Your basket is currently empty!
Blog
-
Bagnaia banishes Barcelona demons to deny Martin with statement win: MotoGP
After a Saturday to forget it was a Sunday to remember for the reigning Champion as he hits back to outpace Martin – with #MM93 charging up the order to make it a familiar top three.
Barcelona, 26 May 2024: After missing an open goal win on Saturday, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) came out swinging on Sunday at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. The reigning Champion needed to make a statement and take some serious points, and that he did on both counts. Quick out the blocks from the start before ceding the lead early doors to Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), Bagnaia put in a relentless push to catch the #89, pounce once on the scene, and then edge away to pocket those 25 points on Sunday.
Behind Martin, the fight to complete the podium boiled down to the duel between Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), and it was almost a photo finish but the #93 took the spoils – making it three Grand Prix podiums in a row for Marquez for the first time since 2019. It was also another stunning comeback ride, this time from P14 on the grid.
As the lights went out, it was a showdown on the brakes into T1 but Bagnaia just held on for the holeshot ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) also moving up but the #33 into third. Martin got a good start this time round, taking over in fourth, with polesitter Espargaro the main party losing out.
Into Turn 10 on Lap 1, we had the first big move as Martin made an absolute lunge on Binder, but he got the job done and cleanly enough. It also left a small gap up the road to the leading duo of Bagnaia and Acosta, but it didn’t take long for that gap to close because it didn’t take long for the leading duo to start making moves amongst themselves.
Acosta’s first attack came at Turn 10 after a couple of laps staring at the rear of the Ducati, but Bagnaia kept it tight to immediately take it back. Acosta’s foot was even off the peg. That closed everything up again, with Martin then right on their heels and Binder not too far behind either. Turn 10 staged another one next time round, this time for Championship leader Martin on the rookie – and Acosta was forced to cede it. And again next time around, this time as Martin left it oh-so-late to attack for the lead, taking over before they crossed the line for 19 to go.
The party at Turn 10 didn’t stop there. Next time round there was another decisive move as Acosta attacked Bagnaia and took back over in second, and in a matter of apexes the rookie was back on the exhaust of race leader Martin, looking impatient.
Meanwhile, the squabble behind was heating up. Bagnaia had some breathing space in third but Binder, Espargaro and Raul Fernandez were locked together. After stalking his prey for a while, Espargaro then was able to just nudge ahead into Turn 1, before Raul Fernandez attacked the KTM into Turn 3. Brutal but clean, Binder was pushed back to sixth.
However, that soon become fifth as big drama hit for Acosta. After lighting it up there earlier, it all then came apart for the rookie at Turn 10 as he slid off, leaving Martin just over a second clear in the lead and Bagnaia now the rider on the chase. From there, the chess match began.
Lap after lap, the gap was coming down as the #1 chipped away. A few hundredths here and there, each sector just enough to gain a few extra metres, a mere tenth per lap. But an absolutely relentless tenth per lap. And once he was there, Bagnaia wasted absolutely no time in making his attack.
With six laps to go, the reigning Champion made his move – and at exactly the place he let big spoils go begging in the Tissot Sprint: Turn 5. No drama, no contact, and nothing Martin could do, the roles were now reversed.
The relentless pace from the #1 continued, however, and the battle of the laptimes was slipping from Martin’s grasp. The gap eked out, came back down slightly and then suddenly went up again. The jig was up as Martin started to fade, leaving Bagnaia with the same task as Saturday: keep it on the same rails to the flag. This time, it was a faultless performance as the Ducati Lenovo rider cuts the gap back to 39 points and Martin, this time round, has to settle for second.
Meanwhile, Marc Marquez was now on the tailpipes of Espargaro. The #93 pulled a carbon copy of the move the Aprilia rider put on Binder a few laps before and was into third – now he just had to hold onto it. After announcing his retirement at the end of 2024 just ahead of the event and taking pole and the Sprint win, the incentive was even bigger than normal for the #41 to make an attack, and he clawed his way onto the back of the Gresini by the final lap. But there was no way through that would have allowed both to finish, so it came down to the final drag to the line – with Marquez just staying ahead for that podium from P14 on the grid.
