Motorcycle Racing 2024 - MotoGP, WSBK, BSB, MotoAmerica, TT

[SKR]

British Superbikes Round 8 - Cadwell Park

A couple cool pictures of Josh Brookes and Ryan Vickers from Cadwell Park practice while I wait for the restart of the Junior Manx Grand Prix.

[SKR]

MGP Supporters Club Junior Manx Grand Prix

Andrea Majola was leading the Junior MGP in sunny, dry conditions before the race was red flagged for a crash on lap 2 at Ballacrye. I don't know who the rider is yet, but he was reported as conscious and talking before being airlifted to hospital. The race was rescheduled to be ran as a 2 lap race but rain has come in and the rest of the day has been cancelled. The weather is supposed to be poor tomorrow as well, and the remaining 5 races have all been pushed back to Monday. I'm not sure if they'll rerun the Junior as well or call it a result after 1 lap, since 5 races in one day is already a busy day and I don't know if they can handle 6. It's been a tough week for what is usually a pretty easy-going event.

[SKR]

British Superbikes Round 8 - Cadwell Park

Cadwell Park is a fun track to watch but there aren't many places for passing since it's so narrow. It seems to really suit the Yamahas, and the speed advantages of the Ducatis and Hondas aren't as prevalent over the Kawasakis as on other tracks. Kyle Ryde took the lead early and never looked back. Lee Jackson and Charlie Nesbitt had good races as well finishing 2nd and 3rd. Tommy Bridewell came from a long way back to get the better of Glenn Irwin to complete the top 5. Polesitter Jason O'Halloran dropped back to 6th, probably fighting off a hand injury.

[SKR]

Manx Grand Prix

All races have been rescheduled to tomorrow. I don't know what the weather looks like but it'll have to be near perfect for all 6 to get off. They used to run in all weather years ago but now the course has to be pretty dry, and the sky clear enough that airmed can take off and land.



Two riders from yesterday's Junior MGP are in hospital. Chris Moffitt came off at Ballacrye on lap 2, bringing out the red flag, and is in serious but stable condition. Wayne Axon also crashed, must have been on lap 1, at Creg-ny-Baa and is in serious condition as well. Hopefully both come out alright.

[SKR]

Manx Grand Prix

Rain overnight and this morning has changed the schedule again. The MGP Supporters' Club Junior Manx Grand Prix will not be reran, and the results from lap 1 of the Saturday race will be the official result. Andrea Majola is the winner, followed by Maurizio Bottalico, Dan Ingham, Julien Cregniot and Liam Chawke. It still surprises me how fast those Patons are, fragile as they are, and surprises me maybe even more considering how old they are. It has to be close to a decade now that they've been on top and if you can get one to stay together for the whole race there's nothing that can touch them. Majola was 10mph faster down Sulby Straight than Bottalico's Kawasaki.



Here's the revised schedule, depending on weather again. Listen live on Manx Radio https://www.manxradio.com/ https://timing.manxgrandprix.co.uk/commentary.html. Subtract 7 hours from the start time for our time here.

[SKR]

Manx Grand Prix

Another 1 hour delay. There's no way they get all 5 races today, even at 1 lap each.

Sam West is keeping a positive attitude.





Dean Harrison ran a 916 last year and once they figured out how to get it to run consistently it was pretty fast. Looks like the problems still persist. Mike Browne was 2nd fastest on his during qualifying, but West is down in 38th, and Michael Dunlop didn't qualify his at all. Too bad, it's probably the best looking and best sounding (edit: no it isn't, the rotary Norton 588 is) bike on the Classic Superbike grid.

[SKR]

Manx Grand Prix

They had to shorten the races and combine some classes, but they did it and I missed all but the first 5 minutes of the first race because I got called to work.

The Carole Nash Classic Senior Manx Grand Prix and the 2 Wheeling Classics Classic Junior Manx Grand Prix were run together, with the Seniors starting and the Juniors following over 1 lap. For anyone wondering, 1 lap, that's it, the Senior winner, Shaun Anderson, won with a lap time of 20 minutes 27.959 seconds. John McGuinness and Adam McLean joined him on the podium, and Mike Browne and Jamie Coward completing the top 5.



Behind the seniors, newcomer Harley Rushton finished 48 seconds ahead of second place Glen English to win the Junior and 13th overall. Mark Johnson was 3rd, Chris Moore was 4th and David Glover was 5th.



The Mylchreests Group Senior Manx Grand Prix was next over 2 laps. Dan Ingham won, ahead of Chris Cook, Sam Johnson, Julien Cregniot and Michael Gahan.



