MotoGP 2022

[SKR]

The first of two races for MotoAmerica at Road America had a pretty good battle for the lead between Mathew Scholtz and Danilo Petrucci. Jake Gagne shot to the lead on the opening lap, but got together with Petrucci going into turn 5 and ended up in the gravel. Petrucci reentered the race in fifth. Cam Petersen led the first few laps but retired with mechanical problems, leaving Petrucci and Scholtz. Petrucci led until the last lap when Scholtz got past him, but Petrucci dove in on the last corner and went side by side with Scholtz to the finish line with Scholtz coming out ahead by .015 seconds. Gagne came back from last place after the lap 1 incident to finish fifth.

Race 2 is Sunday.

[SKR]

The Catalan GP went this morning for MotoGP. A bit of a weird one today. Takaaki Nakagami lost the front going into the first corner on lap 1, and took out Alex Rins and Francesco Bagnaia. Fabio Quartararo jumped to the lead and set sail early. Conditions were hot and tire conservation was going to be an issue, which had me keeping an eye on Enea Bastianini. But he crashed out midway through the race, and his Gresini Racing teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed out later on the same lap.

While Quartararo worked to build a 5+ second lead, the fight was on for second place between Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco. Espargaro finished the race first, and by that I mean he made the mistake of thinking the race was over when there was still one lap left. As he slowed and waved to the fans, Martin, Zarco, Joan Mir and Luca Marini all passed him. Espargaro rejoined the race and was able to get back past Marini to salvage fifth from a likely second place finish, leaving points on the table in his championship bid.

Quartararo won by a margin of 6.473 seconds. Rins broke his wrist in the lap one crash. I don't know how Nakagami is, but considering he took out Bagnaia by smashing into his rear tire with his face, whatever shape he's in is probably better than it could have been.

Standings after the Catalan GP:

1. 147 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
2. 125 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia)
3. 94 Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
4. 91 Johann Zarco (Ducati)
5. 81 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)



In MotoAmerica, after a bit of a snoozer start to the season, race 2 went today. It was a short, 8 lap race on a wet Road America. It was one of the most entertaining races across every series I've talked about in this thread this season. Positions changed every lap between Cameron Petersen on a Yamaha, PJ Jacobsen on a BMW and Danilo Petrucci on a Ducati. Jake Gagne got off to a terrible start and was only able to come back to fourth. Jacobsen led on the last lap, but Petersen was able to get by and Petrucci stayed conservative and raced for points to finish third.

Standings after Road America:

1. 140 Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
2. 133 Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
3. 115 Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
4. 103 Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
5. 79 Hector Barbera (BMW)



Next up in Motorbike Racing:

June 6
- Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 1
- 3Wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 1
- RL360 Superstock TT

June 8
- Bennetts Supertwin TT
- Monster Energy Supersport TT Race 2

June 10
- 3Wheeling.media Sidecar TT Race 2
- Milwaukee Senior TT

June 11
- World Superbike Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round Race 1

June 12
- World Superbike Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round Superpole Race
- World Superbike Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round Race 2

June 17-19
- British Superbikes Knockhill

June 19
- MotoGP Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

June 24-26
- Dynapac MotoAmerica Superbikes at The Ridge

June 26
- MotoGP Motul TT Assen

[shakalaka]

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For free you can get on youtube and watch the 2018 Senior TT review.



A regular (superbike) race is 6 laps and about an hour and 40 minutes. This is a condensed, 30 minute highlight version of it. 2018 had great weather all through the 2 weeks and new lap and race records were being set every race. The Senior TT is the last race of the week, the most prestigious, and in 2018 it was set to be the fastest ever as Peter Hickman and Dean Harrison tried to be the first rider to run a 135mph lap.

Edit: I've really got the TT on the brain. In case you mean MotoGP, here's the 2018 Dutch GP on youtube.