Espargaro takes fourth to complete an incredible weekend on home turf, with a late charge from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) seeing the Italian just pip Raul Fernandez to fifth. Still, after a maiden front row and having led the Sprint, P6 concludes a great weekend for the #25 and Trackhouse Racing – it’s the team’s best result yet.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) charged through to seventh as Binder lost out later in the race to finish P8. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) kept ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) as they completed the top ten. Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), Acosta after remounting, Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda Team) completed the points.
There’s one name missing from that last who did cross the line ahead of a few of them, but the FIM MotoGP™ Stewards v Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) intervened. The ‘Beast’ had a dramatic race after he went wide following an attack from Alex Marquez, was deemed to have not lost enough time cutting Turn 2, and then given a Long Lap. He didn’t agree with that, countering he’d lost time from the #AM73 move, so he rode on. He then got a double Long Lap and served one, unsure if it might have been for another incident, and didn’t serve the second – so it became a ride through. The protest vote rolled on from the #23 and he didn’t take that in time either, so it ended up as a 32s time penalty, the equivalent of a trip through pitlane. Acrimony low but commitment to opinion high, he’ll be looking to prove a point at Mugello.
That’s just next week, as luck would have it, with the spectacular Tuscan venue ready to welcome the world’s most exciting sport for the Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo. Join us then for more as the statement wins just keep on coming – and the history just keeps getting made.
-
Espargaro wins; Marquez takes on Acosta in dramatic Sprint in Barcelona
Big opportunities go begging on Saturday as the Tissot Sprint serves up the drama, with three riders crashing from the front.
Barcelona, 25 May 2024: Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took victory in a dramatic Tissot Sprint at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, keeping it faultless to the flag as not one, not two, but three different leaders slid out.
First was a heartbreaker for Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) as the maiden front row starter was building a gap and then overcooked Turn 10 in the early stages. Second was a tumble at Turn 5 for Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) just after he’d fought off the affections of rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), and then finally and arguably crucially, reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) saw his hopes of a first Sprint win of the season turn to dust on the final lap as he slid out at Turn 5.
Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) vs Acosta then became the battle to complete the podium behind Espargaro, with the #93 turning the tables on the rookie at Turn 1 as they went toe-to-toe on the brakes.
As the lights went out, Bagnaia took the holeshot from second on the grid, with Acosta slicing up to lead the chase. Binder also got a fast start to move up but then lost out again to Raul Fernandez as the Aprilia slotted into third.
It didn’t take long for Acosta to attack for the lead, but it likewise didn’t take long for Bagnaia to hit back. Raul Fernandez was harrying them though, and as Acosta attacked into Turn 1 on Lap 3 and took it back, the Trackhouse machine lined up the reigning Champion at Turn 3.
Then it was all change in glorious but relatively clean havoc at the front, with Raul Fernandez emerging as the race leader after barging past Acosta. The Trackhouse machine was absolutely flying as Binder and the rookie duelled just behind him, both the position and some extra RC16 glory on the line. Once Acosta made it stick at Turn 1, Fernandez was already eight tenths clear. But suddenly, it then all came apart for the Trackhouse rider as he slid out at Turn 10, rider ok but head in hands.
From there, Binder vs Acosta looked like it would light up the battle for the lead, but the 33 got the upper hand and started to build a gap – leaving Bagnaia to wrestle with Acosta instead. Soon enough though the second race leader to slide out became Binder, the front end of the KTM saying goodbye at Turn 5.
That left the lead as a duel between Bagnaia and Acosta, or vice versa. Turn 1 was the battle ground and the rookie pulled what was fast-becoming his Barcelona signature move, but the #1 was quick to find an answer up the kerb on the inside of Turn 3. Brutal? Yes. Job done? Yes. From there Bagnaia started to build a gap, and Espargaro was on the march next to test out Acosta’s defenses, finding a way through to take up the chase on the reigning Champion.
That left the master and the apprentice locked in battle over third: Acosta led Marc Marquez. And this time, in a beautiful reverse of that statement Turn 1 move the #31 has been revelling in, it was Acosta under attack as the #93 sailed into the corner side by side with the rookie, taking over in third.
The final drama was dealt on the very final lap. Seeming like he had it in his pocket, Bagnaia was then suddenly sliding out at Turn 5, seeing what could have been a key haul of points disappear in the gravel trap as Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) suffered a tougher Sprint outside podium contention. Espargaro swept through for the spoils, in just enough clear air to ensure he held on for that fairytale win.
