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MotoGP Silverstone: Bagnaia Back On Track After British Grand Prix

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PB
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For two Championship titans at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, eight was the key number. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) held off Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) by just under half a second to become the eighth different winner at Silverstone in eight events on Sunday…

FP1
Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) came back from a crash to top FP1, just pipping fellow Ducati rider Bagnaia, who also suffered a crash and also made quick amends.

Championship leader Quartararo, meanwhile, suffered a technical problem briefly, and the Frenchman tested out the Long Lap penalty loop that awaits him in the race no less than four times in FP1. He finished the session in fourth, half a second off the top, with former Silverstone winner Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) slotting in between the number 20 and the Ducati duo at the top.

Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was fifth quickest ahead of Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) and teammate Viñales, the two Aprilias split by only a tenth and a half, with Mir, Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) completing the top ten in FP1.

FP2
The afternoon saw fortunes change. First, after a pair of Ducatis occupied P1 and P2 in FP1, it was soon a couple of Aprilias that were sitting top of the tree in FP2 as Aleix Espargaro and Viñales got down to a 1:59.681 and 1:59.737 respectively. Quartararo and Rins ventured into the 1:59 bracket too in the early stages.

Rins was then the first rider to slot in the soft, soft Michelin tyre combination. The 2019 British GP race winner’s opening lap saw him climb to P1 by 0.330s, and his second lap was a 1:59.246 – the gap to Aleix Espargaro extend to 0.435s. But with five minutes to go, things got busy.

Mir shot up to P2 before Aleix Espargaro reduced Rins’ gap to 0.180s. Mir, on his second soft tyre flying lap, then leapt to P1 to make it a Suzuki 1-2 with two minutes left on the clock. But soon after, Quartararo took over as the pacesetter after setting the first 1:58 lap time of the weekend.

That’s how it stayed in terms of the top two, with Quartararo leading Mir. Viñales then pocketed P3 on his last flying lap, and another improver on their final push was FP1 pacesetter Zarco. The Frenchman – who crashed at Turn 7 in the morning – finished fourth, 0.188s away from his compatriot Quartararo, while Aleix Espargaro had to settle for a solid P5 on Friday.

MotoGP Silverstone Friday Top 3 (Full Results Here)

1 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) – Yamaha – 1’58.946
2 Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) – Suzuki – +0.154
3 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.177

Saturday
Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) came out on top after a serious assault on the lap record in Q2 at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix at Silverstone, with the Frenchman putting in a 1:57.767 to just beat Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) by 0.098. Zarco extends his record as the rider with most premier class poles without a win and Viñales takes his first front row with Aprilia, with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) completing that front row just another 0.066 back. The front two rows all went under the 1:57 barrier and eight riders beat the 2019 lap record.

Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) will start from Row 2 after a 1:57 and a stunning salvage job. The Aprilia rider suffered a huge highside  in FP4 at Turn 12 and was sent skywards, given the all clear to continue by the Medical Centre with no fractures but definitely left with a pain barrier to ride through in qualifying and on Sunday.

Q1
Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) headed through on top, the Italian not really threatened by the rest in Q1 but the battle behind proving close. It was Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) holding onto second until later in the session, but a late lunge from Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) saw him usurp the South African to move through. Some early drama unfolded for Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) in the session as the Spaniard crashed down at the Vale chicane, rider ok but still lead Honda down in P17.

Q2
After his huge highside at Turn 12 in FP4, a bruised Aleix Espargaro was back out on track, meanwhile Martin laid down a quality early banker to edge teammate Zarco by less than a tenth after the first flying laps – meaning a 1:58.377 was the time to beat. Quartararo did then better that by 0.118s as Miller rose to P2, 0.001s off the Frenchman. Espargaro’s first effort was 1.6s away from Quartararo’s pace, but that was just an exploratory run to see how he was feeling. New tyres were fitted and the number 41 was back out to see how far up the grid he could get.

It was Espargaro’s teammate Viñales who occupied provisional P3 heading into the final five minutes of the session though, with Martin and Zarco shuffled down to P4 and P5, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) P6 ahead of seventh placed Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team).

Attention then turned to Aleix Espargaro. Three red sectors resulted in a 1:57.966 – amazingly, a new all-time lap record and a phenomenal attempt. It wasn’t going to be enough for pole position, however, as a flurry of rapid times were about to come in. Quartararo briefly returned to P1 before Miller then bettered the Yamaha rider, but then came Zarco. He took over and the lap held firm as it wasn’t beaten by Bagnaia, who slotted into P4.

The last rider to cross the line on a flying lap was Viñales and it was a belter. Top Gun’s 1:57.865 was enough to shoot him up to second, earning the Spaniard his best qualifying result with Aprilia and his first front row since claiming pole at the 2021 Dutch TT.

MotoGP Silverstone Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati –  1’57.767
2 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.098
3 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.164

Sunday
For two Championship titans at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, eight was the key number. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) held off Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) by just under half a second to become the eighth different winner at Silverstone in eight events, and Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) was only able to take P8 despite emerging from his Long Lap penalty within the fight for the podium.

For Bagnaia that’s a 17 point gain in the standings, and with Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo) completing the podium it was a good day for the Borgo Panigale factory all round – with a Ducati now having been on the podium 18 races in a row too, the longest streak ever. 

Off the line, polesitter Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) got the holeshot as he headed Quartararo early on, with the factory Ducati duo of Miller and Bagnaia taking up third and fourth respectively. Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins was fifth on his Suzuki before he overtook Bagnaia on Lap 3 at The Loop, but both moved up on Lap 4 when Quartararo – who was sanctioned for his run-in with Aleix Espargaro at Assen – took his Long Lap Penalty at the last possible opportunity.

‘El Diablo’ was still second as he entered the penalty loop and resumed in fifth, behind Zarco, Miller, Rins, and Bagnaia. By then, Maverick Viñales was sixth and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) seventh, as a bruised Aleix Espargaro struggled to keep pace after his huge FP4 highside.

Zarco seemingly had a great shot at finally clinching a maiden MotoGP™ race win, but disaster struck when he folded the front and crashed at Vale on Lap 5. Miller then inherited the lead and while Rins went underneath the Australian at The Loop later that same lap, the Spaniard could not get the move done. He tried another pass at Vale on Lap 6 and was successful that time, putting the #42 GSX-RR at the head of the field.

Miller ceded second position to teammate Bagnaia exactly a lap later again at Vale, by which time Martin had charged up to fourth after blazing past Quartararo as they ran up the Hangar Straight moments earlier. The Spaniard went down the inside of Miller at Copse at the start of Lap 8 but ran wide on exit and had to get back into file behind the Ducati Lenovo Team rider. Viñales, though, was now well on the move, into the top five asmhe overtook Quartararo on the Hangar Straight on Lap 9.

Up ahead, Rins continued to lead but looked increasingly like the cork in the bottle. Bagnaia then struck to get past on Lap 12 at Stowe and Miller made it a factory Ducati one-two when he got underneath Rins at Village on Lap 14. Meanwhile, Viñales and Martin had been chopping and changing in the battle for fourth position until the former completed a decisive move on Lap 16 at Village. He wasted no time dealing with Rins, however, overtaking the Suzuki for third place exactly a lap later.

Village was proving a popular location for ‘Top Gun’, who passed Miller for second there on Lap 18, at which point he faced a 0.6-second deficit to Bagnaia. On Lap 19, he made yet another attempt at an overtake at Village, but this time could not make the move stick. Still, just 0.3 seconds separated first and second at the start of the 20th and final lap. Could Viñales win on a third different bike?

Not quite. The number 12 was wide through Stowe and Vale, ensuring Bagnaia just had the breathing space he needed to clinch the win – 0.426 clear over the line. Miller completed the podium, homing in on Viñales but not quite able to make it either.

The battle for fourth position raged all the way until the end. Martin was back into fourth when he overtook Rins on Lap 17, but then another threat emerged in the form of Enea Bastianini. The Gresini Racing rider qualified eighth and, despite losing a winglet in first-corner contact with Martin, was tucked in just behind him on Lap 19 after leapfrogging Rins. And the ‘Beast’ got it done, stealing the position from ‘The Martinator’ – his rival for the factory team seat in 2023 – on the final lap at Brooklands. Martin therefore finished fifth and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) came from Row 5 on the grid to claim sixth at the chequered flag, while Rins faded to seventh in the end.

Behind them came the top two in the World Championship, Quartararo and Espargaro, who found themselves in direct combat for eighth on the final lap. Espargaro outbraked Quartararo at Brooklands and while he could not pull up in time to complete the pass, ninth was still a heroic effort for the Aprilia rider who feared he might not even be able to race after his practice highside. Losing just a point to Quartararo was probably his wildest dream on Saturday evening.

Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) rounded out the top 10 in another impressive ride, with the rest of the points finishers being Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu), Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™). Joining Zarco as a retirement was Suzuki’s Joan Mir, who crashed out of eighth on Lap 15 at Stowe.

In the Championship standings, Quartararo is now 22 points up on Aleix Espargaro, but Bagnaia has closed to 49 points off top spot, and he’s third overall and top Ducati… guess where we head to next Ducati turf: the Styrian hills and the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Catch the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich from August 19-21!

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo): “It wasn’t easy, because for the whole weekend, we were in trouble with the rear grip. The biggest step was this morning, using the hard rear. I tried the hard rear and I found a better feeling, but I was still missing something that we found for the race. I have to say thanks to my team, who have done an incredible job today. I put this win as my best one; I think this is the best win I have ever had because it wasn’t easy. It’s never easy, but today we were suffering more. I want to say thanks also to my trainer Carlo, to Vale, and to Casey, because we are writing messages these days. Vale is the one that has helped me the most in terms of support, so thank you all. It’s incredible, I’m very happy.”

