder is still not 100% and he’s not riding in his usual style. How much further along will the seven-time World Champion be in his recovery by the Qatar Test and, after that, the race weekend?
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) was actually the fastest Honda at Sepang. The Brit, despite also still being on a road to recovery after breaking his ankle at Phillip Island last season, impressed on his return and managed a solid 60+ laps on the final day. He’s another who will be expecting improvements in his condition for the Qatar Test. His teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) also had a positive Malaysia and, after topping the Jerez test at the end of last season, was a consistent presence in the top ten. Now on the bike that Marquez rode to the 2018 crown, the season is looking bright for the sophomore and he’ll be one to watch.
It wasn’t actually reigning Champions Honda who stole the headlines at Sepang, however – it was Borgo Panigale’s Italian armada. Ducati machinery locked out the fastest four in Malaysia and Mission Winnow Ducati Team’s new arrival Danilo Petrucci was the man on top. Qatar will be another chance for him to evaluate an aero fairing he crashed on as well as everything else, but it will also be a chance for teammate Andrea Dovizioso to turn the tables. The 2018 Qatar GP winner was the fourth quickest and seemed happy, now we’ll see if Italian machinery can repeat the feat at Losail…
The two riders who split those two factory machines in Malaysia were Alma Pramac Racing’s Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller, in second and third respectively. ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia laid an early claim on the title of Rookie of the Year with his stunning lap, just 0.063 off Petrucci, but he says he needs to focus on longer runs now and be able to run with the pack for more laps. Miller was happy enough after Sepang despite a crash each day, and his pace was impressive too. Will the Australian show the same form at Losail? And can the likes of Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing), coming back from a broken leg, keep his impressive pace from Malaysia at another venue?
And then there’s Yamaha. Monster Energy MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi were both pretty positive in Sepang, but the former a little more so than the latter. Viñales praised better consistency in the data from the 2019 M1, as well as improvements in acceleration they’ve managed to find. Rossi said it was more mixed, but the mood was definitely an upturn – with the ‘Doctor’ citing specifically the good atmosphere and methodology for the Iwata marque. Team Director Massimo Meregalli also had a positive addition, stating both riders were choosing similar directions in development.
For new kids on the block Petronas Yamaha SRT, it was also a positive test. They’re on 2019 machinery and Franco Morbidelli has hit the ground running after his switch of manufacturer, with Fabio Quartararo also showing some good rookie pace. Will we see them take another step forward in Qatar after another three days of track time?
At Team Suzuki Ecstar, there also seems to be a lot of positivity. Alex Rins was a constant threat on the timesheets on the first two days in Malaysia and the Hamamatsu factory have been working hard to build on their stellar 2018. And rookie Joan Mir, after two more anonymous days at least in terms of laptime, moved up the timesheets a little on Day 3 – but is he showing his hand? Or will that only come when testing’s over and the race weekend begins?
For Aprilia there were some good positives from Malaysia too, at least from some of the garage. Aleix Espargaro was seventh overall and on a track with a very long main straight, and Romano Albesiano, now heading up the technical side, said another positive was the reliability the Noale factory had had throughout the test. For newcomer Andrea Iannone it was more difficult however, as an infection requiring antibiotics kept him out of action for much of it. The Italian will want to try and make up for lost time at Qatar. Test rider Bradley Smith is also down to wildcard at the first race of the season, so the track time beforehand is important for both development and set up for the Brit.
KTM, meanwhile, continue their mammoth project of testing and development. New arrival Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) made some solid steps in Sepang and got more on a par with Pol Espargaro, and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) started to really impress. The Portuguese rookie wasn’t far off the two factory guys…
Three days, a new venue and lots left to test and learn ahead of the season, the Qatar Test will give us a lot more answers but undoubtedly another few exciting questions ahead of the first race weekend of the year. Are Repsol Honda ready despite their injuries? Can the rookies run with the pack? Will Suzuki and Yamaha prove key threats for the win this year? From the 23rd to 25th February, we’ll start finding a few more answers at the Qatar Test.
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Bautista bags top spot as first day on ‘The Island’ concludes
Philip Island, 22 Feb 2019: The final session of the opening day of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship concluded with Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) taking over at the top of combined times. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Leon Haslam finished in second and third positions.
Bautista’s time was the fastest in the individual FP2 session. The Spaniard was once again quickest in the speed trap and was by far the fastest of the all-new Ducati Panigale V4 Rs. The Rookie set a blistering lap time of 1’30.327 to go ahead of Rea in the final minutes by just 0.014s! Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) had work to do in 14th position overall.
