MotoGoss.

Moto 3

Results: E. Bastianini, A. Migno, N. Bulega, R. Fenati, B. Binder, J. Guevara, B. Bendsneyder, F. Quartararo, F. Di Giannantonio, F. Bagnaia, G. Rodrigo, L. Dalla Porta, N. Antonelli, J. Danilo, P. Oettl, A. Canet, A. Locatelli, J. Mir, L. Loi, D. Binder, J. Mcphee, M. Herrera, A. Masbou, K. Pawi, J. Kornfeil, T. Suzuki, A. Arernas, S. Valtulini, A. Norrodin, F. Spiranelli, L. Petrarca, D. Webb

After a change in the weather, compared to yesterday’s intense heat, riders had to adjust to a cooler track. Aron Canet impressed after dominating the free practices on Friday, and then continued his form topping the time sheets in free practice 3 this morning. The world championship leader, Brad Binder, was in 10th position 0.736 behind the leader of the session. With the riders times appearing to be unpredictable, it was unknown who would come out on top in the qualifying.

Luckily the rain continued to hold off for the start of qualifying for Moto 3. Unfortunately, Aron Canet suffered a nasty fall at turn 8 towards the start of the session and it was then a race against time for the mechanics to get him back on track. Whilst Canet watches on, Niccolo Antonelli also suffered a small crash putting his rhythm in jeopardy. Towards the end of the session, the rain flag suddenly appeared with a few drops of rain showing up on the tarmac. With Enea Bastianini leading the majority of the session with 1:42.436, it was unlikely that any rider would overtake him with the rain beginning to fall. Canet managed to come back out on track and showed he has serious pace for the race tomorrow, but with so little time only managed to secure 16th place on the grid. Antonelli was involved in another small crash, with just a few minutes to go, ending his qualifying practice entirely leaving him in 13th place. This is Bastianini’s first pole position of the year, but with only 49 points in the championship he will be focusing more on a race win rather than joining the title hunt. The Sky VR 46 team boys also showed to be on form with Andrea Migno clinching 2nd, Nicolo Bulega in 3rd and Romano Fenati in 4th place on the grid. Brad Binder will start in the middle of the second row of the grid in 5th place, but he shouldn’t be worried with championship rival Jorge Navarro sitting out this weekend.

Moto GP

Results Q1: P. Espargaro, Y. Hernandez, H. Barbera, B. Smith, A. Bautista, D. Pedrosa, E. Laverty, S. Bradl, J. Miller, T. Rabat, M. Pirro

Results Q2: A. Dovizioso, V. Rossi, S. Redding, M. Marquez, C. Crutchlow, Y. Hernandez, P. Espargaro, A. Espargaro, A. Ianonne, D. Petrucci, J. Lorenzo, M. Vinales

The rain continued to fall as free practice 4 for Moto GP soon approached, and the riders seemed reluctant to go out. With just 20 minutes left, the action started with Marc Marquez leaving the pits on wet tyres to begin the session. Other riders quickly followed, including Jorge Lorenzo, to get a feel of how wet the track was. Lorenzo suffered a fast fall in the free practice this morning, at turn 7, causing some damage to the back of his neck. Marquez also set pulses racing by locking his front wheel on the straight, sending the rear sliding, but somehow manages to recover it. With the impact of the save being so strong, his air bag was set off and it seemed like he would come back into the pits. However, it was clear it was just a rider error as he stayed out on track after seeing a few movements of the arms to bring the air bag down. With the two riders at the top of the championship suffering near fatalities, it was interesting to see how the rest of the afternoon would pan out.

FP4 started off very slowly with riders just reaching into the 1’51’s, compared to the 1’33 times from this morning. We saw a lot of crashes throughout the session including Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller, Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl, Danilo Petrucci, Scott Redding and even Dani Pedrosa who has been struggling all weekend. With just six minutes to go, Marquez decided it was time to make progress and started to improve his times significantly. He started off by moving into the 1’50 times, and soon ended up with a time of 1’48.628 topping the session. Lorenzo has also been struggling this weekend after his crash, and only just making it into the top 10 for qualifying 2, and sat in 8th place +1.476 behind Marquez. Valentino Rossi has a history of performing well in the wet, so all eyes were on him as he took to the track. He sat 2nd in the session with 1’49.326. By the end of the session, the rain decided to stop so it will be interesting to see what tyre options are chosen for both the qualifying practices.

For the first qualifying practice, the track still appeared to be considerably wet. A fine mist of water still covered the back wheel as the riders, including Dani Pedrosa, took to the track to try and get into the top three and reach qualifying two. Hector Barbera is first to take to the gravel, and rushes back to the pits to try and go back out on his second bike. Due to his second bike programmed with dry settings, and slicks, mechanics worked hard to swap over into a wet set up. Jack Miller and Michele Pirro also went down, and with such a short session it was wondered if they could get their rhythm back before the end. Pedrosa started to show quicker times with just 3 minutes of the session left, but it was unfortunately not enough to take him into the top two. Pedrosa will start 16th on the grid, which is his most disappointing qualifying time so far this season. Yonny Hernandez led the majority of the session, but it was Pol Espargaro who took the top spot right at the end with 1:48.482 knocking Barbera into 3rd, which is the equivalent to 13th on the grid.