MotoGP Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – 40’10.260
2 Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) – Aprilia – +0.426
3 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.614

Moto2
Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) vs Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) proved a Moto2™ battle for the ages at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. It came down to the final lap as Fernandez snatched victory from Lopez’s grasp in a spectacular encounter, while home hero Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) claimed a dream podium at Silverstone.

Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) grabbed the holeshot from the middle of the front row but Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the rider to lead over the line at the end of Lap 1. However, Lopez took the lead at the beginning of Lap 2 after making fantastic progress from 8th.

World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) didn’t get the start he would have wanted from the second row and was outside the top six. Taking his Long Lap penalty, Vietti had to produce a front-end save on the exit as the Italian came out in P11, over four seconds down on the race lead.

A top four of Lopez, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), Ogura and Fernandez then broke clear, with Dixon chasing them in fifth a second away. After a couple of laps, Dixon bridged the gap to Fernandez’s rear wheel and the lead group became a quintet, with sixth place Albert Arenas (GASGAS Aspar Team) under a second away from his teammate.

With nine to go, Lopez’s lead was up to 0.8s. That was up to a second by the end of the lap as Fernandez moved up to P2 ahead of Canet, as Arenas then crashed at Turn 4. Thankfully, Arenas and his stricken bike were avoided by the oncoming traffic. With seven to go, both Canet and Ogura had a scare heading into Turn 13 and half a lap later, Dixon was past the pair of them.

Fernandez set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 13 and was hunting down Lopez. With four to go, the gap was nothing as Dixon, Ogura and Canet battled away for the final podium spot behind them. It was as you were with two laps to go, but it was getting feisty. Canet and Dixon exchanged P3, Ogura made slight contact with Canet’s rear wheel and it was as close as it gets between Lopez and Fernandez at the front, too.

Lopez was defending like a lion and it was all coming down to Brooklands – the final part of the lap. And it was right there, Turn 16, where Fernandez pounced. Late on the brakes, up the inside, Lopez tried to protect his lead but his compatriot forced his way through. Lopez tried to bite back but the last-ditch move handed Fernandez a second straight win, and one that sees him take a 13-point lead in the Championship after winning by just 0.070. Lopez’s debut Moto2 World Championship podium was sensational and coming out on top in the battle for the final podium spot was home hero Dixon, who finished just 0.6s away from victory in the end.

Ogura’s P4 ahead of Canet could be two vital points come the end of the season, as Vietti rescues a P6 after his Long Lap penalty. Roberts slipped to P7 after showing great pace in Free Practice and qualifying, the American finishing ahead of Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing) and Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG).

Moto2 Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – Kalex – 39’07.133
2 Alonso Lopez (CAG Speed Up) – Boscoscuro – +0.070
3 Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) – Kalex – +0.592

Moto3
After a dramatic few laps of Silverstone there has been a serious shift in the lightweight class standings, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) emerging victorious from the drama as both Championship leader Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and closest challenger and teammate Izan Guevara crashed, separately, through no fault of their own. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) likewise capitalised and stormed through from outside the top 20 on the grid to take second, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) completing the podium for his first rostrum finish of 2022 – extending his streak as the only rider to score in every race so far.

The opening lap was fast and frantic as several riders took turns in leading. Guevara, Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI), polesitter Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) and Öncü started strong and briefly led, but it was Guevara who pounced at Turn 1 on Lap 2 to reclaim P1.

Home hero John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) made great early progress to get up to P4 from 10th on the grid, with 8th on the grid Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) also powering up to the front of the freight train. Meanwhile, World Championship leader Garcia was battling away in the lower ends of the top 10.

It was a proper barnstormer. You could throw a blanket over the top 20 riders and the lead was changing lap after lap. Foggia, with eight to go, boasted the biggest lead we’d seen all race – 0.6s over the line, with teammate Suzuki acting as the stopping block in second place. David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) was back up into the top five after taking his Long Lap penalty too, as Guevara and McPhee found themselves down in 10th and 11th, and Garcia 8th.

With four laps to go, it was still anyone’s race to win. Garcia was P6, crucially ahead of teammate and title rival Guevara who had lost out down to P9, but less than two seconds still split the top 16. With three laps to go, Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA) led for the first time and tried ti pull clear, but he was immediately swallowed up down the Hangar Straight.

Then came the drama. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) tagged the rear of Garcia at Turn 13 and both riders crashed out, with Sasaki stretchered away and taken to the medical centre, the Japanese rider conscious, and Garcia back on his bike but he was unable to continue.

Heading onto the final lap, Öncü was the leader followed by Muñoz and Ortola, with Guevara 7th. Masia took the lead, and then lost it to Foggia, more drama unravelled as Guevara was taken out by Ortola at Stowe. After the latter clipped Öncü, Suzuki highsided on the exit to crash out too. Foggia, the man third in the title race, emerged leading from Masia, Muñoz and Öncü, and round the final section Foggia was able to keep his head down and stay out of trouble, with Muñoz crashing on his own and losing out.

On the run to the line, Foggia was able to hold on for a crucial victory and gain 25 points as Masia beat Öncü by 0.045s to finish in P2, with the Turkish rider claiming third and that first podium of the season.

After that drama, the huge group fight for the podium saw Kaito Toba (CIP – Green Power) made amazing late progress to move up and take fourth, ahead of Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) completing the top five in his best result yet. Moreira made his way back through to sixth, with McPhee getting shuffled back late on to finish seventh. Front row starter Yamanaka finished eighth ahead of Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team), with Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PrüstelGP) just beating teammate Xavier Artigas to the final place in the top ten.

Moto3 Silverstone Podium (Full Results Here) 

1 Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – Honda – 37’30.120
2 Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – KTM – +0.252
3 Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) – KTM – +0.297

ASBK Descends Upon Morgan Park This Weekend!

By
PB
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It's been a few years since ASBK has been to Morgan Park. Tune in this weekend to see all the exciting racing...

There was a justified and extended build up to the Alpinestars Superbike-only round of the mi-bike Australian Superbike Championship (ASBK) in Darwin. Now attention turns to the Morgan Park round as riders begin to pull into the circuit today to start their jam packed weekend in Queensland. Press Release: MA.

It's been a few years since ASBK has been to Morgan Park. Tune in this weekend to see all the exciting racing...
It’s been a few years since ASBK has been to Morgan Park. Tune in this weekend to see all the exciting racing…

Every round that Mike Jones pulls further ahead, it’s one less round to catch him, and as the available points pool starts to run out, we’re at this specific point of the season: the title is now his to lose.  Thanks to a handy 40-point lead over main rival Wayne Maxwell and coming into a round at a circuit he likes- Morgan Park – the overwhelming feeling is that this is where he will really seal the deal.

Grab your tickets for this weekend here…

While Maxwell will be fast and up the front at the Island for round six and a likely repeat winner at The Bend in November, it might be for now and just end up a nice way to actually-for-real finish his career.  But we never stop saying “it’s a funny old game” and acknowledge that pressure can do weird things to a racer, so we’ll come into Morgan Park with open hearts and minds. 

Every round that Mike Jones pulls further ahead, it’s one less round to catch him, and as the available points pool starts to run out, we’re at this specific point of the season: the title is now his to lose.
Every round that Mike Jones pulls further ahead, it’s one less round to catch him, and as the available points pool starts to run out, we’re at this specific point of the season: the title is now his to lose.

Leadership of the Championship aside, there’s plenty happening elsewhere and while Jones might have a 40-point lead, there’s just 31 points from second to sixth. There are also three riders in equal fourth on 136 points and two riders in equal 5th for the stats mad amongst us. 

While it’s not full silly season for rides in 2023 just yet, a number of riders will really want to improve their position in the championship and with everything rather close, a solid weekend could see a particularly crazy game of snakes and ladders taking place.

While Maxwell will be fast and up the front at the Island for round six and a likely repeat winner at The Bend in November, it might be for now and just end up a nice way to actually-for-real finish his career.
While Maxwell will be fast and up the front at the Island for round six and a likely repeat winner at The Bend in November, it might be for now and just end up a nice way to actually-for-real finish his career.

Alpinestars Superbikes – The Numbers

  • Jones banked 70 from a possible 76 points and extended his lead by 17.
  • With six races left in the three remaining rounds, Jones doesn’t need to win a single race to be crowned 2022 Champion. Three seconds and three thirds are enough, no matter what else happens.
  • For Maxwell to win: Would need to win every race and take every pole with Jones needing to place third or worse at least four times.
  • For Staring to claim the Championship: If Staring could manage pole plus the double win every round, Jones would need to finish fourth three times and third three times – Staring would win by 1 point.
  • The 136 club of Herfoss, Halliday and Waters…. Okay so it’s theoretically possible. But a lot needs to go right for any one of the 136 club to win the championship.
It’s been a few months between races for the Supersport 600 fraternity and some might need a quick look at the points before they roll out of pit lane this Friday to remind themselves; this is close!
It’s been a few months between races for the Supersport 600 fraternity and some might need a quick look at the points before they roll out of pit lane this Friday to remind themselves; this is close!

Michelin Supersport
It’s been a few months between races for the Supersport 600 fraternity and some might need a quick look at the points before they roll out of pit lane this Friday to remind themselves; this is close! 