From the front three, Haslam was the first to improve; the 35-year-old five-time race winner has been impressive since the Yamaha Finance Australian Round got underway. Spending some time on circuit with Alvaro Bautista, the British rider was able to go fractionally quicker, before making big in-roads with less than 15 minutes left on the clock, finishing third overall.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) quietly went about his business, not troubling his lap time from FP1 in the session, remaining fourth overall. Teammate Markus Reiterberger also continued his development with the new BMW S 1000 RR but like Sykes, didn´t improve on his time with 20 minutes left, finishing in eighth overall and just over half a second off Bautista.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) jumped up the order to fifth position, making amends for FP1. The Lincolnshire rider then continued to improve his lap times, consistently fast although he took a tumble in the middle of the session. Dutchman Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) also continued the theme of great improvement for Yamaha, although remained ninth.
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) continued as a revelation, closing the day seventh on combined times for much of the session. Cortese has started to understand the YZF R1 much better over the course of testing and subsequently is up at the sharp end. Teammate Marco Melandri continued to struggle, in 13th for most of the session.
Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea HONDA Team) had a good session, consolidating his pace and moving up to sixth on the combined times. On the other side of the garage, Kiyonari was one of the first improvers as he continues to re-adapt to WorldSBK. The Japanese rider crashed towards the end of the session.
Completing the top ten was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing), taking his Kawasaki to within 0.800s of the top time posted by Bautista.
With day one done for WorldSBK, first-blood has gone to Alvaro Bautista! Jonathan Rea will look to strike back tomorrow, whilst Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes and Alex Lowes will also be in the mix for the top positions.
#AUSWorldSBK at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit: Friday
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’30.327
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.014
3. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.155 -
Jehan Daruvala gets the taste of 2019 F3 car at Shakedown in Magny-Cours
Daruvala teammate Marcus Armstrong begins the session on Wednesday. An FIA F3 image Magny-Cours, 20 Feb 2019: Top Indian racer Jehan Daruvala of Prema Racing will be taking part in the F3 again and he got the first taste of the 2019 car on Wednesday as the FIA Formula 3 teams laid their hands on the brand new F3 2019 car at a shakedown on the Magny-Cours circuit in France. Only one car per team was used, with the main effort on learning how to operate the new machine.
The conditions were sunny, but with cold temperatures as the pitlane opened. PREMA Racing were first to hit the track at 9am local time with Marcus Armstrong behind the wheel, closely followed by Carlin Buzz Racing’s Logan Sargeant.Within the opening ten minutes, all cars had successfully completed their installation laps. At the end of the four hour session, ART Grand Prix topped the rest of the pack with the highest number of laps achieved (46). A total of 328 laps had been covered by all ten cars on Pirelli Soft tyres.Everyone enjoyed a one hour break before getting back to business. Although Fabio Scherer remained on duty at the wheel of his Sauber Junior Team by Charouz car, new faces joined the session in the other nine teams. In fact, a total of 23 drivers got their first taste of the F3 2019 today.At the chequered flag, the teams completed a total of 307 laps – with PREMA Racing ending the three hour session with the most laps covered (39). This resulted in 635 laps achieved today and totalled 2,801 kilometres of running.The FIA Formula 3 paddock will gather next at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on March 20-21 for the first official pre-season test session.FIA Formula 3 Technical Director Didier Perrin commented: “I am very pleased with how the shakedown went today. The feedback from the teams has been positive, and more importantly, the feedback from the drivers seems to show that the car is well-balanced and that it seems to be delivering some good downforce level and that it is pleasant to drive.”Complete entry listDavid BeckmannART Grand PrixMaximilian FewtrellART Grand PrixChristian LundgaardART Grand PrixSebastian FernandezCampos RacingAlex PeroniCampos RacingAlessio DeleddaCampos RacingLogan SargeantCarlin Buzz RacingFelipe DrugovichCarlin Buzz RacingFabio SchererSauber Junior Team by CharouzLeonardo PulciniHitech Grand PrixJüri VipsHitech Grand PrixKeyvan AndresHWA RACELABBent ViscaalHWA RACE LABYuki TsunodaJenzer MotorsportArtem PetrovJenzer MotorsportRichard VerschoorMP MotorsportSimo LaaksonenMP MotorsportMarcus ArmstrongPREMA RacingJehan DaruvalaPREMA RacingRobert SchwartzmanPREMA RacingNiko KariTridentPedro PiquetTridentDevlin DeFrancescoTrident