As the second qualifying session started, the rain decided to stop and it was a question to which tyres were to be used. Marc Marquez had a crash very early on in the session, before setting a time, seeing him steal a scooter, to get him back to pit lane and on his 2nd bike. Once making it back, he watched on as his mechanics worked to get the settings and tyres changed ready to go back out. Maverick Vinales also suffered a fall early on and struggled to get the bike started again, also seeing him switch to the spare bike. It started with an unusual top three seeing the likes of Pol Espargaro, Yonny Hernandez and Danilo Petrucci swapping and changing in the top three positions. However, as the riders began to feel more comfortable times began to speed up and the likes of Valentino Rossi began to appear on the timesheets. As the chequered flag came out Rossi was unaware that Andrea Dovizioso and Scott Redding were following behind him. They all took a place on the front row of the grid, as they crossed the line together.  Dovizioso took Ducati’s first pole position since Mugello last year, whilst Rossi took 2nd, and Redding was in 3rd which is his first front row since joining Moto GP. Marquez came back out on track with only four minutes remaining, giving him only two attempts at setting a lap time. His first lap sent him sent him to only the 3rd row on the grid, but his second lap sent him to 4th position putting him just in front of Cal Crutchlow. Let’s not forget that Andrea Iannone will start from the back of the grid tomorrow, pushing all the grid positions up one place.

Moto 2

Results: T. Luthi, J. Zarco, D. Aegerter, S. Lowes, F. Morbidelli, T. Nakagami, S. Cortese, A. Rins, J. Folger, L. Baldassarri, M. Oliveira, M. Pasini, A. Marquez, X. Simeon, J. Simon, S. Corsi, M. Schrotter, D. Kent, A. Pons, H. Syahrin, L. Marini, R. Mulhauser, J. Raffin, I. Vinales, X. Vierge, R. Gardner, E. Pons

 With a different rider topping each free practice session so far in Moto 2, it was going to be very interesting. What we saw was something very similar to the Moto 3 qualifying, with the session starting off dry and half way through seeing the rain come down again. However, this time the rain decided to come down a lot heavier with just 20 minutes remaining, causing the riders to all enter the pits discussing with their teams whether to go back out. Tom Luthi had already set a time of 1:37.954, handing him that pole position. Unfortunately for the championship leader, Alex Rins, he was still getting to grips with the track and only managed to get up to 8th place on the grid before sitting in his box. Although this may not deter him, seeing Sam Lowes his main rival sitting in 4th, may make him more nervous for the race tomorrow. A couple of riders went back out on track with wet tyres to try and prepare for the, more likely than none, wet race tomorrow. It was too late to set a new time for Rins, who also decided to join, and seemed to take it very slowly as the rain continued. In the end a lot more riders decided to follow, but the times stayed the same leaving your top three as Luthi, Johann Zarco and Dominique Aegerter, who took his first front row of the year.

It’s time for Assen and for me, this is a track that never fails to impress. Let’s not forget that this is the only circuit to have held a round of motorcycle world championship racing every year since 1949, containing a lot of history. Because of the history and its rapid changes in direction, it is often said to be a favourite with the riders. Let’s not forget that for the first time the race will commence on the Sunday, rather than its usual Saturday routine. The chairman of the circuit, Arjan Bos, stated this was because people often expect a sporting event to go ahead on a Sunday, rather than a Saturday. After the viewing figures were analysed it was decided that following the crowd and racing on a Sunday, was the best option. Although it seems it is taking time for people to adjust to the change, yet any other race it is seen as just normality.

Total length: 4.5km                      Corners: 6 left-12 right

Moto GP

Laps: 26                    Total distance: 73.3 miles

When looking at the top four we know that the world championship leader, Marc Marquez, enjoys this track as he has not finished below 2nd place since 2010. Valentino Rossi also has a good record here, especially if we remember back to just last year. It was a fantastic race between himself, and Marc Marquez, as they fought right until that infamous last corner. There was then controversy over who entered the chicane first, to then who had the right of way. I gave my opinion on this in my blog last year, if you feel like searching back that far. That last bend has a history of rider rivalry as we think back to 2006 when Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards had a very similar encounter, which saw Edwards enter the gravel. Jorge Lorenzo has only stood the on podium twice here since 2010, whilst Dani Pedrosa holds good memories here taking his first victory on this track in 2002.