Early season form from Tom Bramich, Tom Drane, Olly Simpson and Tarbon Walker was somewhat collectively brought undone with DNS/DNFs at Wakefield, and *looks at remaining rounds* lads, there’s no time for that sort of thing. 

Early season form from Tom Bramich, Tom Drane, Olly Simpson and Tarbon Walker was somewhat collectively brought undone with DNS/DNFs at Wakefield.
Early season form from Tom Bramich, Tom Drane, Olly Simpson and Tarbon Walker was somewhat collectively brought undone with DNS/DNFs at Wakefield.

Championship leader John Lytras has slowly but surely risen to the top after an ordinary round one (21 points). From there, his points hauls have risen to 46 at round two and a near-perfect 50 points at round three. He now leads the Championship by 17 points. 

Always mindful that in 2022, we’ve had a number of leaders fall off or fall away in Supersport, so Morgan Park will be a very good test of whether Lytras is ready to run away with things or offer up some sort of hope to the likes of second placed Ty Lynch who is perhaps the only rider within genuine striking distance. 

Championship leader John Lytras has slowly but surely risen to the top after an ordinary round one (21 points).
Championship leader John Lytras has slowly but surely risen to the top after an ordinary round one (21 points).

Like those outside the top few spots in Superbike, there is a log jam in Supersport as well with just 11 points separating third placed Scott Nicholson (82) and eight placed Tom Bramich (71). So while the battle at the top is warm, the battle for the remaining spots is white-hot. 

Dunlop Supersport 300 
Cameron Dunker arrived at Wakefield thereabouts in the overall points situation (third), 12 points adrift of then leader Henry Snell, but left the Goulburn region a seemingly impossible 25 points in the lead in a perfect display of 300 racing, bagging the maximum 76 points on offer. 

Cameron Dunker saw a massive improvement in his championship standings after scoring 76 points at Wakefield Park!
Cameron Dunker saw a massive improvement in his championship standings after scoring 76 points at Wakefield Park!

With Snell unable to put his Yamaha anywhere near the front, he slipped to fourth overall, Jacobs stayed put in second and Glenn Nelson stepped up one spot into third overall. Taiyo Akso showed plenty of newfound pace at Wakefield and was second overall for the weekend, but from fifth in the championship race, it’s a big task to bridge the 58-point deficit to Dunker. 

And so on to Morgan Park. Like their Supersport 600 brethren, it’s been a while between bouts for the always entertaining 300 class and Morgan Park is a perfect arena for their particular brand of hand-to-hand combat racing. 

Taiyo Akso showed plenty of newfound pace at Wakefield and was second overall for the weekend.
Taiyo Akso showed plenty of newfound pace at Wakefield and was second overall for the weekend.

Until Dunker really stepped up at Wakefield, there’s been no rider able to impress themselves upon the Championship. He now finds himself in the unenviable position of not only Championship leader, but no doubt “the-guy-to-follow” in every practice and qualifying session this weekend.  

Yamaha Finance R3 Cup 
While there’s a lot of form carry over from the Supersport 300 Championship, Glenn Nelson and Liam Waters were able to take wins at Wakefield Park on a weekend when Cameron Dunker won three races and snagged the extra point for pole in Dunlop Supersport 300. 

Glenn Nelson and Liam Waters were able to take wins at Wakefield Park on a weekend when Dunker won three races.
Glenn Nelson and Liam Waters were able to take wins at Wakefield Park on a weekend when Dunker won three races.

That said, Dunker took the overall R3 Cup honours at Wakefield and cut series leader Glenn Nelson’s overall lead to just 10 points. With a sizeable gap back to third placed Hayden Nelson, the series looks likely to come down to a Glenn Nelson/Dunker battle. 

bLU cRU Oceania Junior Cup
After the most exciting announcement of the year- that the OJC crew will be a support category at the MotoGP event- it would be easy to gloss over the importance of the overall situation and this event. 

Harrison Watts and Hudson Thompson have been in an arm wrestle all season and after receiving equal points at Wakefield after three races, they are looking more like Siamese twins than fierce rivals.
Harrison Watts and Hudson Thompson have been in an arm wrestle all season and after receiving equal points at Wakefield after three races, they are looking more like Siamese twins than fierce rivals.

Harrison Watts and Hudson Thompson have been in an arm wrestle all season and after receiving equal points at Wakefield after three races, they are looking more like Siamese twins than fierce rivals.  Round one winner Cameron Rende is still well in the hunt, and this round will again be very close as the OJC riders shape up for the back half of season 2022. 

Live Broadcast Information:

  • SBS: Sunday 7 August 1pm-4pm
  • ASBK Livestream: Sunday 7 August 9:55AM – 12:40PM & 4PM – 4:30PM

WorldSSP Gallery & Recap: 2022 Season So Far

By
PB
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The WorldSSP features some of the most exciting racing in the world, all of the future champions battling to impress their way into WorldSBK makes for an entertaining watch. With the Autodrom Most round just wrapped up, here is where we are up to in 2022…

Aegerter has smashed out nine out of 12 race wins for the 2022 WorldSSP and is on track to snatch the crown on-board his Ten Kate Racing Yamaha R6.
Aegerter has smashed out nine out of 12 race wins for the 2022 WorldSSP and is on track to snatch the crown on-board his Ten Kate Racing Yamaha R6.

Where to begin with 2022? How about at the top of the points table? Dominique Aegerter is one of the most experienced riders on the grid, he exited Moto2 at the end of 2020 and went electric with the MotoE World Cup and added World Supersport to his roster in 2021.

Aegerter has smashed out nine out of 12 race wins for the 2022 WorldSSP and is on track to snatch the crown on-board his Ten Kate Racing Yamaha R6. It was all going well for the Swiss rider until Race one at Autodrom Most where he came off. In a bizarre turn of events, Aegerter simulated a medical emergency in order to cause a red flag. He was later found fit to ride but was banned from racing in Race two of the weekend due to unsportsman-like behaviour. Truly strange…

WorldSBK officials said: “On Saturday afternoon, Aegerter was rescued on the track and checked by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at the Medical Centre and was declared unfit due to the presence of possible concussion symptoms. On Saturday evening, Aegerter went to the Hospital for further assessments and on Sunday morning he admitted the simulation of symptoms to the CMO, and after a deep re-check was declared able to ride.”

Thanks to Aegerter’s strange behaviour, his title rival, Lorenzo Baldassarri, managed to close the 64 point gap down to just 14, Baldassarri has hardly put a foot wrong this season. Apart from winning race one at Aragon, finishing third in Race two at Estoril and a DNF in Race one at Assen, Baldassarri has only just missed out on matching Aegerter’s pace. It’s clear he has the drive to win the 2022 season as without Aegerter in the picture, he stormed through to score both race wins last weekend. I’d be keeping an eye on him if Dominique’s strange tactic’s keep up.

Thanks to Aegerter's strange behaviour, his title rival, Baldassarri, managed to close the 64 point gap down to just 14.
Thanks to Aegerter’s strange behaviour, his title rival, Baldassarri, managed to close the 64 point gap down to just 14.

While the two Yamaha’s run away win the championship lead, third spot on the championship is really anyone’s for the taking. Nicolo Bulega current sits in third spot, 84 points behind Baldassarri and just four points ahead of Stefano Manzi.

How are the Aussies looking? Well, Oli Bayliss is the only full-time rider in the series for 2022 and he seems to be settling down into the Barni Racing team well. Despite breaking his ankle in the pre-season testing which would shaken up his confidence, Oli has been proving that he deserves to be there with plenty of point finishes and currently sits 17th in the standings with 32 points.

Two other Aussie’s have shown their face in WorldSSP this year too, Tom Edwards and Benjamin Currie. Tom Edwards has been blistering fast in the Supersport 600 ASBK category this year, this helped gain him a wildcard ride at the Estoril round where he put the borrowed R6 in the points!

Benjamin Currie had a spin on the Kawasaki ZX-6R where he picked up a point at Estoril too. We hope to see both him and Edwards out on WorldSSP for a full season next year. Check out all the best shots from 2022 so far below…

WorldSSP 2022 Season So Far Gallery

 

 

WorldSBK Reports: All The Action From Autodrom Most

By
PB
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The whole weekend in the Czech Republic saw the championship leaders with their elbows out at every chance they got. The weekend ended with the final MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race of the Prosecco DOC Czech Round being another incredible affair at the Autodrom Most.

Tissot Superpole Qualifying
With spots of rain in the air after an overnight shower, riders were forced to exit onto the circuit straight away. With no SCQ tyres available and the SCX tyre only available for Superpole and the Sunday morning Superpole Race, the session gave extra challenges compared to others. Getting the most out of the 15-minute shootout, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) stormed to a 1’30.947 for a new lap record and a second consecutive pole position at Most.

Riders flocked to the circuit instantly and it was clear that everyone wanted to bank a time in case of rain, whilst the likes of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and his teammate Alex Lowes all waited a little longer, the latter two on their own with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was at the head of the field on track and the first rider to set a lap time of a 1’32.608, whilst Razgatlioglu stormed to a 1’31.578, just outside his Free Practice lap record from FP2.

Further times came in behind with Rea going second ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), whilst Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was fourth. Bautista was down to ninth but soon went up to fourth, with Lowes and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) getting ahead of Mahias who was left in seventh with just under ten minutes to go. Having been a top five rider in FP2 on Friday, Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was ninth ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) at the end of the first stint. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) waited until the end of the first stint before getting a time registered, slotting him in third.