From the description:

So watched the GP and WTF...that was non-stop entertainment. Are all the races or most like that or was that one a rarity? It's like blink of an eye you're first and now you're 6th and almost every gets to be 1st once. haha. Also found the umbrella girls in the start interesting - not sure I understand the idea behind it but yea. I would guess these guys are way more ballsy than F1 guys. Are there are any street circuits in MotoGP?

Watched half the TT thing...the first person view is fucking insane ripping through the mountain. So that race is more like whoever has the fastest lap wins in the end? Since they all get sent out in staggered format?

I think I might start watching it regularly if the time allows.

[SKR]

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So watched the GP and WTF...that was non-stop entertainment. Are all the races or most like that or was that one a rarity? It's like blink of an eye you're first and now you're 6th and almost every gets to be 1st once. haha. Also found the umbrella girls in the start interesting - not sure I understand the idea behind it but yea. I would guess these guys are way more ballsy than F1 guys. Are there are any street circuits in MotoGP?

I think that race was pretty unique with it having so many contenders for the lead. Most of the time it's a couple guys, and then various battles throughout the field. I wish they'd post it on youtube, last year at Aragon Marc Marquez passed Francesco Bagnaia 7 times in the last 3 laps for the lead, and 7 times Bagnaia passed him back.

There aren't any street circuits in MotoGP, I assume you mean like Monaco. They like to have lots of runoff. For that you'd have to look to "the roads". In the UK they have racing on tracks, and they also race on public roads like the TT. Some riders race on tracks ("short circuits") and others race on "the roads". The Macau GP is most like Monaco.

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Watched half the TT thing...the first person view is fucking insane ripping through the mountain. So that race is more like whoever has the fastest lap wins in the end? Since they all get sent out in staggered format?

Yeah it's a time trial since it would be insanely dangerous to send out 60 riders in a mass start there. The fastest to complete 6 laps (or 4, depending on which race it is) wins. There are road races that are mass starts like the North West 200, Armoy, the Ulster GP, the Southern 100 and the Macau GP. The TT has always been a time trial though.

[shakalaka]

Yea the TT is basically a road circuit anyway. That first person view on those mountain roads was proper scary. These guys have solid balls for sure.

[SKR]

Jesus, what a year.

I haven't been able to watch any of the TT races because the on demand video isn't available, but I've found out that Davy Morgan was killed on the last lap of the Supersport race this morning at the 27th Milestone.

I don't know if any of the other races scheduled for today ran or not. I don't have any way to find out without seeing spoilers.

[SKR]

The TTPlus video was up today so I was able to see all the races from Monday.

In the Supersport race, Michael Dunlop set a lap record, extending his lead on the final lap from 1.1 seconds to 5.6 seconds over Dean Harrison on his way to winning his 20th TT. Peter Hickman finished 3rd, Lee Johnston 4th, and James Hillier 5th. Favorite Davey Todd, after his performance at the NW200, only managed 8th after blowing an engine in practice.



The Sidecar race, delayed after the aforementioned incident in the Supersport race, went as you might expect with Ben and Tom Birchall leading from pillar to post. Pete Founds and Jevan Walmsley were in a fight with Ryan and Callum Crowe for second throughout the race, and a slip by Founds/Walmsley on the last lap at Governor's Dip gave it to the Crowe brothers by .112 seconds.



The Superstock race was set to be one of the most strongly contested races of the week. Favorites included Peter Hickman, Dean Harrison, Davey Todd and Michael Dunlop. Hickman blasted out of the gate with Todd close behind, but as the race went on Hickman got further and further away. Dunlop was in the mix at the start but slid back. Lee Johnston and Conor Cummins were in with a chance at a podium as well. Johnston retired on the last lap, and Cummins put on the fastest lap of the race to get 3rd behind Todd in 2nd and winner Hickman.



The Supertwin and Superstock 2 races go tomorrow.

[SKR]

The Supertwin race is always a bit of a wildcard to the TT. They're smaller bikes so you see some different competitors that don't race the 600s or 1000s, and they're so highly strung that there's a much greater chance of mechanical issues forcing early retirements. In past years it's basically been a two-make race between Kawasaki and Paton, but this year the Aprilia 660 was allowed in. It has more power out of the box than the other two, so reliability was expected to be less of a problem.