If anything, I personally feel like Rossi is the main threat. Me and my dad have come to the conclusion that his tyres are ‘Rossi tyres’, and they are unstoppable. What else is coming this weekend? It’s the rain, and there appears to be a lot of it. Storms and heavy downpours are predicted over the course of the weekend which could go in the GOAT’s favour. Although, we have to remember back to 2014 when Marquez swam past the finish line taking that impressive win with lots of rain in tow. This championship is completely open with stats showing that the top three have not been this close since 2012. Lorenzo has faced some bad luck so far this season, and I am sure he won’t take it lightly. Whereas Rossi will still have the 10th world title swimming around in his head, and Marquez most likely just has his full attention on maintaining that wild bull (aka the Honda). Because let’s be honest, whether he wins the championship this year or not, he will most definitely be world champion again.

Moto 2

Laps: 24                    Total distance: 67.7 miles 

Moto 2 is another world championship that is wide open with just 10 points separating the top three. Another piece of the 2017 puzzle was fitted this week with Alex Rins confirming he will be switching to Suzuki in Moto GP for the next two years. With this in mind, he surely will want to impress so his title fight game will soar dramatically. However, Johann Zarco will want to defend his title, and after that superb win in Barcelona last round, he will be flying high. Sam Lowes is a rider I admire, and is my favourite to win the championship this year. He had a difficult race in Barcelona securing 6th place, although at this point anything in the top 10 is beneficial. Lowes currently sits 2nd in the championship with 108 points, and with his rivals appearing to get stronger, the points he collects this weekend could be vital. It is going to be a very strange weekend without Luis Salom, and we all miss him so dearly, but he would want us to continue and the riders to do what they love. His memory will live on in us forever!

Moto 3

Laps: 22                    Total distance: 62 miles 

In memory of Luis Salom

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE IS ALL MY OWN PHOTOS AND VIDEOS, PLEASE DO NOT STEAL THEM! I WILL BE WATCHING ;)

It has been a while since my last blog post and this is because of finishing my final year at university, I was inundated with work! However my university course ended nicely with a trip away to Barcelona to watch the GP last weekend, so I thought it was only right to write a blog about my holiday. Then I am hoping to go back to doing my usual pre-race blogs, and then highlights after. If you want me to change anything or add anything, just drop me a message in the ask box.

I flew out to Barcelona on Thursday the 2nd June at 7.05am (British time) and arrived late in the morning after my flight was delayed. I used the metro, which is very similar to the London underground, to get to my hotel and I stayed in a Travelodge in Poblenou which is at the top of Barcelona. It was handy because just down the road was the bus station where we pre-booked a shuttle bus that took us to and from the circuit each day. It was only 36 euros for a return journey across the 3 days and if you are considering attending the Catalan GP in the future, I would highly recommend using this service and you can access it here: http://www.sagales.com/en/trip/20. My GP weekend started on the Friday which was the first day I took the bus, and the journey took around 20-30 minutes depending on the traffic. Once we arrived we were dropped off almost right in front of one of the main entrances and we had to just walk up a hill, and then we were there. If you followed my blog from before you will know that I attended Silverstone last year, and I can say that the security has got a lot stricter since then. My bag was searched, my ticket was scanned, and I was welcomed by music blasting through the stereos and the usual stalls containing merchandise from different riders and teams. At this point the Moto 3 had already started so we wanted to go and find our seats so we knew where we would be sitting and so we could enjoy the remainder of FP1. I was sat in the Marc Marquez fan stand and I was blown away by the incredible views from my seat which was in Tribune G, Zone 16. From where I was I could see turns 10, 11 and 12 meaning they were in my sight for more than a couple of seconds enabling me to enjoy the sounds of the motorbikes a lot more! Obviously later on these turns changed, but I will go into this further on in my post. The only downfall of this stand is there was no cover and you are completely exposed to the heat of the Spanish sun, which was incredibly intense on the Friday. If you want an idea of a way to protect yourself from the sun, I tied a flag around my shoulders which protected me all day!

Marc Marquez after free practice

The Marc Marquez stand

After watching the FP1’s we decided to take a walk around the circuit to see what else was going on, and to see if any of the other views around the circuit was better. I couldn’t seem to find much entertainment around the circuit, apart from the Monster area that was rocking, so we continued to walk. I felt it may not have been appropriate to stroll into the Monster area full of Valentino Rossi fans that was full of alcohol, wearing my Marc Marquez hat, top and flag. On the Friday we understood that there was going to be a pit lane walk for everyone at 5pm so we wanted to find the entrance to that so we knew where to go later. After managing to walk all the way around the circuit, we finally found the entrance and then spotted the main grandstand which had something we were craving, shade! We found some steps that led up into the grand stand and I was immediately greeted by not only the pit lane, but the Box Repsol garages. Result. We sat quite near to the front so we could do some casual stalking watching the riders prepare in their garages for the FP2’s, when I suddenly noticed that Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa had company. Toni Bou, who competes in the FIM outdoor and indoor Trial World Championship for Repsol Honda, had come to visit them in the pit box to wish them good luck and pose for some photos. Lucky for me, I had my super-sonic camera on me that has the most amazing zoom so I was able to take a sneak peek up close and see what they were doing! It was funny watching them chatting and taking their official photos, which I have my own version of, and seeing the teams take a moment to relax and join in. 