With the threat of rain abating for the time being, the second runs and the pole position attacks came in, with Rea one of the first riders to leave the pits. Out-laps completed, red sectors and personal best times were coming, although Rea had a big moment at Turn 13, and his advantage of two tenths of a second through the first half of the lap had been squandered. However, at the head of the field, by 0.011s, Alvaro Bautista had taken provisional pole, although Razgatlioglu was responding already on his own flying lap. Turk went top momentarily, but it was Rea who smashed in a lap time in, the first ever 1’30 lap time, with a 1’30.947.

WorldSBK Autodrom Most Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’30.947s
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.330s
3 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.559s

Race One
History was made in Race 1 at the Prosecco DOC Czech Round as Ducati claimed their 1000th MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium placement after Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) battled his way to victory at the Autodrom Most. The Championship leader started from the second row but was able to fight his way into the lead battle in a race held in mixed conditions.

Championship leader Bautista started from the second row but soon was able to take advantage of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battling to close the gap. Bautista moved into second place on Lap 11 with a move into Turn 20 on the reigning Champion, before he followed that up with a move on Rea into Turn 1 at the start of Lap 12. He was able to clear his charging rivals to win by more than two seconds, going on to take his seventh win of 2022 and 23rd victory of his career, while it was also a historic milestone for Ducati as they claimed their 1000th podium placement.

The battle for the podium went on to the last lap between Razgatlioglu, Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Rea. Razgatlioglu made a hard move on Redding at Turn 13, with Redding running a little bit wide and allowing Rea to close in on the BMW rider. At Turn 15, Rea looked to make a move on Redding to move into the podium places but Redding was able to hold on, with Razgatlioglu and Redding completing the podium. Razgatlioglu now has 67 podiums in his WorldSBK career while Redding is on 39, with the British rider going level with Scott Russell at 25th in the all-time list.

Places fifth to seventh in Race 1 were taken up by Italian riders. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claimed fifth place and finishes as the best Independent rider. In the early stages, Bassani had been running in fourth but was eventually passed by Redding and dropped back from the lead group. He also lost time to Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in the closing stages but was able to finish a second clear of Locatelli, who in turn had a three second margin over Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in seventh. Rinaldi had started from third place but lost ground through the opening corners before coming home in seventh place.

On his first visit to the Autodrom Most, Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) continued his run of top-ten finishes that has lasted his entire WorldSBK career, with the Spanish rookie finishing in eighth place. It is the best points-scoring streak in WorldSBK since Michael van der Mark scored 19 consecutive points-scoring positions in 2016. He was just over half a second clear of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in ninth place with Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRY Yamaha WorldSBK Team) rounding out the top ten; Gerloff had started from the second row but dropped back at the start of the race. The top ten at the end of the race were separated by just 13.1 seconds, the smallest gap covering the top ten riders in a full-length race since Race 1 at Phillip Island in 2020; 11.922s covered the top ten.

Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) finished in 11th place, four seconds back from a top ten spot, while he was almost ten seconds clear of French compatriot Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 12th place. Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) finished in 13th place, less than a second behind Mahias, with Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) in 14th and Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) completing the points-scoring places with 15th.

Home hero Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) finished in 16th place in Race 1 for his home round, his best result in his short WorldSBK career, with Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) in 17th place. Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) claimed 18th place ahead of Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW), whose future was made known shortly before Race 1, and Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) with the Frenchman rounding out the top 20. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), Peter Hickman (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Ryan Vickers (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) were the last classified runners in Race 1.

Wildcard and home rider Michal Prasek (Rohac & Fejta Motoracing) retired shortly after being lapped by the leaders, while Malaysian rider Hafizh Shyarin (MIE Racing Honda Team) suffered from technical issues in the closing stages of the race.

WorldSBK Autodrom Most Race One Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
2 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +2.109s
3 Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +2.603s

Tissot Superpole Race
It was another battle that went right down to the final lap in the Tissot Superpole Race, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claiming victory at the Autodrom Most during the Prosecco DOC Czech Round after a last-lap battle with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Victory for Razgatlioglu gave Yamaha their 100th victory in WorldSBK.

Razgatlioglu got the jump into Turn 1 ahead of Rea and took the lead of the race and was able to open up a gap to the six-time Champion. Rea looked to make his move for the lead in the second half of the race, with Razgatlioglu able to respond immediately. On the final lap, Rea tried to make a move at Turn 1 but Razgatlioglu was able to get the cutback through Turns 2 and 3, before Rea tried again later on in the lap but ran into the gravel, allowing Razgatlioglu to claim victory while Rea finished in second place. They will be joined on the front row for Race 2 by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), after the Championship leader gained places from fifth on the grid.

The second row of the grid will be made up of Italian riders. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will start Race 2 from fourth, after starting the Superpole Race from third, with Rinaldi pressuring his teammate all race. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) will line up from fifth ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in sixth place. Bassani gained positions in the Superpole Race to secure a second row start for Race 2.

Spanish rookie Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) claimed seventh spot and therefore a third row start for Race 2 as he looks to continue his run of top-ten finishes, with Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in ninth and taking the final third row grid spot for Race 2. Redding and Gerloff were the highest-placed riders using Pirelli’s harder SC0 tyre, with both dropping back from their second row starting position in the Superpole Race.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who has been suffering from an intestinal infection, crashed out of the race from inside the top nine on Lap 4 of 10 at Turn 10 after he lost the front of his bike. Ryan Vickers (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) crashed at the end of Lap 3 at Turn 21, putting the British rider out of the race. Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK) was given a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start and finished in 20th place. Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) had a crash at Turn 17 in the closing stages of the race, with the Czech rider taken to the medical centre.

Tissot Superpole Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.327s
3 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +3.406s

Race Two
The final Superbike World Championship race of the Prosecco DOC Czech Round was another incredible affair at the Autodrom Most, with reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claiming victory after a titanic battle with his title rivals. The battle raged on from the start until the final few laps of the race as Razgatlioglu claimed his fifth win in the last six races.

Razgatlioglu was able to get the jump into Turn 1 at the start of the race but was always under pressure from both Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). On Lap 7, Rea made a move at Turn 1 on Razgatlioglu to move into the lead of the race but Toprak at the same corner a lap later. On Lap 11, Bautista attempted to pass both Razgatlioglu and Rea into Turn 1, with Rea coming out ahead of Bautista in second and Razgatlioglu in third.

Two laps later and Bautista utilised his straight-line speed to pass Rea into Turn 1, while Razgatlioglu made his move on Rea on Lap 15 at Turn 1 for second place. Soon after, he was on the back of Bautista and, on Lap 16, made his move for the lead at Turn 20 for first place. From there, Razgatlioglu had to defend into Turn 1 on a couple of occasions but he was able to pull out a gap over Bautista and Rea to take his 24th win in WorldSBK and the sixth of the season. Bautista came home in second place to take his 16th podium of the season and the 43rd of his career; while it was also Spain’s 160th in WorldSBK. Rea now has 230 podiums to his name, which is exactly 100 more than Troy Corser who lies second in the all-time list.

Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it five top-six finishes in the last six races as he finished in fourth place after a thrilling battle with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in the opening two-thirds of the race. Bassani made a stunning start to immediately fight for the podium places but dropped back to fourth place, before running wide on Lap 5 which allowed Redding through. Bassani was able to respond quite soon after that move but Redding re-passed him at Turn 1 on Lap 10 to demote the Italian into fifth; Bassani claimed three five place finishes at the Autodrom Most.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed sixth place after taking advantage of Garrett Gerloff’s (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) late technical issue, after the American had passed him earlier on in the race. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) claimed seven place, his best result since he finished fourth in the Tissot Superpole Race at Misano, while Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) finished eighth. That is the German’s best result since he took seventh place in the Superpole Race at Assen.

It was Lucas Mahias’ (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) best finish of the 2022 season with his second appearance in the top ten, while Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) rounded out the top ten. It is Bernardi’s first top ten result since he moved into WorldSBK at the start of the 2022 season.

Italian rider Roberto Tamburni (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) equalled his best result of the season with 11th place, ahead of Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team). Syahrin claimed the best result of his WorldSBK career with 12th place and it was a double points-scoring race for the MIE Racing Honda Team with Leandro Mercado in 15th; Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Peter Hickman (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) separating the two MIE Honda teammates in 13th and 14th.

Czech rider Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) bounced back from a Superpole Race crash to finish in 16th place in front of his home fans, equalling his best result in WorldSBK, with Ryan Vickers (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) in 17th and Gerloff in 18th after his late technical issue.

Ahead of Race 2, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) were both declared unfit through illness and injury respectively. Wildcard Michal Prasel (Rohac & Fejta Motoracing) did not start the race. At the start of Lap 4, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed out trying to pass Rea for third place at Turn 1. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) retired from the race following a Lap 5 crash at Turn 20. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) had a technical issue with two laps to go with the Spanish rookie retiring from the race, ending his streak of top-ten finishes at 17 races.

WorldSBK Autodrom Most Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.756s
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.833s

Championship Standing After Autodrom Most Round (Full Standings Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 298
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 267
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 260

Aussies Racing Abroad: July 2022 Update

By
PB
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Oli Bayliss' debut effort in the World Supersport class couldn't have gotten off to a worse start when he broke his right ankle in preseason testing.
Up next for Bayliss was the season ending race at Phillip Island, where he was desperate to put on a show for the home fans in attendance to close his year on a high.

With many Aussies racing abroad in a range of disciplines both on-track and off-road, our monthly column focuses on how they’re faring battling it out with the best in their chosen classes against the best riders in the world. Edward Sratmann has our July update…

Oli has been showing promise in the WorldSSP class as he gets comfortable on his Barni Spark Racing Ducati.
Oli has been showing promise in the WorldSSP class as he gets comfortable on his Barni Spark Racing Ducati.