That's not how the race started though. Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman, both on Patons, were setting sector records, and were no more than a second apart at any time during the first two laps. Lee Johnston was on the nearest Aprilia, over a minute down in third. Unfortunately, Dunlop's Paton gave up at Glen Helen, allowing Hickman to relax his bike and run to his 8th TT win and 3rd of the week. Johnston finished second, over 100 seconds behind, and dark horse Paul Jordan brought his Kawasaki home third.



The second Supersport race of the week was postponed until tomorrow due to rain.

In a bizarre and unfortunate turn of events, earlier in the week a crash involving Cesar Chanal and Olivier Lavorel caused the race to be postponed. It was reported that Lavorel was killed and Chanal had been transported to hospital in critical condition. Today (or yesterday I suppose depending on time zones), another report came out that there had been an error in identification, and it was actually Chanal that died and Lavorel in hospital. I can imagine circumstances that could make it difficult to identify a deceased person, but the fact that one of them was and is still alive is certainly confusing.

[SKR]

The second Supersport race, the second Sidecar race and the Senior race at the TT were scheduled to go today, at shortened distances due to weather.

The first Supersport race was a close race between Michael Dunlop, Dean Harrison and Peter Hickman and the second race today was expected to be the same. Shortened from 4 laps to 2, it again was close between Dunlop looking for his second win of the week and Hickman for his fourth. It was within a second until the second lap, when Dunlop opened up a 3+ second lead over the mountain. Hickman finished second, Harrison third.



The Sidecar race was shortened from 3 laps to 2, in what has been an awful week for them. Between reduced time for practice due to weather and the incident with Chanal and Lavorel in race 1, there hasn't been much to cheer about. Race 2 started off a stormer. Ben and Tom Birchall were holding a narrow lead over Peter Founds and Jevan Walmsley, and Ryan and Callum Crowe were right behind. Unfortunately, the race was red flagged early into lap 2. The Birchalls were declared the winners, followed by Founds/Walmsley and the Crowes.

Later a statement was given that the reason for the red flag was a crash at Ago's Leap, taking the lives of Roger Stockton and Bradley Stockton.



As a result of that incident, and worsening weather, the Senior TT was initially cancelled, and then postponed until tomorrow. The Senior is expected to be the full 6 lap distance, the first since the Superbike race at the start of the week.

[SKR]

Today was the final race of the 2022 Isle of Man TT, the Senior race. Several riders were picked as favorites to win. Peter Hickman after winning the opening Superbike race. Dean Harrison was defending his 2019 Senior win, the last TT before Covid shut things down. Manxman Conor Cummins is always a race day man. Davey Todd is as fast as anybody and has had an underachieving TT with bike troubles all throughout. James Hillier has had more 130+mph laps than almost anybody else. Michael Dunlop is tough to beat. And who knows what John McGuinness has up his sleeve for the Senior.

The Senior went much the same way as the Superbike race. Harrison led to Glen Helen, and then Hickman took the lead after that. Harrison has always been quickest on the opening half of the course from the Grandstand to Ramsey, but Hickman makes all the time back over the mountain. The race was tighter than the Superbike race, but still ended with Hickman over Harrison by 16 seconds. Cummins just edged out Todd for 3rd. McGuinness finished 9th despite incurring a 30 second penalty for speeding in the pits. Glenn Irwin retired on lap 4 with mechanical issues.

It was a good ending to an up-and-down TT. Hickman won his 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th TTs, the third man to win four in a week along with Philip McCallen and Ian Hutchinson (who won 5 in 2010). Michael Dunlop won his 20th and 21st TTs, both coming in the Supersport races, making him the winningest rider since the 600cc Supersport category was created. And Ben and Tom Birchall continued their dominance of the Sidecars, winning their 10th and 11th TTs in the last 14 races.