It wasn’t long before their garage doors closed and the Moto 3 was about to start. This was the first time I have ever sat in the main grandstand and sat this close to a straight, and it was the best thing I have ever heard. The piercing sounds of the engines went right through me, but it also gave me a feeling of anticipation for the weekend ahead. It just made me enjoy the machines even more and it makes you realise the full capability of what they can achieve. 

I sat and watched the Moto 3 and the Moto GP before the Moto 2 soon approached. We watched a couple of minutes before deciding that we needed the toilet and we wanted to check out the que for the pit lane walk. We noticed that the pit lane walk que was already very long and I knew that my friends had never done it before, so I really wanted to get them as close to the front as possible for their first experience. After sitting in the que on a patch of grass for around 15 minutes we suddenly noticed there was a haunting silence coming from the track. After turning to social media to see what was going on we discovered that the session had been red flagged due to a crash at turn 12, Luis Salom. In that moment you don’t really think anything of it as unfortunately a rider crashing has become very normal for all of us, and we almost instantly assume that everything will be okay. I must admit, this was going through my mind at that moment and I continued to focus my attention to the pit lane walk. We continued to check Twitter for updates because, of course, we wanted to know that Luis Salom was okay. An hour or so passed and there was still no word on whether he was okay, and whether he was even still breathing. We learnt that he had been taken to hospital by road to undergo surgery so we had every hope of him pulling through. It reached 5pm, when the pit lane was due to begin, and no one came to open the gates. We were all very confused and people began to get angry as there was no explanation as to why it was running late. We once again turned to Twitter to try and find some answers to which we spotted a tweet from the Circuit De Catalunya’s account saying the session had been cancelled. At this moment, everything changed. Everyone else obviously did not know at this point so continued to stand near the gate, but we decided to walk away as we realised we were wasting our time. We had stepped away and decided we were going to try and find a friend so we could get the train back together. As I was looking at my phone trying to contact her, my friend continued to look at Twitter for answers when suddenly, the news broke. All I remember was my friend saying, ‘he’s dead’, and I felt physically sick. I just kept thinking, how? Why? And the fact that something like this can happen so quickly. I felt like I had every sense of happiness and excitement for the weekend sucked out of my body and I could only now feel devastated and broken-hearted. It was then that it started to spread like wildfire and the atmosphere in the circuit dropped, and it felt like silence with only the sounds of the faint music playing in the background and people’s tears. I looked to my left and right and I could see people reading the story on their phones with the look of bereavement on their faces. We then left the circuit through the exit and went back to our hotel with the feeling of emptiness, like we had left something behind.

The next day came and I woke still feeling incredibly numb, and felt unsure on how the day would pan out. I had already seen that Salom’s parents had agreed to let the weekend continue, and after a safety commission meeting some changes had been made to the track to avoid that fatal corner. The circuit was changed to use the F1 layout with turn 10 and turn 12 both being altered. We arrived at the circuit with mixed feelings, as did everyone else, but after a while we all realised the show must go on for Luis. We had to stay strong and we had to smile, as racing was Luis’ love and he would not want people to be miserable. The atmosphere in the stand, (Marc Marquez’ stand), was electric as the free practices started. At 10am I was off to the paddock after being picked out of a raffle by the fan club, along with 79 other people, and was hoping to meet and get a photo with the man himself. We were all split up into separate groups, and my group was quite big so I was nervous whether I would get a look in! 10am soon approached and I had to line up ready to collect my paddock pass after showing my membership card, ticket and some form of identification. We were then led down towards the paddock and I was feeling nervous as I seemed to be the only English person! It was a bit of a walk down a hill towards the main gates and then my pass was scanned, and I was in! 

We gathered together in a small group where we was told that we had half an hour to explore around before meeting back at Marquez’ truck at 11am. Just as this was getting explained, I saw Brad Binder (another one of my favourite riders) pass by on a scooter. I was gutted! I then proceeded to try and follow where he went to try and find him again, but unfortunately I had no luck. The paddock was actually surprisingly quiet, all I could hear was the Moto GP FP3 going on in the background. Little did I know at this point, Marquez had just fallen off his bike and was running back down the pit lane to his box. Whilst all this was going on I was pondering around trying to spot anyone that I knew, still no luck. I even had a sneaky look into a couple of the boxes as we were allowed to walk to the end of the trucks for the Moto 2 and Moto 3 area, obviously I still saw nothing. After walking around like a child that had lost its mother for the duration of the wait, I wondered back to Marquez’ truck. At 11am we were let into the area in between the two trucks of number 93 and 26. 

I managed to find a couple of people who spoke English which soon turned into a mock fest as I ended up at the centre of everyone’s conversation discussing how pale I was! They asked if I was wearing sun cream…’Yes’ I replied embarrassingly. All eyes were then on the opening of the pit box as we waited for Marquez to appear in his, no surprise, torn up leathers. I somehow managed to squeeze myself to the front of the group as I was determined to appear in the group photo! Soon he popped out of nowhere and a few of the girls beside me started squealing with delight… *Sigh*. 