Oli Bayliss – World Supersport
Despite a tough start to his weekend at Donington Park that meant he started from 20th on the grid, Oli Bayliss admirably worked through the field in race one to claim a solid 11th. Wanting to better his result for race two, unfortunately it wasn’t to be for the Barni Racing star, with the pressure in his front tyre dropping steadily as the race wore on, forcing him to settle for 13th.

“The Barni Racing Team and I had a fair weekend all in all. In race two we struggled with an issue with the front tyre dropping pressure throughout the race, and that kept me from pushing, especially from the front half,” Bayliss recalled. “It was a big learning weekend but we can take a lot of positives from here to Autodrom Most in two weeks’ time.”

In his World Supersport season debut, Australia’s Oli Bayliss on the Barni Ducati Panigale V2 took a 21st in WorldSSP’s Saturday race, and improved for a 19th place in the Sunday’s race two.
Currently sitting 16th in the championship and gaining vital experience with every passing race, the talented Bayliss will now quickly shift his attention to round six in the Czech Republic.

Currently sitting 16th in the championship and gaining vital experience with every passing race, the talented Bayliss will now shift his attention to round six in the Czech Republic.

Jason O’Halloran – British Superbike
Jason O’Halloran impressively moved to the top of the British Superbike standings after another wonderful weekend of action. Going 1-2-2 at Brands Hatch, the “O Show” stamped his authority early by winning the qualification race .Riding exceptionally and consistently to take home two second place finishes on Sunday, this rounded out an outstanding weekend for the Yamaha maestro.

Heading into Caldwell Park, the "O Show" holds a crucial 24 point lead over Ray, as his immaculate recent form has propelled him into a commanding position. Photo: BSB Championship.
Jason O’Halloran impressively moved to the top of the British Superbike standings after another wonderful weekend.

The second race was particularly exciting, as O’Halloran went head-to-head with McAMS Yamaha teammate Tarran Mackenzie in a race-long battle. In the end, though, following some entertaining back and forth, Mackenzie edged O’Halloran at the line to secure victory by a measly 0.0037 seconds.

“A really good weekend for us, I was really happy to win yesterday,” he explained. “I’ve finished no worse than second in nine races now and won five of them. We needed to make a step forward at Brands from last year and I think we’ve done that.”

Harrison Voight will be back in Australia racing a Supersport 600 machine at The Bend for the ASBK Finale...
Competing in the Red Bull Rookies and the Moto3 Junior World Championship, just like Roulstone, Harrison Voight has achieved some exceptional results this month.

Harrison Voight – Moto3 Junior World Championship
Continuing his fine progress in 2022, Harrison Voight keeps producing the goods in the Moto3 Junior World Championship. Beginning the month with an impressive sixth in race one and ninth in race two at Jerez, the youngster battled hard in this fiercely competitive class to earn two deserved top 10s.

Although he couldn’t replicate these results at the Algarve due to him being taken out on the last lap, the fact he qualified on the front row and was in the group battling for second and holding his own offered plenty of reason for encouragement. 

“What a pity to end a great weekend! I was strong being up in the front of the group battling for second. Unfortunately starting the last lap, a rider made a stupid move making contact with another rider to then hitting me,” the man in 13th in the championship insisted. Taking the positives about this race, it was well and truly the best race I’ve had until this situation. I’ll keep chipping at it, soon we will arrive back on the podium.”

Jacob Roulstone – Moto3 Junior World Championship
While the results haven’t matched his speed in the Moto3 Junior World Championship, Jacob Roulstone’s still on the right path as he gains valuable experience. Securing a decent 18th in the opening race at Jerez, things then took a turn for the worse in race two, for he endured a nasty crash while attempting to avoid a rider who’d highsided. As a result, Roulstone, who was travelling at 180kph had nowhere to go, with him ultimately colliding with a wall.

Gaining vital experience with every passing race in both the Red Bull Rookies Cup and the Junior Moto3 Championship, young Aussie starlet, Jacob Roulstone, is relishing his time in Europe.
Gaining vital experience with every passing race in both the Red Bull Rookies Cup and the Junior Moto3 Championship, young Aussie, Jacob Roulstone, is relishing his time in Europe.

Heading into the Algarve round, a battered and bruised Roulstone left feeling happy with his output from the weekend, where he escaped unscathed and put in some consistent lap times on his way to finishing 21st in this stacked class.

“We are taking more steps each time and I feel good results are coming. I’ve worked out a few things I need to work on and I just need to sort out the qualifying and first lap aggression. Thank you to all my team for the ongoing hard work,” said the upbeat hotshot.

After missing the entire 2021 MXGP season with a troublesome wrist injury, it's been terrific to see Team Honda HRC's Mitch Evans back at the races.
After missing the entire 2021 MXGP season with a troublesome wrist injury, it’s been terrific to see Team Honda HRC’s Mitch Evans back at the races. Disaster struck at Lommel unfortunately.

Mitch Evans – MXGP
Almost back to a level resembling his best, Mitch Evans’ recent form has been extremely positive, for he’s shown he can take it to the frontrunners and hold his own. Having gone 6-7 for seventh overall at the Czech GP, Evans backed that up by running third in the qualifying race in the sand of Lommel.

Disaster then struck near the end, with the likeable Aussie enduring a horror crash over the triple. Although he bravely attempted to race on Sunday, Evans was forced to retire 15 minutes into the moto, with the ramifications of his incident seeing him withdraw. The HRC rider then wisely sat out the second moto, as he now turns his attention to the Swedish GP in two weeks.

Jed Beaton deserves credit for battling through the pain to show he belongs at this elite level.
F&H Kawasaki mounted Jed Beaton is steadily getting better with every round, in his quest to get back to race fitness.

Jed Beaton – MXGP
F&H Kawasaki mounted Jed Beaton is steadily getting better with every round, in his quest to get back to full race fitness. Running in seventh for a large part of the second moto at the Czech GP was a massive boost for him, in a race where he spent some crucial time battling with some of the elite riders in MXGP.

While last weekend at Lommel was a tough one at the office for Beaton, the bike time and experience he gained will serve him nicely moving ahead. Hoping to land some more top 10 finishes in the remaining four rounds is now the goal for Beaton to close out his injury interrupted debut MXGP campaign in style.

Leading the championship by 37 points with two rounds left, Jett Lawrence is in a commanding position to seal his second consecutive 250 AMA Pro Motocross title.
Jett Lawrence continues his dominance of the AMA 250 Pro Motocross series, hoping to score another championship…

Jett Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross
Jett Lawrence continues his dominance of the AMA 250 Pro Motocross series, as the inordinately talented youngster appears destined to claim another outdoor crown. Although his July started cruelly with a DNF in moto one at RedBud when his bike let go, he remained focused to salvage the day by winning the second moto.

Having lost his red plate at RedBud, Lawrence emphatically reclaimed it at Southwick by going 1-1 in the sand to earn a dominant overall win. He then flexed his muscles to round out the taxing four race stretch by bagging overall wins at Millville and Washougal to extend his championship lead to 28 points heading into the three week break.

Falling just short of making it a clean sweep for the Lawrence brothers in the 250s, Hunter was forced to settle for second in the 250 West standings, a measly 10 points behind Christian Craig.
Hunter has also been riding flawlessly, finishing rounds just behind his brother. The Lawrence family is a name that will go down in motocross history.

Hunter Lawrence – AMA Pro Motocross
Still in the championship mix and proving he can match Jett for speed frequently, Hunter Lawrence isn’t giving up on the title yet. Sitting 28 points behind his younger brother and clearly feeling confident with four rounds to go, the older brother will be doing everything in his power to close the gap.

With his last eight moto scores reading 2-2-6-8-2-5-1-4, it’s obvious he’s got the quality, he just needs to avoid the small mistakes and keep pushing for better starts if he’s to truly be in the hunt.

Sitting pretty atop the FIM EnduroGP world championship at the completion of two rounds, Aussie Wil Ruprecht's enjoyed a sensational start to his season.
Wil had an awesome start to the 2022 FIM EnduroGP world championship but had a shocking weekend in Portugal.

Wil Ruprecht – Enduro GP
Heading into the EnduroGP in Portugal at the beginning of the month leading the championship and stamping his mark as the man to beat, things frustratingly took a turn for the worse for the Aussie. 

Starting the round with a disappointing crash, this put Ruprecht on the back foot from the off, with him only able to muster five points from the weekend. Consequently, he also dropped back to second in the standings behind Andrea Verona.

“Bonehead mistake on my part in the supertest set the tone for the weekend really,” Ruprecht lamented. Was going to work in the first enduro test of day one, just hitting my marks but ended up laying it down. Tried to gather every point I could following that but I couldn’t bring home anything worth talking about. So that hurt the championship a bit but with plenty still to play for it’s all hands on deck for the upcoming GPs.”

Getting on the podium in just his fourth EnduroGP, Daniel Milner deserves immense credit for his exceptional performance in Portugal. Photo: Daniel Milner Racing.
Getting on the podium in just his fourth EnduroGP, Daniel Milner deserves immense credit for his exceptional performance in Portugal. Photo: Daniel Milner Racing.

Daniel Milner – Enduro GP
Getting on the podium in just his fourth EnduroGP, Daniel Milner deserves immense credit for his exceptional performance in Portugal. Looking comfortable and fast aboard his Fantic, the consistent Australian proved he’s adjusted smoothly to the class and can match it with the best of them.