Michael Dunlop led the PE Lightweight Manx Grand Prix early on, but ran into bike trouble at some point between Ramsey Hairpin and the Bungalow, giving the lead to Ian Lougher. Lee Johnston finished 2nd which I'm sure he's thrilled with, having been away from racing since May 2023 until only a couple weeks ago. Stuart Hall was 3rd, Rhys Hardisty 4th and Mike Evans 5th. Dunlop eventually limped back in 15th.



And finally, for the first time since 1995 a Ducati crossed the line first with Mike Browne in the RST Classic Superbike Manx Grand Prix with the Kawasakis of Rob Hodson, Derek Sheils, Craig Neve and Dominic Herbertson following behind. A Ducati was also the last to cross the line, with Sam West finishing 4 minutes behind in 33rd to bookend the race.



That's it for road racing now until the Macau Motorcycle Grand Prix in November, assuming they run it again.

[SKR]

British Superbikes Round 8 - Cadwell Park

Not much to say about race 2 and 3. Good weekend for Charlie Nesbitt, and good points weekends for Tommy Bridewell and Kyle Ryde. Bridewell won race 2, Ryde 2nd, Lee Jackson 3rd, Nesbitt 4th and Glenn Irwin 5th.



Race 3 was Ryde, Bridewell, Jackson, Nesbitt and Irwin. Ryan Vickers was faster than anybody but crashed out early. At the start of the season I didn't have very high expectations for Bridewell on the Honda but they seem to have it figured out now.



They were saying in the broadcast no one in BSB has ever won back to back championships on different manufacturers. Speaking of Honda, Andrew Irwin missed this weekend after crashing in practice, and I don't know where Dean Harrison went. He's a guy who I thought would be doing better switching from Kawasaki to Honda, but he seems to have really been struggling this year in BSB. Maybe they cut his schedule back. He's been good on the roads though.

British Superbikes Standings after Cadwell Park:

1. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 294
2. Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 275
3. Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 234
4. Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 231
5. Ryan Vickers (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 208

Next 4 Weeks:

August 31-September 1 – MotoGP Gran Premio de Aragon – MotorLand Aragon
September 7-8 – MotoGP Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 7-8 – World Superbike Motul French Round – Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
September 14-15 – British Superbikes Round 9 – Oulton Park
September 14-15 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas – Circuit of the Americas
September 21-22 – MotoGP Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 21-22 – World Superbike Acerbis Italian Round – Cremona Circuit

[SKR]

MotoGP Gran Premio de Aragon

Not a whole lot of "racing" in the top 3, but a shit kicking from Marc Marquez to get his first win on a Ducati. Marquez led every lap from the pole and finished 3 seconds ahead of Jorge Martin, who was 3 seconds ahead of Pedro Acosta, who was 3 seconds ahead of Alex Marquez, who was 2 seconds ahead of Miguel Oliveira in 5th. Everybody but Marquez was struggling with grip on a green race track. The last running bike was Maverick Vinales, in 19th, 37 seconds behind Marquez in an 11 lap sprint race. I don't know what goes on with that guy. He was 6 seconds behind 18th.

[SKR]

MotoGP Gran Premio de Aragon

Another lights out performance from Marc Marquez, finishing almost 5 seconds ahead of Jorge Martin for his first win in 1043 days. Good points day and weekend for Martin, after Bagnaia only finished 9th in the sprint yesterday and crashed out late today, getting together with Alex Marquez racing for 3rd. Martin scored 29 points this weekend to Bagnaia's 1 to give him a good lead in the championship. Pedro Acosta finished 3rd today after Bagnaia and Alex Marquez dropped out. Brad Binder was 4th and Enea Bastianini 5th. Remember yesterday when I said Vinales needed to find something today? He was 38 seconds off the lead on lap 9, and 50 seconds by the time he pulled into the pit on lap 10. Not even close.

In other news, Fermin Aldeguer has been confirmed to move up from Moto2 to Gresini Racing next year. Ai Ogura will be moving up from Moto2 to Trackhouse, and Somkiat Chantra is moving up from Moto2 to LCR Honda as Takaaki Nakagami will be moving to a test rider role with Honda. That just leaves the two Pramac seats as they switch to Yamaha next year, and it sounds like those will be going to Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller.