Marquez held off Acosta round the final sector too, and what could have been a key title swing proved much less as Martin’s drama-free Sprint saw him take P4 despite not having initially had the pace for it. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) made a solid comeback from outside the top ten on the grid to complete the top five, and with that moves back into the top three in the standings too as Bagnaia drops to fourth.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was sixth – finishing in the same position he started and taking some solid Saturday points. Jack Miller brought the remaining Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine to seventh after battling with Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), who rounded out the top eight after charging from 12th. The final point in the Sprint went the way of Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team’s Marco Bezzecchi, having sliced up from P16 on the grid, with everything still up for grabs on Sunday.
As the dust settles, there are even more questions for Sunday than before. Can Bagnaia hit back? Has Martin got more? And will we have another stunning battle in Barcelona? After some big opportunities went begging in the Sprint, find out who’s taking the spoils on Sunday at 14:00 (UTC +2)!
-
Charles Leclerc takes pole for Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 25 May 2024: Charles Leclerc took pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix for the third time in his career, beating Oscar Piastri by 1500ths of a second as championship leader Max Verstappen’s hopes of back-to-back poles in the principality were ended by a brush with the wall at the end of Q3.
Local hero Leclerc went into qualifying having been fastest in FP2 and FP3 and though Ferrari driver said that he had not felt as confident in the opening session of qualifying the Monegasque delivered in Q3, taking provisional pole with his first run and then improving to 1:10.270 to take pole 0.154s ahead of Piastri.
“The feeling after a qualifying lap is always very special here and I’m really happy about the lap,” said Leclrc afterwards. “I know more often than not in the past, qualifying is not everything. As much as it helps a lot for Sunday’s race, we need to put everything together coming Sunday. And in the past years, we didn’t manage to do so. But we are a stronger team. We are in a stronger position. And I’m sure we can achieve great things tomorrow. And obviously, the win is the target.”
Piastri impressed with his second front row qualifying spot in succession, while Sainz improved throughout to take a third place the Spaniard felt was out of reach earlier in the weekend.
“It was an improvement for me. I’ve been struggling all weekend with confidence and feeling with the car. So overall, to step it up and be P3 was a step forward. Obviously not entirely happy because I wish I could have been fighting for pole position. But the truth is that Charles has been doing an outstanding job. The car has been amazing all this weekend and he managed to extract the most out of it.”
After the first runs of Q3 Verstappen held third place, just over a tenths of a second off Leclerc’s provisional pole time but on his final lap of the session he clattered the barrier on exit at Sainte Devote and immediately aborted his lap. He qualified sixth.
Lando Norris took fourth place for McLaren ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, while Russell’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished seventh ahead of RB’s impressive Yuki Tsunoda and Williams’ Alex Albon. The top 10 shootout order was completed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.
Gasly’s final flying lap of Q2 bounced Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon out of the final session, with the Ocon exiting the middle session ahead of Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, and the second Haas’ of Kevin Magnussen.
Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez were the biggest casualties of the opening segment. Alonso dropped out in P16 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant. Pérez looked ill at ease throughout and after failing to put together a strong lap at any stage in the session he exited in P18 ahead of Sauber pair Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:10.270
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.424 0.154
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:10.518 0.248
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:10.542 0.272
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:10.543 0.273
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:10.567 0.297
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:10.621 0.351
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:10.858 0.588
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:10.948 0.678
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:11.311 1.041
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:11.285 1.015
12 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:11.440 1.170
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:11.482 1.212
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:11.563 1.293
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:11.725 1.455
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.019 1.749
17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:12.020 1.750
18 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.060 1.790
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:12.512 2.242
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.028 2.758 -
Espargaro takes fairytale pole to head Bagnaia and Raul Fernandez: MotoGP
Barcelona, 25 May 2024: A second pole of the season for Aprilia, a maiden front row for Trackhouse, no ticket to Q2 for #MM93 and a tumble for Martin: the storylines overflow in qualifying.
The fairytale continues for Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing)! After announcing he’ll bow out at the end of the season, he went fastest on Friday and followed it up with pole position at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. Reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) is second on the grid by just 0.031s, with a P3 for Raul Fernandez confirmed just after the session after his best lap was reinstated to give both the #25 and Trackhouse Racing their maiden front row.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had celebrated that third in parc ferme before a review showed Raul Fernandez had gone through green panels, not yellow flags, on his best lap, but the KTM rider nevertheless starts fourth and a full 18 places ahead of Le Mans as he bounced back from that in style.
Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), meanwhile, will face a similar mountain to climb as he did in France, starting P14 after failing to make it through Q1.
Q1: LAST MINUTE LAP RECORD
It was another packed Q1 and another appearance for eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), and it wasn’t smooth sailing this time round either. In France it was Miguel Oliveira who knocked him out of contention and this time round, Oliveira’s Trackhouse Racing teammate Raul Fernandez was one of those who did the same.The #25 was fastest in the session as both Marc Marquez and teammate Alex Marquez looked for a way through, but a last dash for glory from Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) saw the Italian not only depose Raul Fernandez from the top of Q1 but break the lap record, to much delight in the team’s box.
Diggia and Raul Fernandez moved through, leaving Alex Marquez P13 on the grid and Marc Marquez P14 – just ahead of a tougher session for Oliveira in P15 and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) in 16th.
Q2: DRAMA, LAP RECORD, DRAMA
Once a packed Q2 got underway it was Bagnaia who flew to the top of the timesheets after the first run, setting a 1:38.221 – a strong target for the rest.In the closing minutes of the session, riders pushed to the limit as ever, and a key mover was Binder as the South African found time to jump to second. But it all went wrong for Prima Pramac Racing late on, with both Martin and teammate Franco Morbidelli crashing at Turn 2 seconds apart. What looked at first like it could be friendly fire was instead two separate incidents at least, and riders both ok.
What was drama for them also proved some drama on the timing screens as the incident brought out the yellow flags, cancelling lap times. One of those was initially Raul Fernandez’ best effort, but after investigation the #25 passes what is a green panel just before it switches to yellow. So that lap was reinstated, putting him P3.
Amongst all that early and late drama, Espargaro was faultless to thread the needle, able to storm up to pole position on his final flying lap.
THE GRID
Behind Espargaro, Bagnaia, Raul Fernandez and Binder comes rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) in fifth, with Diggia in P6. The Italian’s best in Q2 didn’t quite reach the heights of his Q1 effort, which would have put him second on the grid.P7 goes to Championship leader Martin after that bout of drama, and he has Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) alongside him as the #42 put in an impressive Q2. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) is next up, ahead of Morbidelli and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team). Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) lines up P12 looking for a lot more this weekend to match the #41, with Top Gun not yet finding that form from Texas on home turf.
After another incredible qualifying, some shake ups on the grids set us up for fireworks as key contenders line up up and down the order. Make sure to tune in for Tissot Sprint at 15:00 today, before the Grand Prix at 14:00 tomorrow. See you there!
-
Leclerc tops practice: Monaco
Home favourite Charles Leclerc took top spot in the second practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, with the Ferrari driver beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by almost two tenths of a second as Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished almost three tenths of a second further back in third.
Leclerc was to the fore from the first part of the second hour of practice. The Monegasque driver posted a lap of 1:12.372 on Medium tyres to bypass an early Hard tyre time of 1:13.265 set by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.
Leclerc then began to chip away at his own benchmark, first lowering the bar to 1m12.260s and then posting a time of 1:12.125 on the same set of medium tyres. He eventually worked his C4 best down to 1:11.573, but as the half way mark in the session neared the field began to move to C5 Soft tyres for qualifying simulations.
Verstappen got close to the Ferrari driver’s P1 time but Leclerc, with the red-banded tyres on board, further stretched his advantage, pumping a lap of 1:11.278 to consolidate his hold on top spot.
Pushing again to edge closer to the Ferrari man, Verstappen clipped the wall in Portier with the rear of his Red Bull and was forced to abort his lap.
The missed attempt left Verstappen’s P2 time vulnerable and first Alonso moved past it, with the Spanish veteran posting a time of 1:11.753 to beat the Red Bull driver by six hundredths of a second. Hamilton, who had gone quickest in the first session, then shuffled Alonso back as he claimed the runner-up spoty with a time of 1:11.466.
It meant that Verstappen was left with P4 and the Dutch driver was again unhappy with the behaviour of his RB20, at one point saying that he was “jumping around like a kangaroo” and that the balance was giving him a headache.