“To get on the overall podium in my fourth EnduroGP was a good feeling. Feel like I’m adapting and feeling more and more comfortable every race,” he explained.

Broc Pearson To Test DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4 R

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PB
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Gold Coast based racer and reigning SuperSport Champion Broc Pearson will climb aboard a DesmoSport Ducati Panigale V4 R alongside Bryan Staring for the upcoming two-day test at Morgan Park on July 21/22. Check out what Broc and the team co-owners, Troy Bayliss and Ben Henry, had to say!

Broc had an unfortunate start to his season in the Superbike class of ASBK, crashing out and sitting out some of the weekend. Now it's full steam ahead to secure a team like DesmoSport Ducati.
Broc had an unfortunate start to his season in the Superbike class of ASBK, crashing out and sitting out some of the weekend. Now it’s full steam ahead to secure a team like DesmoSport Ducati.

Team co-owner, Ben Henry: “Troy and I have known Broc through a lot of his career. He’s local to the Gold Coast, he’s mates with Oli and he’s pushed through a lot of adversity to achieve what he has in his racing career so far, so although it’s just a two-day test, I’m glad we could find a way to get him on one of our bikes alongside Bryan. The additional data will help us better prepare for the upcoming Morgan Park round next month and I’m looking forward to seeing how he adapts to our Panigale V4 R. As for racing the bike he tests on, the reality is that Broc would have to be really fast at the test, and we’d need to secure some additional financial support, so I’d say it’s unlikely at this point.”

Broc Pearson: “I just want to thank Benny and TB for the opportunity to ride one of Bryan’s bikes. I’ve been into them a bit on some group chats and when I go past the workshop to let me have a ride, but I’ve pretty much done that for the last 2 years, sort of half-jokingly really, knowing that DesmoSport wasn’t going to have any rides readily available. When Troy called last week and said that he and Ben had an opportunity to ride the Panigale V4 R if I was interested, I jumped at the chance. It’s only for the two-day test at Morgan Park, but I’m pretty excited to get on one of the fastest bikes in the country.”

"As for racing the bike he tests on, the reality is that Broc would have to be really fast at the test, and we'd need to secure some additional financial support, so I'd say it's unlikely at this point." said Ben Henry.
“As for racing the bike he tests on, the reality is that Broc would have to be really fast at the test, and we’d need to secure some additional financial support, so I’d say it’s unlikely at this point.” said Ben Henry.

Team co-owner, Troy Bayliss: “Broc’s found himself in an unfortunate position this season, but I’m glad we found a way at least get him on track at the test. He’s a good kid, full of confidence and a fast rider. He knows his way around Morgan Park too, so it’s a good opportunity for him to have some fun and show everyone what he can do on a superbike.”

WorldSBK Auctions Raise $23,000 for Two Wheels for Life At Donington Park

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PB
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The action on track at Donington Park was a thrilling affair as the WorldSBK Championship descended on a scorching United Kingdom, but off-track there were some key events happening too. During the Paddock Show at Donington, with Two Wheels for Life returning to WorldSBK after a two-year absence.

Across the UK Round, lots of riders donated items for auction or took part in a rider concert to raise money for charity.
Across the UK Round, lots of riders donated items for auction or took part in a rider concert to raise money for charity.

Two Wheels for Life works on delivering vital healthcare to some of the most remote parts of Africa and the charity’s presence at Donington Park was a prime opportunity to raise some money to help with this vital work. With auctions on items provided by riders and teams across Friday and Saturday at Donington, around £15,000 ($23,000 AUD) was raised by the incredible spectators to help Two Wheels for Life.

Signed leathers and boots from reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) sold for $2375 and $560 respectively, while signed boots from six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) were sold for $1650; all three items going during Saturday’s auction. Also, on Saturday, there was an auction for a signed helmet from three-time WorldSBK Champion Troy Bayliss which sold for $1550; showing the huge generosity of the fans at Donington Park.

Signed boots from six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) were sold for $1650.
Signed boots from six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) were sold for $1650.

Other items that were auctioned off included hospitality experiences with Kawasaki, BMW, Team#109 Kawasaki and McAMS Yamaha, with the team making their first WorldSBK appearance at Donington Park, several items from riders up and down the paddock, a crashed fairing from Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and much, much more.

Also on stage were performances by Giulio Maceroni, with his Rock ’n’ Road show performed at WorldSBK for the very first time. However, he was not the only musical performance on stage, with several riders from WorldBK and WorldSSP showing off their singing voices in a rider concert, with this concert alone raising $450 for Two Wheels for Life’s valuable work.

Several riders from WorldBK and WorldSSP showed off their singing voices in a rider concert, with this concert alone raising $450 for Two Wheels for Life’s valuable work.
Several riders from WorldBK and WorldSSP showed off their singing voices in a rider concert, with this concert alone raising $450 for Two Wheels for Life’s valuable work.

All funds raised through the auctions will go to the life-saving Riders for Health programmes in some of the poorest and most remote areas of Africa, where motorcycles are predominantly used to deliver vital health care.

WorldSBK Reports: All The Action From Donington Park

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Donington Park saw the reigning world champion back on the top step of the podium. Starting from third on the grid, Razgatlioglu was able to claim his first full-length race win of the 2022 season before doing it all over again in Race 2 while Kawasaki claimed their 500th WorldSBK podium.

Tissot Superpole
Tissot Superpole for the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s fifth round at Donington Park was intense and intriguing from the start. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will see his quest for Donington Park victory and Kawasaki’s 500th podium start from pole position, as he smashed the previous lap record out of the park.

It was a disastrous start to the session for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), who after finishing second in FP3, crashed at the start of his first flying lap at Turn 1. However, the times were absolutely electric from the first runs, with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) lapping together and getting down into the 1’26s, the best laps of their weekend so far. 

With seven minutes to go, the riders came into the pits to take a quick break before putting the SCQ tyres on and getting back out for their second and final runs with six minutes to go. Rea and Redding once again left the pits together with Redding’s teammate, Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) likewise aiming to improve his time with the two home-heroes laying down the pace. 

Come the chequered flag at the end of the session, it was Rea who obliterated the lap record with a 1’26.080s, a new outright motorcycle lap record at the Donington Park circuit. Joining him on the front row in second place is teammate Alex Lowes, who will want to get a first podium of the season and his third podium at Donington Park. Third place went the way of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who made it 11 straight front rows – a record for a single Yamaha rider.

 

Donington Park Tissot Superpole Front Row (Full Results Here)

1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’26.080s
2 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.273s
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.426s

Race One
The opening MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race of the Prosecco DOC UK Round was a dramatic affair full of battles up and down the grid at Donington Park as reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK Team) claimed victory by 6.3 seconds to claim his first full-length race win of the 2022 season. It means Razgatlioglu is now 54 points behind Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in the Championship standings following the latter’s retirement.

It’s a move that has been seen a lot throughout 2022 as Razgatlioglu got the holeshot at the start to take the lead of the race and he was able to take advantage of the battling between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and teammate Alex Lowes in the early stages, before Rea and Bautista  fought each other for second place in the middle stage of the race.

Rea initially got swamped on Lap 1 and dropped to as low as fifth place before fighting his way back up to second place. He first fell behind Bautista on Lap 7 as the pair battled, with Rea making a move on Bautista on Lap 8. Bautista then re-passed Rea on Lap 12 at Turn 9 before Rea responded immediately before making the move stick on Lap 14 at Turn 12. Two laps later, however, Bautista crashed at the same corner and retired from the race; ending his run of 12 consecutive podium.

Razgatlioglu’s victory gave him the 20th of his career and his 64th podium finish in WorldSBK, while it was also Yamaha’s 97th win. Rea claimed his 226th podium and claimed Kawasaki’s 500th podium placement in WorldSBK. In the Championship standings, Rea took 20 points out of Bautista’s lead with the gap now only 16 points, with Razgatlioglu 54 points back.

The battle for third place came down to a shootout between two home heroes as Lowes fought with Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Redding was ahead until the final handful of laps as the pair battled through the final sector of the race, racing hard through Turns 11 and 12 and into Turn 1 on the next lap, before Lowes got the move done on the exit of Turn 1 and into Turn 2 to secure his first podium of the 2022 season. Lowes ensured Kawasaki immediately moved onto their 501st podium; Lowes’ third place was the 30th podium finish of his career. It was also his first podium since the Superpole Race in the 2021 French Round at Magny-Cours.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) finished as the best Independent rider in Race 1 as he claimed fifth place in Race 1, his sixth consecutive top-seven finish in 2022. Bassani finished as the lead Ducati rider following Bautista’s crash as he finished a second clear of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in sixth place.

American star Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) performed another customary late-race surge as he finished in seventh place, equalling his best result of the season so far. Gerloff passed Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) on the final lap with the Spanish rookie finishing in eighth place, almost 7.5 seconds clear of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) in ninth and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in tenth.

Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) was 11th on his first race at Donington Park, finishing two seconds clear of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in 12th; Mahias securing points on his return from injury. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was just a tenth back from Mahias while he was one second clear of wildcard Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) in 14th with the reigning British champion taking points on his WorldSBK debut. British rider Leon Haslam (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) rounded out the points with 15th place.

Stand-in rider Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made a good start to climb up the order but dropped down to 16th place at the end of the race, missing out on points by just 0.244s after the 23-lap race. He was more than seven seconds clear of Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team) who was only half-a-second clear of fellow rookie Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) in 18th.