Firstly he crouched down in front of all of us as we posed for a group photo before he stood up again and begun the greetings. I stood and patiently waited my turn as they went in for the cheek to cheek kiss and spoke a million words in the space of a second, with poor Marquez trying to keep up. He soon got closer to me to which I held my top out and he very kindly signed with a black marker. I tried to speak, but I was soon interrupted by another excited girl. I did not mind, I still waited until finally we locked eye contact and I seized the opportunity! ‘I have come from England to support you this weekend!’ ‘Oh wow, thank you!’ And then naturally, we both turned around to the camera on my phone which one of the girls very kindly took for me. 

After this, words were once again being said to him left, right and centre and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for him as he tried to keep up! ‘Good luck for the weekend Marc.’ He put his hand on my shoulder and gave me a look almost saying, ‘Help!’, but instead he said, ‘Thank you so much.’ 

After everyone had their turn, we were ushered out of the paddock and had to hand our passes back in. On our walk back we passed Marquez’ granddad to which people started to take selfies with him. I just stood at the back and watched on as he looked so delicate, I did not want to touch him! Lovely man. I got back to the paddock to see my friends already in the que to collect their paddock passes, as they had won too, but through the Alex Marquez fan club! I said goodbye and wished them luck and then sat in the stand to watch the remainder of the free practices. The rest of the day was incredible with the atmosphere that surrounded our seats whilst watching the qualifying. We were encouraged to chant and cheer as Marquez went onto take the pole position, and watching it live was one of the best things I have ever experienced. At the end he slowed down past the stand and gave us all a big wave. I was also pleased to see Brad Binder take the pole as I think he is a fantastic rider, and really hope he will win the championship this year!

Marc Marquez after taking his pole

After such an exciting Saturday I was really looking forward to the race day. As we entered the circuit there was a spectacular display from a group playing drums which was getting everyone in the mood to cheer on their favourite riders. The weather was set to be extremely hot so I was well prepared by wrapping my England flag around my shoulders. I also had my MM93 flag at the ready to do some serious waving, also using it as a sun protector from time to time. During the warm-ups we encountered a series of Mexican waves which started right from turn 12 (was originally turn 11) at the Dani Pedrosa stand, through the Jorge Lorenzo stand, then the Maverick Vinales stand, the Marquez stand and then finished in the Rossi stand. Although at one point the Rossi stand did not finish the wave, and received a number of boos from the Pedrosa stand which was the only boos I had heard all weekend. But I am happy with these types of boos, as it was fun rather than disrespect. At the end of the warm-ups it was time to remember Luis Salom as all the riders gathered in the pit lane for a minute’s silence. The music that filled the circuit sent chills down my spine and I couldn’t help but feel a lump in my throat, a 24 years old Luis Salom had lost his life. I cannot image what his family are going through and I send my deepest condolences to them, his friends and team members. We will never forget you Luis!

We are ready for the races!

Marc Marquez after the warm up

Now it was time to race. For Luis. I really enjoyed the Moto 3 race as Brad was in the top group for the whole of the race and it was exhilarating to watch them battle it out right in front of me. He also lead at some points trying to break away, but Jorge Navarro was very strong and you could see he really wanted to win in front of his home crowd. However, as you can imagine on the last lap I did nearly have a heart attack as Brad was nearly taken out by number 19, Rodrigo! This actually happened right in front of me. He dropped back to 8th place and there was a small gap between him and the front pack. Somehow, with just a few laps to go he managed to work his way back up to 2nd place getting himself a place on the podium behind Navarro.

Next up was Moto 2, and obviously I was backing Sam Lowes as I want him to win the championship, but I was also cheering on number 73, Alex Marquez. Marquez managed to stay in 4th place and the whole stand was cheering and the volume of the crowd was getting louder. Could he get a podium? Unfortunately not, he crashed out at turn 10, which seemed to be the prime spot where everyone was crashing. Lowes also only sat in 6th place so in my opinion, it was quite a boring race. But it was a good battle between Johann Zarco and Alex Rins at the front. 

Finally Moto GP arrived and I couldn’t help but pray for a Marquez win. What an experience it would have been to see him win at home. However, Rossi’s tyres were too powerful. Lorenzo seemed he was going backwards as he was overtaken by Rossi, Marquez, Pedrosa and even Vinales on the Suzuki before the Maniac, formally known as Iannone, approached. I had the championship in mind as I hoped for Iannone to overtake as this would help Marquez in the championship. However, a huge gasp came from everyone’s lips as Ianonne came in like a ‘wrecking ball’ wiping Lorenzo out from not only the race, but also the championship lead. The battle continued out front between Rossi and Marquez and everyone stood on their feet. It was exhilarating as the last laps soon approached and I was hoping that perhaps Marquez could overtake on that last bend to take the victory. The hope was short-lived as sadly Marquez made a mistake and nearly crashed out, miraculously saving it with his elbow. At this point the gap was then too big to which Rossi was quite clearly the winner, but I was pleased he took 2nd place and the championship points.