McLaren’s Lando Norris finished fifth, ahead of Carlos Sainz, who finished almost seven tenths adrift of Ferrari team-mate Leclerc. Lance Stroll was seventh in the second Aston Martin, a little under four hundredths of a second ahead of Sergio Pérez in the other Red Bull. Alex Albon was ninth for Williams wh9ile George Russell rounded out the top ten.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:11.278 37 168.540
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:11.466 0.188 32 168.096
3 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:11.753 0.475 37 167.424
4 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:11.813 0.535 37 167.284
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:11.953 0.675 35 166.958
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:11.962 0.684 36 166.938
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:12.062 0.784 22 166.706
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:12.099 0.821 31 166.620
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:12.257 0.979 38 166.256
10 George Russell Mercedes 1:12.260 0.982 30 166.249
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:12.349 1.071 36 166.045
12 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:12.366 1.088 35 166.006
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:12.473 1.195 31 165.761
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:12.554 1.276 34 165.575
15 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:12.569 1.291 34 165.541
16 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:12.577 1.299 37 165.523
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:12.750 1.472 35 165.129
18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:12.790 1.512 36 165.039
19 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.057 1.779 31 164.435
20 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:13.773 2.495 32 162.840 -
Espargaro smashes lap record ahead of Binder and Acosta as Marc Marquez faces Q1
It’s an Aprilia-KTM-GASGAS party on Friday at the top, setting the scene for an interesting Saturday in Barcelona
Barcelona, 24 May 2024: Practice at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya definitely didn’t disappoint, setting us up for an interesting super Saturday. First, 2023 Barcelona winner Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) was back on top and with a new lap record. Second, it’s two RC16s on the chase as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) ended the session second and third, respectively. Third, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) will once again have to head through Q1… although it didn’t stop him in France.
It was a Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1-2 for the majority of the session, but it wouldn’t stay like that by the end of play. Espargaro’s new lap record but paid to that, although Binder got close with one last bid for it. On his last flying lap, the South African got within 0.072 of the top to complete a recovery in style, having crashed once early on at Turn 2 and then again at the very same Turn 2 later in the session.
Down in fourth it’s reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) as he looks for his first GP podium in Barcelona, and on Friday he was the fastest of the Championship top three. The Italian set 23 laps across the session but had some drama after the flag came out, forced to push his bike back to the pitlane. Still, the #1 was able to end the day ahead of the second Red Bull KTM Factory Racing machine of Jack Miller, who nevertheless completes the top five.
Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and managed to get the better of teammate Franco Morbidelli, who had a solid day and made it both Prima Pramac Racing machines inside the top 10, split by just 0.038. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) ends Friday in eighth after spending most of the session outside the top 15 positions but finding time in the closing minutes.
Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) heads through to Q2 from P9 on Friday, his second visit this season so far and on the way to his 200th Grand Prix start. Teammate Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), meanwhile, crashed at Turn 5 early on – rider ok but ending the session in 14th. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the top 10.
There was plenty of drama, with a number of crashes at the end of the session playing some havoc with yellow flags too. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) crashed earlier at Turn 5, but things soon got worse for the Italian then crashed for a second time at Turn 9 in the last 10 minutes of the session. Di Giannantonio ended the hour-long session in 17th ahead of Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Augusto Fernandez who also had a crash late in the session at turn four.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) also couldn’t improve after suffering a crash in the final five minutes, and with all that drama there was no space for many others to move forward either amongst the yellow flags. That included for his teammate Marc Marquez. The number #93 faces Q1 for the second time in two weeks, although in France it didn’t make too much difference… and he didn’t even make it through! Will he this time? Tune in on super Saturday to find out!
-
Verstappen continues his winning run: F1
Imola, 19 May 2024: Max Verstappen withstood a determined late-race charge from Lando Norris to take his fifth victory of the season at the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc finishing third for Ferrari.
After a strong start in which Verstappen took the lead from pole and then ruthlessly controlled the bulk of the race, it looked like a third Imola win in a row was a certainty. However in the final 10 laps, the Red Bull driver’s Hard tyres began to fade badly and Norris smelled blood. However, despite the gap falling to less than a second, Verstappen held on for a hard-won victory.
“The whole race I had to push flat out,” said Verstappen. “On the Medium tyres, we were quite strong. On the Hard tyres, it was just a bit more difficult to manage, and especially the last 10 or 15 laps, I had no grip anymore. I was really sliding a lot. I saw Lando closing in. So the last 10 laps it was just flat out. I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes. Luckily, we didn’t and I’m super happy of course to win here today.”