Japanese rider Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 19th, just over a second clear of Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) and Robert Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), with Laverty and Tamburini separated by just 0.085s.

Wildcard Peter Hickman (FHO Racing) was 22nd ahead of Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 23rd; the last of the classified finishers. Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was the first retirement of the race after he crashed at the Turn 12 hairpin, the final corner of the circuit, on Lap 8. Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) was the second retirement of the race as he brought his Yamaha into the pits.

WorldSBK Donington Park Race One Pdoium (Full Results Here)

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +6.397s
3 Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +9.449s

Tissot Superpole Race
Razgatlioglu, like in Race 1, was able to get the holeshot at the start to move into Turn 1 and, also like in Race 1, went on to lead every lap of the race, finishing ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in second place. The battle for third was also reminiscent of Race 1 as Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) fighting for third place; Redding this time able to come out on top for his first BMW podium. It means the front row of the grid in Race 2 will be made up of Razgatlioglu, Rea and Redding.

Lowes made moves on Redding through the Turn 9-10 chicane, battled with him through Turn 11 and into Turn 12 before Redding responded into Turn 1. After that, he had to fight with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for fourth place, with the Championship leader coming through at Turn 9 on the final lap for fourth; Lowes will start Race 2 from fifth. Bautista was the highest placed rider using the SCX tyre with the front three all using the SCQ, while teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi was sixth also on the SCX tyre.

Wildcard Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) retired from the race after a crash with Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) at Turn 12 on Lap 4, with Vierge able to re-join the race. The incident was placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards.

WorldSBK Donington Park Tissot Superpole Race Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +1.089s
3 Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +3.889s

Race Two
It was an inseparable duo at the front of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field in Race 2 at Donington Park but Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) was able to hold on after consistent challenges from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) to take his first hat-trick in WorldSBK during the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

Like in the previous two races of the Donington Park weekend, Razgatlioglu led into Turn 1 but, unlike Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race, he was unable to escape from his rivals as Rea stuck with him throughout the race usually within just a couple of tenths of a second. On Lap 3, Rea initially got past into Turn 9 but Razgatlioglu responded immediately into Turn 11 with the same happening again on Lap 6 after Razgatlioglu was a bit offline through the Foggy Esses.

At the start of Lap 14, Razgatlioglu was able to start opening up the gap to Rea after resisting 13 laps of constant pressure from the six-time Champion, with the pair often alongside each other on the run down to the Foggy Esses. The pair were able to drop Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), with the Spanish rider taking his first podium of the weekend, although Bautista was able to attack Rea in the closing stages of the race, with Bautista passing Rea on Lap 19 at Turn 11 to move into second place with Ulsterman Rea finishing in third place.

The results mean all three riders in the 2022 title fight have now taken a WorldSBK hat-trick in their career, with Razgatlioglu the latest to join the exclusive club following his three wins. Razgatlioglu has now taken 22 WorldSBK wins in his career and 66 podiums while Yamaha now sit on 99 wins. Bautista’s second place gave him his 40th WorldSBK podium while Ducati now have 999 podium placements in the Championship, with Rea moving on to 228 podiums in his career.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed fourth place at Donington Park and, for the lap after his teammate overtook Rea, looked like he would be able to challenge the six-time Champion for the podium spot but the gap stabilised at 1.2 seconds. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) concluded a very strong weekend with fifth place, with Redding leaving his home round with a third, fourth and fifth-place finish. He was ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in sixth, with Lowes and Redding seemingly inseparable throughout the three races as they often battled on track.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was once again the lead Independent rider, repeating his Race 1 feat, as he secured yet another top-seven finish, his tenth in the first 15 races of the season. The Italian finished ahead of compatriot Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) in eighth place, with Italian more than seven seconds clear of an incredible fight for ninth place. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) took home ninth place after a battle with four other riders for ninth place, passing Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) in the latter stages of the race.

Lecuona had to fend off a late challenge from American rider Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) with the Spanish rider coming out on top by just 0.084s; Lecuona remains the only rider to have scored top ten finishes in every race this season. Gerloff was just half-a-second clear of rookie Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) in 12th with Lecuona’s Honda teammate Xavi Vierge less than a second back from Oettl. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) completed then points-paying positions with 15th place, the wildcard fighting his way up for field after being given a five-place grid penalty for irresponsible riding following a crash with Vierge in the Superpole Race.

Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team) was another who fought his way up the field as he claimed 16th place, finishing seven seconds clear of Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) in 17th place. Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was 18th after losing a couple of positions in the closing stages of the race, and the Japanese rider withstood a late charge from wildcard Peter Hickman (FHO Racing) who finished 19th. Hafizh Syahrin (MIE Racing Honda Team), Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) and Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) rounded out the riders.

Ukrainian rider Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the first retirement of the race after he had a Lap 3 crash at Turn 7. Leon Haslam (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) retired from the race when he brought his bike into the pitlane on Lap 8 of 23. Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) was the final retirement after he came out of the race in the closing stages of the race.

Donington Park WorldSBK Race Two Podium (Full Results Here)

1 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
2 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.102s
3 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +2.615s

Championship Standings After Donington Park (Full Standings Here)

1 Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 246 points
2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 229
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 203

WorldSBK Heads To Donington Park This Weekend

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Razgatlioglu got a good start from second on the grid to lead into Turn 1 with Rea in second and it was a precursor of what was to come during the 21-lap race.

Back to where it all began, where on a cold Sunday in 1988, the Championship was born. The 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship has arrived at Donington Park for Round 5 of the season and the Prosecco DOC UK Round. Make sure you tune in this weekend for all the action…

The historic home of WorldSBK and unequivocally home to some of the Championship’s greatest sporting moments, more emotions lie ahead this weekend.
The historic home of WorldSBK and unequivocally home to some of the Championship’s greatest sporting moments, more emotions lie ahead this weekend.

The 35th season of World Superbike action is proving to be one of the best yet and with a three-way fight for the title clear, other stars aim to have a say at a round that brings seen shocks and surprises. Could this be one of the key turning points in 2022, or will we see the usual suspects continue to knock spots off each other?

12 podiums from 12 races in 2022 and leading the Championship by 36 points, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has undertaken a more measured approach in 2022 in comparison to 2019 and it seems to be working. The Spaniard has won six races and is the only rider in the Championship to have finished on the podium in every race he’s finished.

Donington Park has been far from a happy hunting ground for Ducati in recent years; no win since 2011 and the Ducati Panigale V4 R has only had one third place.
Donington Park has been far from a happy hunting ground for Ducati in recent years; no win since 2011 and the Ducati Panigale V4 R has only had one third place.

owever, Donington Park has been far from a happy hunting ground for Ducati in recent years; no win since 2011 and the Ducati Panigale V4 R has only had one third place – courtesy of Bautista in 2019’s Race 2. No top two finish since 2016, will Bautista change all of that? Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi had a successful test at Misano during the break and will look to back-up his findings and step back on the podium, whilst Ducati chase their 1000th podium in WorldSBK; they currently have 998.

Chasing down Bautista and heading home to rule the roost, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be keen to continue his success at Donington Park. A sole win last year and a triple in 2019, Rea’s got amazing form at Donington Park. He’s been testing for the Suzuka 8 Hour race during the gap since Misano and will hope that he can hit the ground running at a circuit at which he crashed at in 2021’s Race 2, relinquishing the Championship lead. This time, he’s chasing it from Bautista at a circuit where Rea certainly seems to have the upper hand. On the other side of the garage, Alex Lowes hopes to dazzle at home after a podium in Race 1 in 2021; Kawasaki as a manufacturer are one podium place away from 500 in WorldSBK – will they manage it?

Chasing down Bautista and heading home to rule the roost, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be keen to continue his success at Donington Park.
Chasing down Bautista and heading home to rule the roost, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be keen to continue his success at Donington Park.

Looking to build on a first victory from the last round at Misano, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) hopes that Donington Park lives up to be the happy hunting ground of years gone by. Along with San Juan, Donington Park is one of just two circuits where Razgatlioglu has taken a podium at least once every year he’s raced there. In 2018, he took a first rostrum whilst in 2019, he battled for victory in Race 2 with Jonathan Rea. However, the Turk’s opening lap of Race 1 in 2021 will go down as one of WorldSBK’s finest moments as he cruised to two wins and the Championship lead. Does more success await? Teammate Andrea Locatelli will aim to consolidate his top five placing with a strong ride this weekend, where he had a best of ninth in the Superpole Race.

In what has been a very strong opening four rounds of the Championship, a challenge lies ahead for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC). The Spanish rookie has never raced at Donington Park and only completed a track day at the circuit prior to the round. One of just two riders to finish every race – the other being compatriot Bautista – Lecuona is nine points from Locatelli in the battle for fourth. Honda only have one round of experience with their current bike at Donington Park, with a best of fourth with Leon Haslam in the Superpole Race last year, but they’ll hope a pre-round test at Misano can give them a boost going to the UK. Hoping to be fighting fit, Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) will have to get his head around the quirky circuit layout during the round.

In what has been a very strong opening four rounds of the Championship, a challenge lies ahead for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC). The Spanish rookie has never raced at Donington Park...
In what has been a very strong opening four rounds of the Championship, a challenge lies ahead for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC). The Spanish rookie has never raced at Donington Park…

Likewise in a track day at Donington Park in between rounds, the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team and Scott Redding. One of Redding’s career highlights came at the British circuit, when in 2008, he became the then-youngest Grand Prix winner in the 125cc World Championship Grand Prix, aged just 15. Since then, wins in BSB but no podiums in WorldSBK have come at the circuit, with a best of fourth in Race 2 last year. Illia Mykhalchyk (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will once again be present in the place of double Donington Park winner Michael van der Mark who is still recovering from injury; he’s scored points in WorldSSP and STK1000 at Donington Park before.