Marc Marquez stopping in front of us after the race

The weekend ended with no champagne celebrations in memory of Salom, and a very natural looking handshake between the ‘rivals’ Rossi and Marquez. All the riders wore shirts stating, ‘we will never forget you’, and at this moment it felt like we were together as a Moto GP family once again. There has been much speculation over the handshake with people querying why it took the death of a rider for them to reach their senses. For me, Rossi has changed in my eyes and I will never look at him the same ever again. But this is more from a personal prospective due to the way he treated his fans at Silverstone last year. We could come up with a million theories over why the handshake happened, or if it should have even happened, but I think now it is time it came to an end. At the end of the day, this is a sport not an episode of Eastenders, and Salom has shown just how quickly things can change. This is why all riders deserve respect, as a life can be taken in an instant. It’s time to just think about Salom and his family and move on, and go back to enjoying the sport we love. Because that is what Salom would have wanted.

'Corrrrr he's alright ain't he!'

TBT

Silverstone2015

After the big event that happened at the weekend, I since feel let down, disappointment and saddened for the fact I am now at the point of not wanting to be a part of this no more. When I first started taking an interest in Moto GP, I liked the community of fans that surrounded it and the sportsmanship that followed. No matter what is to happen on track. Riders would always congratulate each other after a race, shake their hand and wave to their fans. I liked how who ever you spoke to from the Moto GP fandom whether they be a Rossi fan, Marquez fan, Lorenzo fan. People would always get along, and you could discuss the sport with them. ‘Oh hi, who do you support?’ 'I support Lorenzo, what about you?’ 'Oh cool I support Marquez, Lorenzo took a fantastic win!’ (Just an example) but my point is. You could enjoy the sport together without feeling dismay towards someone just because of who they support. However. What I have experienced this weekend, is something I have to say I have never experienced before. I feel shamed, disheartenment and incredibly numb about the fact that people think it is okay to turn to hatred, violence and threatening behaviour in order to express their feelings. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, however NO ONE on this planet is entitled to be hated on in such a way. And not only do I speak on the fact that Marquez has been sent not only death threats, but awful names too. But also Rossi has had to deal with this appalling behaviour. This sport is about SPORTSMANSHIP. And although you are quick enough to accuse one rider of not showing any SPORTSMANSHIP, but by expressing this type of behaviour, nor are you. If you call yourself a 'fan’ then you hold your opinion, but not in a way that sinks to a new level of immaturity expressing such barbaric behaviour, that no fan could ever dream of showing. Absolutely no one on this earth deserves to experience such evil towards them, especially just because of a sport. It’s a SPORT, let’s just remember this. These people have feelings. And everyone deserves a chance to explain themselves. No one in the world is perfect and we all make mistakes, we all have arguments, we all have enemies. But just put yourself in their position for a minute, would you like it if someone said to you what you’ve been saying to these riders? And more importantly, is your comment going to change the past? No. It just changes YOUR future. The fact that you are quite clearly, not a very nice person. I thought I left all this pathetic behaviour behind in the celebrity showbiz world, but clearly some people want to ruin it for the Motorsport world too. I think you should all be ashamed of yourselves.

Who remembers this? Certainly is no more!

What a weekend! Rossi’s controversial comments at the press conference, Rossi VS Marquez, Danny Kent being so close yet so far, and the new Moto 2 World Champion taking an outstanding win. It’s all so much to take in, I normally try and just give the facts, but I feel it’s only right to give my full opinion this time! So here goes!

 MOTO 3

The weekend started so well for Danny Kent who led the way dominating the free practices. He kicked off the free practice 1 (FP1) with a stunning time of 2′12.715 and Miguel Oliveira, his main championship rival, sitting in 6th place with a time of 2′14.477. At this point, it was clear that Kent had a good strong pace heading into the weekend. Although Kent sat in 5th place with a time of 2′14.190 in FP2, he still led the way with his previous time in FP1 as Oliveira sat in the top spot but only with a time of 2′13.906. Enea Bastianini, Kent’s previous title rival, seemed to have totally lost confidence as he was trailing at the bottom of the time sheets with times such as 2′15.254. However it was Niccolo Antonelli that confused me, as he was obviously testing a lot of different settings on the bike as he sat in 7th place with a time of 2′14.344, before taking action in the qualifying. 