In World Superbike at Misano, race 1 was contested again by the usual suspects, Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu. Razgatlioglu retired on lap 14 with mechanical issues, leaving Bautista and Rea to fight it out. Rea set personal best laps, but Bautista was setting lap records and built a 5 second gap to win. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes rounded out a top 5 consisting of 3 Ducatis on home soil and both factory Kawasakis.

The Superpole race and Superbike race 2 go tomorrow.

[SKR]

I might be finally starting to change my opinion on World Superbikes.

Today was the Superpole race and race 2. In both races, by the second corner the top 3 was a combination of Alvaro Bautista, Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu, like it has been every race this season. But the riders behind them were actually close enough to dice with them a little bit so it wasn't as guaranteed as it's been.

Razgatliolgu started from the pole in the Superpole race and led from the word go, winning his first race of his title-defending 2022 season. Bautista and Rea were left to race for 2nd, with Bautista coming out on top. Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona, former Moto2 and MotoGP riders repectively and now in their first WSBK season with factory Honda, finished a close 4th and 5th.



In race 2, their 1-2-3 finish in the Superpole race meant Razgatlioglu, Bautista and Rea would start on the front row of the grid. Bautista was able to work his way past Razgatlioglu and cruise to the win. Michael Ruben Rinaldi did what hasn't been done all season - push Rea off the podium. Rinaldi finished 3rd, and Rea finished a season-worst 4th. Lecuona rounded out the top 5. Bautista's win means he's still in the championship lead, and is the only rider to finish on the podium in every race this season.



WSBK Standings after Misano:

1. 220 Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
2. 184 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
3. 141 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)
4. 108 Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha)
5. 99 Iker Lecuona (Honda)

[SKR]

After a break in the schedule to allow for the TT, British Superbikes are back at Knockhill this weekend with race 1 of 3 running today. Reigning champion Tarran Mackenzie was back in good shape after being injured in crashes in preseason testing, except he wasn't because he crashed in qualifying. Bradley Ray took the lead early and never gave it up. Jason O'Halloran finished second, and Rory Skinner finished third on his home track just ahead of his teammate Lee Jackson.

Races 2 and 3 are tomorrow. Also, MotoGP at Sachsenring tomorrow.

[SKR]

MotoGP was back today at Sachsenring for the German GP. It was a weird race of attrition. Marc Marquez is still out after undergoing surgery, meaning his streak of 11 straight wins at Sachsenring would end. Alex Rins didn't start, still suffering from injuries sustained at Catalunya. Jack Miller had a long lap penalty for, and I didn't know this was a rule, crashing under a yellow flag during practice. Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of second place on lap 3, and Joan Mir crashed out later on the same lap. Darryn Binder crashed on lap 5 and Takaaki Nakagami on lap 6. Alex Marquez retired on lap 6. During all that, Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco were able to plant themselves in first and second respectively, while Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, Aprilia teammates, were in a close battle for fourth. Vinales retired on lap 19 when his ride height device failed. Pol Espargaro retired on lap 22 with pain from injuries in a qualifying crash. Jack Miller, recently in the news for losing his Ducati ride at the end of this season and signing with KTM for 2023, got through into third past Espargaro on lap 28. Luca Marini rounded out the top 5 in what I think is the best finish for Mooney VR46 Racing so far this season.



In British Superbikes, Rory Skinner led early in race 2 on Sunday, ahead of Bradley Ray and Jason O'Halloran. A crash between Leon Haslam and Storm Stacey brought out the safety car, tightening Skinner's lead. O'Halloran got to the lead as Kawasaki teammates Skinner and Lee Jackson fought for second place, with Jackson coming out ahead. Ray finished fourth and Tommy Bridewell finished fifth.