When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen got away well to take the lead from pole as the field powered into the Tamburello chicane. Behind the top two Leclerc held third place ahead of the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
At the front, with clear air ahead, Verstappen began to pull away from Norris and with seven laps on the board the Dutchman was almost two-seconds clear of the McLaren and as the first stint evolved the Red Bull driver worked his way to a five-second lead over Norris.
At the end of lap 23, Norris made his sole pit stop of the race and after switching to Hard tyres, the McLaren emerged behind Sergio Pérez who was running a long opening stint on Hard tyres. However, with older rubber onboard, the Mexican couldn’t keep the Briton at bay and he surrendered the position at the start of the following lap.
Verstappen then made his pit stop and after a 2.6s switch to Hard tyres he rejoined in fourth place, behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. And as new leader Leclerc, second-placed team-mate Carlos Sainz and Hamilton cycled through the pit lane for their stops Verstappen once again took the lead, 6.3s ahead of Norris.
Behind the top two Leclerc was again third, but Piastri had undercut the late-stopping Sainz to steal fourth place. Pérez, meanwhile, was now in sixth place on starting Hard tyres and with his pace flagging he soon dropped back to eighth behind the Mercedes drivers.
At the end of lap 37 Pérez at last headed into the pits to move to Medium tyres and though he initially dropped back to his starting position of 11th, the pace advantage afforded his new Medium tyres allowed to swiftly reel in the drivers ahead.
On lap 39 he powered past the RB of Ricciardo and a lap later 40, with aid of DRS, breezed past Hülkenberg on the run to Tamburello. His next target was the second RB of Tsunoda and on lap 43 he again used DRS to steam past the Japanese driver on the pit straight to move up to P8.
At the front, things appeared to be going smoothly for Verstappen but with 10 laps remaining he came on team radio to complain that “my tyres don’t work” and over the following laps a 6.0s gap to Norris crumbled to four and then two seconds.
Despite the limitations, Verstappen stayed cool and though the gap dropped towards DRS range in the final three laps, the champion held on to take the chequered flag just 0.7s ahead of the McLaren.
With Norris second and Leclerc taking the final podium position, fourth place went to Oscar Piastri with the Australian driver finishing ahead of Sainz and the twin Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
Pérez then crossed the line in P8 to take four points at the end of a good recovery from 11th place at the start. Ninth place went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the final point was claimed by Tsunoda.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 63 1:25’25.252
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 63 1:25’25.977 0.725
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 63 1:25’33.168 7.916
4 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 63 1:25’39.384 14.132
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 63 1:25’47.577 22.325
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 63 1:26’00.356 35.104
7 George Russell Mercedes 63 1:26’12.406 47.154
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 63 1:26’20.028 54.776
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 63 1:26’44.808 1’19.556
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 62 1:25’43.108 1 lap /17.856
11 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 62 1:25’50.529 1 lap /25.277
12 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 62 1:25’51.686 1 lap /26.434
13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 62 1:25’52.913 1 lap /27.661
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 62 1:26’09.159 1 lap /43.907
15 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber/Ferrari 62 1:26’10.185 1 lap /44.933
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 62 1:26’14.967 1 lap /49.715
17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 62 1:26’16.303 1 lap /51.051
18 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber/Ferrari 62 1:26’21.595 1 lap /56.343
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 62 1:26’40.376 1 lap /1’15.124
Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 51 1:13’07.729 Withdrew -
Hemanth Muddappa set National record at Taneja air strip: 10th Vroom Drag event
Bengaluru, 19 May 2024: Indian drag star Hemanth Muddappa, a 12-time National champion, was in his elements once again becoming the fastest quarter-miler in India as he broke the record at the 10th edition of the Vroom Drag meet, on way to a grand triple in the Bikes Open event which is held along with the Round 1 of the fmsci Indian National 4w Drag Championship at the Taneja air strip, near Hosur on Sunday.
Muddappa of Mantra Racing set a time of 09.264seconds in the Super Sport 4stroke 1051 to 1650cc class to break the previous record of 9.298sec set at the same Taneja track by Jordanian Fahim Zahrani in 2023. The Bengaluru-based champion put the 2016 Suzuki Hayabusa built by Mantra Racing to good use touching top speeds of 270kph. Foreign riders are allowed in the Open events by fmsci, the Indian federation. Hemanth also broke his own record in the Super sport 851 to 1050cc class with a 9.415sec run that erased the 9.480sec, he set at Amby Valley in 2024 astride a BMW S1000RR.