When it came to the qualifying, it was quite a disaster for Kent. At first I thought he was maybe having problems with the bike as he seemed to not be moving in the first half hour. He sat in around 10th position for the majority of the session, but kept getting bumped down as other riders continued to improve. Oliveira took a provisional pole position with 20 minutes left to go of the session, and then kept this right until just before the chequered flag was raised. I noticed that the KTM Red bull team, Oliveira, Brad Binder and Karel Hanika, all kept going out together to help tow Oliveira round. What disappointed me, is that I noticed the rest of the Leopard team were not helping Kent, but following him around the track. Kent noticed that a lot of the riders kept trying to follow him and was getting frustrated leading him to cut down pit lane to try and shake them off, this unfortunately didn’t work. All the riders, including his own team mate, followed too and with only 3 minutes left of the session, Kent didn’t have much time to try and work up the board. I felt sad in the fact that Kent did have lots of opportunities on his own to go around and throw in some fast laps, but left it to the end to do so. With his continuous looking around and ‘dawdling’ on the track, this led to Danny being penalised sending him one row back. He did originally qualify in 6th place on the grid with a time of 2′12,944, but was moved back to 9th place. What I also could not understand, with all the fast times he had originally set in the free practices, why could he not do this again? I feel sad for Kent, but I understand the pressure is  probably getting to him. I do feel a lot of the other riders are purposely making life difficult for him, which continued in the race. Antonelli did take the pole position with a time of 2′12.653, still quite a way off the original pole record that Jack Miller set last year. Oliveira sat 3rd on the grid with a time of 2′12.893. Therefore, if Kent had stuck in the same time he did in the FP1, he would have been ahead of his rival.

Blood pressures were high as the Moto 3 riders lined up on the grid. Everyone knew that in order for Kent to win the championship, all he had to do was come in 5th place. With him 3rd on the grid, this was to make Kent’s life a lot harder especially as a lot of the good riders were in front of him. As the race began Kent did slip right back to 12th place as everyone steamed off ahead. I could see the leading group breaking away as Oliveira led and Romano Fenati, Brad Binder, Jorge Navarro, Antonelli, Jakub Kornfeil, Francesco Bagnaia and some others tried to keep up. It was very intense as, like in a usual Moto 3 race, positions kept swapping and changing. Kent tried to stay safe as he slowly worked his way back up as he slowly began to find his rhythm. Last round in Phillip Island we could only look on as Kent was taken out twice by Bagnaia and Antonelli. It almost felt very similar as a lot of riders continued to fall around Kent as he tried to look ahead to the leading group. Darryn Binder was the first to fall right behind Kent, but he managed to pull away without getting involved. As Kent began to catch up with the leading group, everyone’s hearts fell as two Leopard riders were shown crashing out into the gravel, which turned out to be Vazquez and Hiroki Ono. This actually happened right in front of Kent at turn 2 as he narrowly avoided being taken out by his own team mates. As he continued to get close, he caught up John Mcphee who very kindly let Kent through, but then he soon found Hanika on his tail. I felt uncomfortable as I know that Hanika has a record for crashing, as he now in fact has had 22 falls which is the most any rider has had this season, so I felt very nervous. However, as predicted with 12 laps to go he did crash out to the side of the track right behind Kent. Bagnaia also took a fall, thankfully not taking Kent out with him this time. I couldn’t help but ponder, why is it that all these riders seem to fall right next to Kent? Coincidence? Anyway. Because Kent has had such a strong race pace which he has shown all weekend, he did finally catch up with the leading group. Showing his thinker strategy he kept to the back of the group, and I couldn’t help but think that maybe the other riders were purposely holding him up? This is my opinion. Antonelli was starting to lose pace and was slowly beginning to lose them, but would not let Kent through. It was a very dangerous situation for Kent, so I am very glad he was mature and stayed away. However with only one lap to go, something knocked Antonelli and Kornfeil back allowing Kent to pass through. This then meant Kent was in 5th pace and he only needed to stay in this position, and he was the new World Champion! But Antonelli and Kornfeil soon caught up again and used Kent’s slipstream to over take him and push him back to 7th. I thought this was cruel. Why go all out to overtake him like that? What are they gaining? But nevermind. We now go into Valencia with a 24 point lead from Oliveira meaning Danny only needs 2 points to take the title. I would just take that Danny and stay safe! Great ride from Oliveira who took the win, but is a shame we couldn’t leave with the title today. Onto Valencia we go!

MOTO 2

Unfortunately (and I am so sorry Sam Lowes because I do support you) I haven’t caught up with as much Moto 2 as the other categories, due to Danny nearly being crowed Champion, and all the controversy in Moto GP! But this is what I have seen and can comment on.

Anyone noticed that your podium finish was who dominated the free practices on the Friday and Saturday? In the FP1 it was Jonas Folger who set off the weekend with the fastest time with 2′07.720. But then in the FP2 it was Thomas Luthi who took the lead with a time of 2′07.453. But then it was the new World Champion Johann Zarco who threw in the quickest time with 2′06.881. However Zarco did have a small crash on turn 15 during the FP3 but he did seem to recover okay after! Alex Rins was also very quiet throughout the free practices until right at the end of the FP3 he managed to get a time of 2′07.208 meaning Zarco was the only rider at present to reach into 2′06.

Luthi showed that he is still a strong rider as he managed to get on the pole position with a fantastic time of 2′06.383, smashing the previous best pole record which was previously held by Pol Espargaro which he set in 2012 with 2′06.962. Zarco was incredibly close behind with a time of 2′06.510 which put him 2nd on the grid. Sam Lowes was obviously struggling to get to grips with this track as he sat 8th on the grid with 2′07.499, which was an improved time from his free practices. Alex Marquez was also right behind with a time of 2′07.515 in 9th place.