MotoGP Standings after Aragon:

1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) 299
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) 276
3. Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) 229
4. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) 228
5. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) 148

Next 4 Weeks:

August 31-September 1 – MotoGP Gran Premio de Aragon – MotorLand Aragon
September 7-8 – MotoGP Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 7-8 – World Superbike Motul French Round – Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
September 14-15 – British Superbikes Round 9 – Oulton Park
September 14-15 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas – Circuit of the Americas
September 21-22 – MotoGP Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 21-22 – World Superbike Acerbis Italian Round – Cremona Circuit
September 28-29 – MotoGP Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia – Pertamina Mandalika Circuit
September 28-29 – World Superbike Tissot Aragon Round – MotorLand Aragon
September 28-29 – British Superbikes Round 10 – Donington Park
September 28-29 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at New Jersey – New Jersey Motorsports Park

[SKR]

World Superbike Motul French Round

Quite a demolition derby at Magny Cours so far this weekend. Toprak Razgatlioglu is out for the weekend after a really scary crash in practice. And then it started raining for qualifying and today's race. I don't know what most of the field started with, whether it was intermediate fronts and slick rears or what, but some riders started on intermediate front and rears like Garrett Gerloff, and he was gone at the start. But then it started raining worse, and riders started coming in for wets and Gerloff crashed out of the lead. Alex Lowes took over the lead and then crashed out himself, handing the lead over to Michael van der Mark, who went on to win his first race since 2021 and first full-length race since 2019 I think they said. Alvaro Bautista finished 2nd, Danilo Petrucci 3rd, Scott Redding 4th and Andrea Iannone 5th. Of 22 starters only 12 finished. Nicolo Bulega and Jonathan Rea crashed out on lap 1, and it sounds like Rea has broken a thumb. Bulega will probably be back tomorrow but I'm not sure about Rea.

[SKR]

MotoGP Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini

Misano fuckin sucks. "Lots of overtaking spots," they said on the broadcast. They must all be in the parking lot because they're not on the track. I hate this track and because whatever dumbass track that was supposed to be on the calendar next weekend couldn't get their shit together, we get Misano next week too.

Francesco Bagnaia was the favorite and started on pole, but got blitzed by Jorge Martin from the second row on the start and that was it. Martin won, Bagnaia 2nd, and Franco Morbidelli, who like I said in an earlier post seems to have woken up and realized he's on the best bike on the grid, finished 3rd. Enea Bastianini was 4th and Marc Marquez was 5th.

[SKR]

World Superbike Motul French Round

Alvaro Bautista crashed in the Superpole race, breaking a rib and joining Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea on the sidelines for the rest of the weekend. Luckily for Razgatlioglu he has such a big lead in the championship he can afford to miss the races this weekend, and it's the final nail in the coffin of whatever chances Bautista had left for a championship. He did re-sign with Ducati for next year though, ending all the speculation so he'll be back. In the absence of those three, Nicolo Bulega was able to capitalize and win his first race since the opening weekend. Alex Lowes finished 2nd, Danilo Petrucci 3rd, Scott Redding 4th and Xavi Vierge 5th.



Bulega backed up his Superpole win with another in Race 2. Petrucci was 2nd, Garrett Gerloff was 3rd, Lowes was 4th after having problems with the bike early on and Michael van der Mark was 5th. It was finally a good, complete weekend for Honda with Iker Lecuona finishing 6th, 7th and 10th, and Xavi Vierge finishing 7th, 5th and 7th in the three races. Hopefully they can keep that momentum going.



World Superbike Standings after Magny-Cours:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 365
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 310
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) 243
4. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 235
5. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 190

[SKR]

MotoGP Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini

A little drama to this one today with the potential for rain. It did start to rain a bit and Franco Morbidelli crashed. At the end of that lap, in what that fuckin idiot commentator Matt Birt called "a massive Misano mistake" because he'll never pass up an opportunity for some alliteration, Jorge Martin pitted to swap bikes. Nobody else in the top dozen or so came in, and the rain stopped shortly after, and Martin and all the other riders behind him had to come back in and swap bikes again, putting them all a lap down. Francesco Bagnaia took a pretty conservative pace as the track changed and Marc Marquez went past to go from no wins in 3 years to 2 wins in 2 weeks. Bagnaia finished 2nd, Enea Bastianini 3rd, Brad Binder 4th and Marco Bezzecchi 5th. Martin started the race with a 26 point lead over Bagnaia, and then made that blunder when all he had to do was follow Bagnaia and do exactly what he did, and gave 19 of them back. He does the goddamndest things sometimes.

It still wasn't a great race, but there was lots to think about with to be fair really was a massive Misano mistake. I don't remember what Matt Birt said about the end of the race, but with Misano and Marquez I'm sure it was magnificent or a master class or something to that effect. He really is the worst.



