Moto Media

Marquez wins Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix



marquez race laguna motogpThe Repsol Honda Team rider extended his championship lead while LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl celebrated a first premier class podium finish from pole position. Valentino Rossi held off Alvaro Bautista for the final rostrum spot.

On Saturday, Bradl had stormed to a maiden pole position while Marquez suffered a crash in qualifying. On Sunday, the Spaniard patiently followed the German before pulling off a clean manoeuvre at the end of the 19th lap. Five riders failed to make the distance at the notoriously difficult anti-clockwise circuit, the shortest on the calendar.

Marquez’s third victory of the year equals the sum of reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. The Repsol Honda rider sank as low as fourth after a poor start, but stayed ahead of Bautista in the early stages and crucially pulled off a confident pass on Rossi at the world-famous Corkscrew corner. He soon homed in on Bradl, overtaking the German and winning by 2.2 seconds. In doing so, Marquez wins for the second time within the space of a week and steals former double champion Freddie Spencer’s record of being the youngest MotoGP™ rider to triumph in consecutive Grands Prix. Furthermore, he makes history by becoming the first rookie rider to win at Laguna Seca.

Bradl’s ride to second was one of calm and composure. A clean getaway allowed the LCR Honda MotoGP rider to head the field from his first ever pole in the top class. The 2011 Moto2™ World Champion was assisted by the fact that those behind him were battling early on, but by the 17th tour had the recovering Marquez only two tenths of a second behind. Once the overtake had occurred two laps later, Bradl comfortably managed a two-second gap back to Rossi to clinch his maiden premier class podium, improving on his previous best of fourth – achieved on three occasions.

Having not finished on the podium until he won Round 7 at Assen, Yamaha Factory Racing’s Rossi has now taken the chequered flag inside the top three for as many races in a row. The Italian, who had famously overtaken Casey Stoner at the Corkscrew five years ago, was this time passed in the same place by Marquez before holding off a significant attack from Bautista over the closing laps; the Spaniard briefly edged ahead before the final corner, but was kept behind. Another third place for Rossi sees him jump ahead of Cal Crutchlow for fourth in the standings.

Laguna Seca had always promised to be a weekend of damage limitation for both Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team). Both men continued to suffer with left collarbone injuries as they finished fifth and sixth, with Pedrosa having moved ahead of his rival in an overtake at the Andretti Hairpin. The duo finished in front of Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Crutchlow, who on Saturday had been left confused by a crash before taking part in Q2 with his second bike.

The top ten was completed by Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso – who during the race made side-to-side contact on the start/finish straight – and Avintia Blusens’ Hector Barbera, who became the first rider other than Aleix Espargaro to lead the CRT runners in 2013. Espargaro crashed at the last corner, while Power Electronics Aspar teammate Randy de Puniet retired with technical problems. Tech 3’s Bradley Smith also stopped with mechanical gremlins, while the first two retirements were PBM’s Michael Laverty and NGM Mobile Forward Racing’s Claudio Corti.

In 11th, Ignite Pramac Racing’s Alex de Angelis scored while covering for the injured Ben Spies, while Colin Edwards finished 12th for Forward Racing. The top 15 was completed by Danilo Petrucci (Came IodaRacing Project), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Yonny Hernandez (PBM).

With the first half of the season now completed, MotoGP™ heads into its summer break before returning with the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix in mid-August. Marquez carries a 16-point advantage over teammate Pedrosa and has finished on the podium in eight of his first nine races since joining the premier class as reigning Moto2™ World Champion.



Moto2: Torres celebrates career-first win at Sachsenring


torres race moto2 sachsenring

Jordi Torres has taken his maiden career victory in the Moto2™ eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, becoming the fifth different rider to win in the intermediate class this year. Simone Corsi beat Pol Espargaro to second, championship leader Scott Redding was seventh and Xavier Simeon fell to ninth place from pole.

On Saturday, Torres was narrowly beaten to the top grid position as Simeon claimed his career-first pole position for Desguaces La Torre Maptaq. Torres (Aspar Team Moto2) would start second, while from the front row Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40) aimed to make the most of an eighth-placed start for chief rival Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team).