The Independent battle is led by Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who returns to Donington Park, historically a tricky circuit for him, despite being top Ducati in Race 1 last year. Eighth overall and just seven points behind Alex Lowes, he’s 23 ahead of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW), who aims to return to the top six at a track he knows well, having fought for victory in 2014. 11 points further back of Baz is Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who returns to the circuit at which he got his last podium at 12 months ago, when he was second in Race 2. Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) will race at Donington Park for the first time, whilst Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) has a podium to his name at the track; both complete the top five in the Independent standings.

The action at Donnington Park gets underway on Friday. Make sure you tune in so you don't miss any action!
The action at Donington Park gets underway on Friday. Make sure you tune in so you don’t miss any action!

Roberto Tamburini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) is next up in 15th place overall, with the Italian just marginally ahead of Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (BARNI Spark Racing Team), who’s made steps of late. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) will hope to be passed fit after being ruled out of Misano, whilst Kohta Nozane (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) makes a debut at the track as he missed out through injury in 2021.

Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha), like Mahias, hopes to be fit after being ruled out in Italy, whilst the target for MIE Racing Honda Team duo Leandro Mercado and Hafizh Syahrin is points. Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) is another rider hoping to be passed fit, whilst home-hero Leon Haslam returns with the TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki outfit. Two wildcards to keep an eye on: long-awaited debut of Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) and return of Peter Hickman (FHO Racing) on a BMW M1000RR.

Mladin Innocent, Makes Statement Saying He Was The Victim Of DV

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Mat Mladin has made further statements after being acquitted of the charges against him. The seven-time AMA Pro Superbike Champion says he was the victim of domestic violence by his ex-partner. You can read the complete statement he made to his Facebook page below.  

Mat Mladin has made further statements after being acquitted of the charges against him.
Mat Mladin has made further statements after being acquitted of the charges against him.
“For anyone who is a victim of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE”
I am “MAT MLADIN”. Surely I could not be the victim of DV, especially how all of you know me as the racer.
But away from the track I’m known as “Doof” by the two most important people in my life, Em and Jess, my two beautiful daughters. Yes 18 and 15 and they still call me Doof, the name my eldest gave me when she was just 2.
“He says it as he sees it”, “brutally honest”, “hard man”, “a machine”, “boring”, “prick”, “asshole”, and the list goes on. These are the things I was known as by the people that didn’t approve of how I went about things and probably by most of my competitors when racing in the USA. When you do a bit of winning you could be Harry Potter and they will call you these things. But truth be truths, on occasion I was all of the above. What you don’t know is that my life away from the track was very different. I didn’t believe I had to be defensive like I was at the track. I trusted people, I rarely hid anything from anyone. As one of the three witnesses in my case said, “too honest for his own good”. People that knew me well would say “he is so different at home compared to the track”. I could go on, but suffice to say I really screwed up my personal life after racing had finished. I should have treated my personal life like my professional life and I know now, I would have been much much happier if I did. I have screwed up some things and hurt some people and for this I can only improve and not allow things like this to happen again.
The seven-time AMA Pro Superbike Champion says he was the victim of domestic violence by his ex-partner.
Because of the lies that landed me in this crap, the past two years of my life have been spent doing the best I could to prepare my now 18 year old uni student daughter and my 15 year old homeschooled daughter who is on the autistic spectrum, to prepare them for some years without their father and the possibility of having their mother depart their life at some point (a little on this later). Some would say that if I knew I was innocent, why would I worry about doing this? Anyone on this FB page knows most of my success on two wheels, from my first Australian dirt track championship win in 1981 through to my last and seventh American Superbike championship win 28 years later in 2009. To be able to have such success, one thing you have to learn first and foremost is to prepare for the worst because I can tell you from much experience that when you win as many motorcycle races as I have, a lot of the time you do so with some sort of problem (mechanical, sickness etc) that can mostly be overcome by being organised and prepared. So I started preparing my girls the best way I knew in March of 2020. That’s over 2 years of not knowing what my future held and worried sick about my daughters and their mum. It was the heaviest burden to carry.
My message to you: do not wait to go to the police because you think the DV you are suffering from will get better, it will not. If you are told “I love you, I’m sorry and I won’t do it again”, do not believe it – it will never get better.
My abuser would sneak up to my property with no worries about others seeing or hearing as the property was in the middle of nowhere. As per usual the tears and the sorry’s and the I love yous were the first thing, and when you didn’t accept these things once again and you verbally abuse them because that’s all you have, then that way of them trying to get back in is quickly replaced with yelling abuse and calling you everything under the sun and last but not least as they are walking away telling you to stop abusing them. Yes they change that quickly when they are not getting what they believe they deserve. They use every tool they have to make you feel like you are the abuser and they are the victim. My closest friends and my family have no idea at the depth of abuse I was subject to. Some have witnessed it, but for the most part I denied it was that bad. If video footage and CCTV from my security systems wasn’t available, few would believe it.
Throughout the past years, even though the relationship was on again off again, but by far mostly off, I endured constant stalking, mental and emotional abuse and physical violence, break and enter to my homes (whilst I was there and not) and the list goes on. I was dining with another woman in my local town, I was confronted, verbally abused, as was my date and chased out of the restaurant. I have been physically abused on the street and hoped that no one would see it, only to be asked later by a business owner across the road, who I’d known for 30 years, was I okay and if I wanted him to call the police. No I said, thinking it will “get better” and not wanting the abuser to get charged and so on.
In 2018, I had the chance to work directly with a young man and get back involved in road racing, which for a few reasons I was excited about. I got to go to the track again and get my hands dirty in a different role, this time as a mechanic. I had big shoes to fill. If you ever saw my boys work on my bikes you would understand.
I enjoyed giving back to the sport that has afforded myself, my daughter’s and their mum a very comfortable life. After all the abuse, I thought this will get me back on track and to be able to get away from my abuser. How wrong I was. When they see you slipping away, the abuse, the stalking, the complete invasion of privacy gets far far worse. Then you find yourself being told you are this and that, words I won’t use here because I’m sure some kids are reading, then you start feeling it’s your fault and that you are making this person abuse you and it’s exactly what you are being told by them.
Being charged with what I was, thrown in jail and then living the past two and a half years in silence waiting for my turn to speak, was very hard. But as I did in my racing days, I have and am taking all the positive things that have and are coming out of this tumultuous time in my life and have become smarter and better from the experience. We could hold onto the negatives and allow these perpetrators of DV to win and allow them to still control our lives indirectly but I won’t, never. I thank my abuser for the experience I have gained at the hands of her abuse. Mine and my daughter’s lives will be that much richer because of it.
I talk openly, actively and honestly with Em and Jess, about DV, among other things (unfortunately Em witnessed a lot of it). But I won’t let this very negative part of my life go forgotten without drawing on the positives. I did this in my professional life so I sure as heck won’t miss this opportunity this time in my private life.
When your life and privacy are constantly under threat of violence in one manner or another, you quickly turn inward and for me, being financially set and not having to go to work and also my daughters being with their mum fifty percent of the time, I had plenty of spare time and I started to drink alcohol, far too much at times and my cocaine use was out of control at times also. Other than a celebratory drink after winning a championship or a Daytona podium swig of the champers for example I never became a drinker until the abuse entered my life in my early 40’s. Even after the rough years of retiring from the sport I loved, I never touched a drink for three years after retirement. The first time I used drugs was not long after the first time I was physically abused as an adult when I was 43 years old. The drugs started for the first time not long after my abuser stormed into my house (on a property in a national park with just one private road in and my nearest neighbour 2kms away) when I had returned from a round of the Australian Superbike championships in 2015, with a woman I was seeing. We got home at midnight from the Queensland road trip. Half an hour after we were settling in for the night, my abuser bust through the door into my house and verbally abused my friend and this was the first time I was physically abused. The drugs allowed me to escape the abuse. These years could have all been a non event if I just took care of myself and not worried so much about others.
DO NOT BELIEVE YOUR ABUSER NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY OR HOW MUCH THEY APOLOGIZE. IF IT HAPPENS ONCE, IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN AND OVER TIME IT WILL GET WORSE!
One last thing, I wanted to clear something up as the lovely person who looks after this FB page has told me that some people may be a little confused and may be thinking that all of this is about by my X wife. It is not. Absolutely couldn’t be further from the truth. We were trogehter for nearly twenty years. My X wife and I are still good friends. We share our girls 50/50 and have done from the first day of our separation. There are no court orders in place to make sure we stick to this verbal agreement because we never needed that. We have both done everything we can to soften the landing as much as we can for our girls in what was a very hard time. We have remained very cordial for the past 10 years since our separation. The girl’s mum is going through her own very tough time battling brain cancer. The past twelve months have been very hard for her and of course us and her mum, dad and siblings and her close friends.
She was the first person to put her hand up for me to come to trial as a character witness but her health just didn’t afford that. She was the third person to give me a tight squeeze (after our daughters) after all this stuff got sorted. I continue to support her through her fight and would do anything for her. She is the best mum and a loving, caring and compassionate person. And if I need an ear she was always there until the day her communication became a bit hard for her. She is the woman that gave me my beautiful daughters and until I take my last breath I will be there to support her.
Thank you,
Mat
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