MotoGP Standings after Misano:

1. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) 312
2. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) 305
3. Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) 259
4. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) 250
5. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 161

Next 4 Weeks:

September 14-15 – British Superbikes Round 9 – Oulton Park
September 14-15 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas – Circuit of the Americas
September 21-22 – MotoGP Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 21-22 – World Superbike Acerbis Italian Round – Cremona Circuit
September 28-29 – MotoGP Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia – Pertamina Mandalika Circuit
September 28-29 – World Superbike Tissot Aragon Round – MotorLand Aragon
September 28-29 – British Superbikes Round 10 – Donington Park
September 28-29 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at New Jersey – New Jersey Motorsports Park
October 5-6 – MotoGP Motul Grand Prix of Japan – Mobility Resort Motegi

[SKR]

British Superbikes Round 9 – Oulton Park

BSB has a different kind of points system to try to keep the championship from being decided too early on. Up until this point of the season a win was worth 18 points, now they're worth 25. And I think in the final round at Brands Hatch they might be worth even more, I'm not sure. Anyway. Championship leader Tommy Bridewell crashed out of race 1 on lap 1, and Kyle Ryde took maximum advantage, winning over Glenn Irwin, Lee Jackson, Josh Brookes and Ryan Vickers.



I found out a couple things since the last BSB round, Dean Harrison has moved from Superbike to Supersport for the remainder of the season, still with Honda Racing UK. They said in the broadcast today that Brookes won't be back with FHO Racing next year. I don't know what that means for Brookes, he's been in BSB forever but at the same time he's not old, so I don't think he's ready for retirement. The team hasn't had a very good year, or couple years, with Brookes or Peter Hickman. And the same for Hickman - been around a long time but still young. So we'll see. And Bridewell has a WSBK wildcard for next week at Cremona. It'll be good to see what he can do there. Out of the points likely, but probably in the mix just outside of it.

[SKR]

MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas

Big win for Cameron Beaubier today to show he's still not out of the championship fight. Josh Herrin was 2nd, Richie Escalante was 3rd in his first race back since getting hurt in the opening race of the season, Loris Baz was 4th and JD Beach was 5th.

[Team_Mclaren]

Not really moto GP related, but I saw Rossi today

[SKR]

That's cool, you were at the race then?

[SKR]

Alright, good talk. Anyway.

British Superbikes Round 9 – Oulton Park

Rain today. It looked like Leon Haslam was going to get his first win in forever, but then Glenn Irwin kind of just ran him off the track on the last lap. Maybe not a "dirty" move, never touched him, but just ran him off the track. It was a race-winning move by a guy fighting for a championship, and they seemed friendly enough back in the pits, but on the cooldown lap I thought Haslam was going to get off his bike and thrash the fuck out of Irwin. Who to be fair probably has several of those coming. Danny Kent finished 2nd, Haslam recovered to hang onto 3rd, Tommy Bridewell was 4th and Lewis Rollo was 5th.



Race 3 ended up being red flagged with Storm Stacey out in front with something like a 15 second lead, but it was less than 2/3 distance so it was restarted as a 5 lap race. Kyle Ryde came out on top ahead of Bridewell and Stacey, with Max Cook and Danny Kent 4th and 5th.



British Superbike Standings after Oulton Park:

1. Tommy Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) 334
2. Kyle Ryde (OMG GRILLA Yamaha Racing) 328
3. Glenn Irwin (Hager PBM Ducati) 289
4. Christian Iddon (Oxford Products Racing Ducati) 245
5. Danny Kent (McAMS Racing Yamaha) 234

[SKR]

MotoAmerica Superbikes at Texas

Two real good races at COTA today, at least in the top 3 anyway. Sean Dylan Kelly and Cameron Beaubier passed each other I don't know how many times in the closing laps of race 2, with Kelly making one last one in the last corner of the last lap to win his first MotoAmerica race. Beaubier was 2nd, Josh Herrin 3rd, Loris Baz 4th and Bobby Fong 5th.



If Herrin finished ahead of Beaubier in race 3 he would have clinched the championship, but Beaubier held on to win and keep his championship hopes alive. Herrin was 2nd, Kelly 3rd, Richie Escalante 4th and Baz 5th.



MotoAmerica Standings after COTA:

1. Josh Herrin (Warhorse HSBK Racing Ducati - Ducati) 300
2. Cameron Beaubier (Tytlers Cycle Racing - BMW) - 254
3. Bobby Fong (Wrench Motorcycles - Yamaha) 213
4. Sean Dylan Kelly (EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing Team - BMW) 208
5. Cameron Petersen (Attack Performance Yamaha - Yamaha) 195

Next 4 Weeks:

September 21-22 – MotoGP Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix – Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
September 21-22 – World Superbike Acerbis Italian Round – Cremona Circuit
September 28-29 – MotoGP Pertamina Grand Prix of Indonesia – Pertamina Mandalika Circuit
September 28-29 – World Superbike Tissot Aragon Round – MotorLand Aragon
September 28-29 – British Superbikes Round 10 – Donington Park
September 28-29 – MotoAmerica Superbikes at New Jersey – New Jersey Motorsports Park
October 5-6 – MotoGP Motul Grand Prix of Japan – Mobility Resort Motegi
October 12-13 – British Superbikes Round 11 – Brands Hatch