In race 3, Skinner again jumped out to the lead, looking for his first BSB win, but crashed out on lap 5. Ray led O'Halloran until lap 26, when O'Halloran got past Ray into the lead. Third place was contested between Jackson, Danny Buchan, Bridewell, Josh Brookes, Glenn Irwin and Tarran Mackenzie. O'Halloran held onto his lead, making it a double for Sunday. Sixth is a good finish for Brookes who has had a terrible 2021 and 2022 after winning the 2020 championship.



MotoGP Standings:

1. 172 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
2. 138 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia)
3. 111 Johann Zarco (Ducati)
4. 100 Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
5. 82 Brad Binder (KTM)

British Superbikes Standings:

1. 216 Bradley Ray (Yamaha)
2. 200 Jason O'Halloran (Yamaha)
3. 174 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki)
4. 148 Rory Skinner (Kawasaki)
5. 141 Kyle Ryde (Yamaha)

[SKR]

Today was the last race for MotoGP before the 5 week summer break, at Assen. Francesco Bagnaia started on the pole and jumped out to an early lead, with Aleix Espargaro second. On lap 5, points leader Fabio Quartararo made a move up the inside of Espargaro, but lost the front and took them both out into the gravel. Espargaro stayed upright and dropped back to 15th. Quartararo remounted and rejoined the race in 24th. Marco Bezzecchi moved up into second place, and Brad Binder into third. Jack Miller had to serve a long lap penalty for the second week in a row, dropping him back in the field. After the lap 5 incident, Maverick Vinales was the leading Aprilia and got past Binder for third. Espargaro worked his way back from 15th up to 6th, and in the last chicane forced his way past Binder and Miller to finish fourth and tighten up the championship points. Vinales finished third, his best finish in I think two years. Bezzecchi held onto second, his best finish in MotoGP and the first podium for Mooney VR46 Racing. Bagnaia won by a margin of 0.444 seconds.

Moto2 was a great race too with 8 riders at the front fighting for spots. Cameron Beaubier started 18th, and set lap records one after another until getting briefly up to 3rd, before settling back into 5th. Unfortunately he crashed out before the finish. I wish he'd qualify better so he didn't have to push so hard in the race.

MotoGP is off until August 7th, when they return to Silverstone for the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. British Superbikes rider Rory Skinner has wildcard entries with American Racing for Moto2 at Silverstone and Red Bull Ring. He's been at the sharp end of BSB all year so hopefully he can find some success in Moto2.



MotoGP Standings after Assen:

1. 172 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha)
2. 151 Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia)
3. 114 Johann Zarco (Ducati)
4. 106 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
5. 105 Enea Bastianini (Ducati)

[SKR]

In MotoAmerica at The Ridge Motorsport Park in Washington, Jake Gagne led all practice sessions, qualified on the pole, led every lap and won both races.

In race 1 on Saturday, Gagne led teammate Cameron Petersen, Danilo Petrucci, Mathew Scholtz and Hector Barbera. In race 2 on Sunday, Gagne led Petrucci, Petersen, Scholtz and Barbera. I haven't seen race 2 because MotoAmerica hasn't uploaded it yet, but I'm sure it looks a lot like race 1 did.



MotoAmerica standings after The Ridge:

1. 176 Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
2. 165 Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
3. 159 Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
4. 139 Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
5. 101 Hector Barbera (BMW)

MotoAmerica will be at Laguna Seca July 8-10.

[SKR]

I don't know if anyone follows 44Teeth on youtube, but in case you do, Mike Booth has had his right leg amputated below the knee after injuries sustained in a crash during practice 4 weeks ago at the TT. Sounds like other than that he's on the mend.

[SKR]

Jake Gagne swept the two MotoAmerica races at Laguna Seca this weekend to put himself on top of the championship standings. Cameron Petersen and Danilo Petrucci had two close races for second place, with Petersen finishing ahead of Petrucci in race 1 and Petrucci finishing ahead in race 2. Mathew Scholz crashed in race 2. Richie Escalante had a great weekend with two fourth place finishes.