Espargaro immediately seized the lead off the start line and would hold the advantage until Lap 19, when Torres – who maintained a consistent pace over the full 29-lap distance – dived through at the Sachsen Kurve. Behind the leading duo, Simone Corsi kept a watching brief and opportunistically overtook Espargaro for second place on the final lap; this capped off his first rostrum for almost two years. Despite dropping back another position, Espargaro finished four positions in front of Redding.

Fourth place went to Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon, while multiple Sachsenring podium finisher Alex de Angelis put on a charge in the second half of the Grand Prix to finish inside the top five for NGM Mobile Forward Racing, overhauling Tom Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing) and championship leader Redding, who endures his worst result of 2013 thus far. Pole man Simeon could not demonstrate such strong race pace and finished 12.8 seconds behind the winner.

Six riders failed to make the finish. Tech 3’s Danny Kent and TargoBank Motorsport wildcard Alex Mariñelarena departed the race early, with the Spaniard sustaining a contusion to the left knee. Blusens Avintia’s Kyle Smith was next to fall, soon joined on the sidelines by Desguaces La Torre SAG’s Marcel Schrotter. Argiñano & Gines Racing’s Roman Ramos (covering for Alberto Moncayo, who was injured in a training accident) retired into the pit lane and while winner Torres’ teammate Jordi Terol crashed out in the closing stages of the race.

Heading into the summer break, Redding continues to top the standings (143 points), although Espargaro (120) has reduced the gap from 30 to 23. Espargaro’s teammate Tito Rabat (88) has lost ground, having scored only two points for 14th place on Sunday. Reigning Moto3™ World Champion Sandro Cortese picked up the final point for Dynavolt Intact GP, while one standout performance came from QMMF Racing Team’s Anthony West who rose to eighth from 16th on the grid.

Sunday’s result marks the first time in 2013 that three different makes of Moto2™ chassis – Suter, Speed Up and Kalex – have shared the podium. The action will continue with the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix in mid-August.



Moto3: Rins beats Salom after last-lap pass

rins race moto3 sachsenring

Alex Rins has won the Moto3™ eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from pole position, overhauling championship leader Luis Salom at the penultimate corner of the race. Maverick Viñales, who also battled for the lead throughout, was third to ensure that the top three riders in the championship filled the podium places.

On Saturday at the Sachsenring, Rins has picked up his third pole position of the season for Estrella Galicia 0,0 and was highly keen to place himself back in the championship fight following a costly retirement at Jerez earlier in the season.

Rins led from pole, but after an entertaining battle with Viñales elected to yield the lead to the Team Calvo rider. The order would continue to change between the duo, until Lap 24 when Viñales took the advantage after Rins ran wide, only for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Salom – who had typically waited patiently in third position – to seize the advantage in an impressive double overtaking manoeuvre at Sachsen Kurve.

Following Salom’s move, Rins crucially passed Viñales into the final bend which allowed him three laps to hunt down the new leader. The margin was three tenths of a second at the start of the last lap, but Rins bravely dived up the inside of the penultimate corner to seal his second victory after Austin, Texas while the leading trio crossed the finish line separated by only two and a half tenths of a second.

In fourth position, Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira overhauled Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Marquez in the closing stages, with the latter having made a charge in the second half of the race. Efren Vazquez was sixth on the second Mahindra, while Jack Miller was disappointed to finish seventh for Caretta Technology – RTG, having started fifth on the grid. The top eight was rounded out by equally disappointed home rider Jonas Folger (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), who had been fourth on the grid.

Ongetta-Rivacold’s Alexis Masbou did not make the start following a problem in the Warm-Up, whereas four riders crashed out of the race. An early mistake by wildcard rider Kevin Hanus (Thomas Sabo GP Team) saw him collect Eric Granado (Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3), whereas wildcard Luca Amato (Mahindra Spiel-Kiste) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3) made mistakes of their own.

Sunday’s result sees Salom retain his championship lead (172 points), with Viñales remaining second (158). Race winner Rins (142) has now moved closer to second place overall as 30 points cover the top three. Moto3™ now takes a break of one month before returning for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on 18 August