He won the ‘Unrestricted 551cc and above’ class to complete the grand treble as he brought the Indian flag to the mast once again with two records on the final day of the event. Muddappa’s next outing will be at the Drag Nationals at Chennai.
Provisional Results (Vroom Bikes Open):
D2: 4s Super Sport 4stroke 1051cc to 1650cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (09.264 seconds); 2. Alimon Saidalvi (09.815); 3. Faraz Ahmed (09.879).
E3: Unrestricted 551cc and above: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (09.372); 2. Ataulla Baig (09.647); 3. Aymaan Baig (09.734).
D1: Super Sport 4stroke 851 to 1050cc: 1. Hemanth Muddappa (09.415); 2. Niranjan R Kumar (10.404); 3. Saurabh Parab (10.471).
-
Verstappen bounces back to take pole ahead of McLarens
Imola, 18 May 2024: Max Verstappen bounced back from a difficult build-up to take pole-position for the 2024 FIA Formula Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in a tight qualifying session at Imola in which he beat McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris by less than a tenth of a second. There was disappointment for Piastri after the session, however as the Australian was handed a three-place grid penalty by the race stewards for imnpeding Haas’ Kevin Magnussen earlier in the session.
In Friday’s practice sessions Verstappen had branded his RB20 car “difficult” and the Red Bull driver went into Saturday looking for dramatic improvements in balance and performance. Those seemed to be materialising in the morning’s practice session, but crashes for Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez derailed that process and Verstappen went into qualifying largely blind. However, throughout qualifying Verstappen found more and more pace until the final run of Q3 when he improved marginally on his provisional pole time to seal his eighth consecutive pole and his seventh of 2024 seven hundredths of a second ahead of Piastri.
“I felt more comfortable,” Verstappen said afterwards. “I could attack corners finally a bit more and it all started to come together and it really came together in Q3. It was just following the track, to be honest. A really difficult weekend so far, even this morning, so I’m incredibly happy to be on pole here.”
At the beginning of the one-hour session it was Esteban Ocon who set the pace in Q1, with the Alpine driver posting a lap of 1:16.645 on Soft tyres to top the timesheet ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Charles Leclerc then beat Ocon by just 0.002, though the fact that the Monegasque driver did so on Medium tyres boded well for Ferrari’s hopes in the session. Norris then took over at the top thanks to a lap of 1:16.194 on Soft tyres. Verstappen then vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:16.013. His stay in P1 was brief, though, as first Piastri and then Norris moved ahead with the latter taking top spot with a time of 1:15.915.
In the final moments of the session, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg sprung a surprise by posting a lap of 1:16.841 to take P1. Verstappen was on another run, however, and the Dutchman claimed the best time of the session with a lap of 1:15.762. Behind him, Leclerc put in another lap on Mediums and he took second place, just five hundredths off Max.
There was no place in Q2 for Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu or for Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso or Williams’ Logan Sargeant.
The Bulls were out early in Q2, with Verstappen posting a lap of 1:15.386 to take P1 ahead of Pérez whose lap of 1:15.853 put him second. However, the Red Bulls were then split by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who stopped the clock at 1:15.702 and Leclerc then claimed the quickest time of the session with a lap of 1:15.328. There as also a second surprise of the session when RB’s Yuki Tusnoda jumped ahead of Verstappen to take P3 three hundredths of a second ahead of the Dutchman.
In the final runs, Verstappen took top spot with a lap of 1:15.176, ahead of Leclerc and Tsunoda. Behind them, improvements were being made and RB’s Daniel Ricciardo scraped into the top 10 with a lap of 1:15.691. That left Pérez in P11 and though the Mexican was just starting his final flyer he couldn’t find the necessary pace and he slipped to his first Q2 exit of the year, 0.015s off Ricciardo and ahead of Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly.
At the start of the top 10 shootout took provisional pole with a lap of 1:14.896, 0.073s ahead of Norris, with Leclerc in third, a further seven hundredths back. And in a tense sequence of final runs, the Dutchman grabbed his eighth consecutive pole, recording a best time of 1:14.746, just 0.074 ahead of Piastri, with Norris also within a tenth of the champion in third place.
Verstappen’s achievement equals the consecutive poles record held by Ayrton Senna who death 20 years at Imola is being marked this weekend.