MotoAmerica standings after Laguna Seca:

1. 215 Jake Gagne (Yamaha)
2. 212 Danilo Petrucci (Ducati)
3. 175 Cameron Petersen (Yamaha)
4. 170 Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha)
5. 122 Hector Barbera (BMW)

Next weekend is World Superbikes at Donington Park. BSB riders Tarran Mackenzie and Peter Hickman have wildcard entries, and it'll be interesting to see how they compare, especially Hickman since the BMWs stink this year.

[SKR]

Toprak Razgatlioglu won his first full-length race of the season today at Donington Park. Starting third on the grid, he got past the Kawasakis of Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes and built a lead extending to 8 seconds at the end of the 23 lap race. Not surprisingly, Rea and Alvaro Bautista were racing for second until Bautista crashed out on lap 16. In the closing laps, Lowes was able to get ahead of Scott Redding on a much-improved BMW. I think fourth is Redding's best finish this year.

British Superbike riders Tarran Mackenzie, Peter Hickman and Leon Haslam all had a good day. Mackenzie qualified 12th and finished 14th. Haslam and Hickman held onto their qualifying positions and finished 15th and 22nd.

The superpole race and superbike race 2 go tomorrow.

[SKR]

Two more wins for Toprak Razgatlioglu to make it a sweep at Donington. Razgatlioglu led every lap of all three races to tighten up the championship standings.

Fun WSBK fact: in 15 races this season, there have been 37 lead changes and all of them have been Bautista, Rea and Razgatliolgu. No one else has led a lap this season.

Tarran Mackenzie crashed out of the superpole race when he ran into the back of Xavi Vierge, and Peter Hickman finished 16th. In race 2, Mackenzie finished 15th and Hickman 19th.



WSBK Standings after Donington:

1. 246 Alvaro Bautista (Ducati)
2. 229 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki)
3. 203 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)
4. 124 Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha)
5. 119 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati)

[SKR]

British Superbikes at Brands Hatch this weekend. Race 1 started off Yamaha 1-2-3-4 with McAMS riders Jason O'Halloran and Tarran Mackenzie ahead of Rich Energy OMG riders Bradley Ray and Kyle Ryde. Tommy Bridewell managed to split the Yamaha teams and Ryde lost touch with the front four. O'Halloran ran away with 1st, Mackenzie getting past Bridewell on the last lap for 2nd, Bridewell 3rd, Ray 4th and Ryde 5th. Josh Brookes finished 6th, a good result for him and Bridwell on Ducatis which have been absolute garbage all year. Glenn Irwin crashed out on lap 1.

Race 2 started off like race 1, with the four Yamahas leading Bridewell's Ducati. This time Mackenzie finished 1st, followed by O'Halloran, Bridewell, Ray and Leon Haslam. Brookes couldn't keep the momentum up from a strong finish in race 1, crashing out of race 2.

Race 3 had a little different flavor. Mackenzie and O'Halloran were still at the front, but Irwin fought through to the lead on lap 3, holding it to lap 13. O'Halloran and Mackenzie traded the lead for the rest of the 20 lap race, with Mackenzie ahead of O'Halloran by 0.037 seconds. Irwin finished 3rd, Ray 4th and Bridewell 5th. Brookes crashed out again, putting him back out of the top 8 in the championship points after getting in with his 6th place finish in race 1. Rory Skinner had a decent day, but lost a lot of ground to O'Halloran with finishes of 7th, 6th and 9th to O'Halloran's 1st, 2nd and 2nd. Jackson also lost ground, finishing 9th, crashing out in race 2, and 10th. Ryde finished 5th, 7th and 5th.





BSB Standings after Brands Hatch:

1. 265 Jason O'Halloran (Yamaha)
2. 255 Bradley Ray (Yamaha)
3. 187 Lee Jackson (Kawasaki)
4. 174 Rory Skinner (Kawasaki)
5. 170 Kyle Ryde (Yamaha)

Next on the BSB calendar is Thruxton August 12-14. Next weekend is MotoAmerica at Brainerd and World Superbikes at Most.