“It’s very special,” said Max of equalling Senna’s record. “It’s 30 years since he passed away at this track, so of course I’m very pleased to get pole here. In a way, it’s a nice memory to him. He was an incredible Formula 1 driver, especially in qualifying laps as well. So, yeah, a great day for me, a great day for the team!”
Following the session, the stewards summoned Piastri over his incident with Magnussen at the end of Q1 and after hearing from both drivers and their teams, Piastri was given a three-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race. It means that Norris advances to the front row alongside Verstappen, with Leclerc in P3 ahead of Sainz and then Piastri. George Russell will start sixth for Mercedes ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, while Daniel Ricciardo will start at the front of row five ahead of P10 qualifier Nico Hülkenberg.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:14.746 – –
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.820 0.074
3 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:14.837 0.091
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:14.970 0.224
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:15.233 0.487
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:15.234 0.488
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:15.465 0.719
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.504 0.758
9 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:15.674 0.928
10 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:15.980 1.234
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:15.706 0.960
12 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:15.906 1.160
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:15.992 1.246
14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:16.200 1.454
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:16.381 1.635
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.626 1.880
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:16.834 2.088
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:16.854 2.108
19 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.917 2.171
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes – – – -
Leclerc tops Free Practice; Verstappen struggles in P7
Imola, 17 May 2024: Charles added the fastest lap of second practice to his P1 time from the opening session, with the Ferrari driver outpacing McLaren’s Oscar Piastri by almost two tenths of a second as championship leader Max Verstappen continued to struggle with the balance of his Red Bull RB20 and finished seventh.
After a troubled opening session in which he went off track twice, Verstappen looked more comfortable at the start of FP2 and he moved into an early lead with a time of 1:16.930 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the Ferrari cars of Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.
After 13 minutes Leclerc moved to the top of the order with a lap of 1:16.677 set on Medium tyres and soon after the field began to move to C5 Soft compound tyres for qualifying simulations. Mercedes
George Russell put in a lap of 1:16.820 on the red-banded Pirelli tyres to go fourth, 0.143s off Leclerc’s leading effort set on medium, before the Ferrari drive extended his advantage on Softs with a lap 1:15.969 moving half a second clear of nearest challenger Sainz.
At the half way mark Piastri then split the Ferraris just 0.129s off Leclerc. However, further back Verstappen could only manage fourth and nearly half a second back and he was soon bounced out as Russell improved to 1:16.311 to go third.
With 27 minutes left on the clock RB’s Yuki Tsunoda jumped to third place just three-tenths off Leclerc. However, the Monegasque driver then found more time and tightened his grip on P1 with a time of 1:15.906s. Hamilton also found time and moved up to fourth for Mercedes.
Further back though, Verstappen was again struggling with the Dutchman complaining on the radio that “it’s so difficult, everything man, this time suddenly the front grips up a lot and I almost spin”.
In the end the championship leader’s best time of 1:16.447 was only good enough for seventh place behind, a tenth ahead of team-mate Sergio Pérez. Verstappen’s unhappy Friday was capped by an off-track moment five minutes from the end of the session. This time the Dutch driver lost control in the between the two Rivazza corners and he was forced through run-off.
At the top, Leclerc doubled up on his FP1 first place, 0.192 ahead of Piastri and with Tsunoda third ahead of Hamilton, Russell and Sainz. With Verstappen and Perez seventh and eighth respectively, ninth place went to Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg, and the top 10 was rounded out by Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.906 29 232.819
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.098 0.192 30 232.232
3 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.286 0.380 32 231.659
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:16.297 0.391 29 231.626
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:16.311 0.405 32 231.583
6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:16.423 0.517 30 231.244
7 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.447 0.541 23 231.171
8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:16.552 0.646 25 230.854
9 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:16.826 0.920 28 230.031
10 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.838 0.932 29 229.995
11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1:16.967 1.061 32 229.610
12 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:16.980 1.074 30 229.571
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:16.991 1.085 26 229.538
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:17.008 1.102 31 229.487
15 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:17.064 1.158 32 229.321
16 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber/Ferrari 1:17.088 1.182 28 229.249
17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:17.129 1.223 32 229.127
18 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:17.135 1.229 23 229.110
19 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber/Ferrari 1:17.606 1.700 28 227.719
20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1:17.848 1.942 22 227.011