The race was as intense as I expected it to be with Luthi trying to break away out the front, but Zarco made sure he wouldn’t let him get away. Although Alex Rins was 3rd on the grid, he somehow struggled to keep up with the leading two riders and slipped back. Sam Lowes’ start wasn’t too bad as he managed to slip into 5th place, but very sadly lost his rhythm due to technical problems as he fell right back to 13th place meaning he won’t become 3rd in the championship, overtaking Tito Rabat (who still couldn’t ride this weekend due to a broken arm). Everyone’s eyes were on Azlan Shah as he had been performing really well in the last few races, and with this being his home track, his home supporters were hoping for a good result. But he did crash out with 18 laps to go, crushing his home crowd’s dreams of a good result. Alex Marquez also crashed out from 11th place with 15 laps to go on turn 9, making it clear he really is struggling to get comfortable on that Moto 2 bike. However his brother, Marc Marquez, has said he is a very slow learner, so maybe next season he will come back stronger. Rins did manage to work his way up to third place as the two front men were battling it out, however he also crashed out on turn 9 with 10 laps to go and this then allowed Folger to move through. It was a good race but in the end it was Zarco who took the victory, gaining even more championship points, not that he needs them! Luthi took the second, and Folger took a well deserved 3rd.

MOTO GP

Now for the race EVERYONE has been talking about. Here is my view.

Dani Pedrosa has shown a great pace all throughout the weekend after starting the FP1 with a time of 2′00.412 with Jorge Lorenzo in 2nd place with 2′00.622. Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi were looming behind with times in the 2′00 range, but were obviously pacing themselves for the big race. In FP2 it was Lorenzo who led this time with 2′00.246, with Pedrosa in 2nd this time with 2′00.293. FP3 then proved the riders were getting ready for an intense qualifying session as the riders Lorenzo, Marquez and Pedrosa moved up into the 1′59 times with Lorenzo taking the top spot with 1′59.544, Marquez in 2nd with 1′59.655 and Pedrosa in 3rd with 1′59.983. Hector Barbera also showed good form sitting in 5th place in the FP3 with a time of 2,00.332, sending him straight through to qualifying 2! Bradley Smith was sadly sent into qualifying 1 and had to go the hard way into Q2.

However FP4 had to come before the qualifying, and the drama soon started to unfold! We already knew that Rossi came through into the press conference on the Thursday prior to the weekend, and said some shocking allegations. He claimed that Marquez was helping out Lorenzo in the previous race in Phillip Island, and was holding Rossi up so that he could not win. He said he noticed Marquez doing ‘strange things’ and that Lorenzo has found a new fan in Marquez, as it’s ‘clear he wants Lorenzo to win the championship.’ Although I thought these comments were untrue, and stupid, I ignored it as the weekend continued thinking it would all pass over. But the games started in the FP4 as we saw a clip of Marquez behind Rossi to which Rossi did not like this and slowed down, and Marquez did a cheeky wheelie past! This was only the beginning. Lorenzo also took a shocking crash, something we don’t see often, which was on turn 15. He was not injured and was able to get up and walk away unhurt.

The qualifying came and the intensity of this championship could only continue to heat up, as there was embarrassment for Lorenzo! Q1 saw Bradley Smith and Maverick Vinales go through into the Q2 to fight for the top spaces on the grid, whilst Scott Redding sadly lost time in his laps which saw him have to settle for 15th on the grid. It was almost like a repeat of Moto 3 as we saw a lot of the riders all following each other around the track, with Marquez towing Lorenzo at one point! Pedrosa and Marquez threw in two quick times right from the start which saw Pedrosa take the pole position with an absolutely fantastic time of 1′59.053, and Marquez take 2nd with 1′59.462. Marquez had a lucky escape to not crash as we saw him wobble whilst on a very good lap, picking the bike back up with his elbow leaving an almighty hole in his leathers! If this was not to happen, I feel he may have been able to achieve pole. But it was the battle between Rossi and Lorenzo that everyone was watching as we saw Lorenzo sitting in 3rd place with a time of 1′59.737 as he passed over the chequered flag. But Rossi was on the move and was scoring a personal best on each sector before coming over the line with 1′59.726, putting him on the front row of the grid! Unfortunately for Lorenzo, he did not see this. Which I am quite surprised about as he stopped to do a practice start and everything! But this saw him head up to Parc Ferme to only be told to leave and ushered away back down pit lane. How embarrassing! 

The race soon came. And I could feel the tension all the way from my house in England, and they’re all the way in Malaysia! Rossi broke a new record as he was lining up for his 329th Grand Prix start, overtaking Loris Capirossi who had 328. Bautista had to start from the back of the grid after an incident with Pol Espargaro. As the riders lined up on the grid I had bet on the two Honda’s getting away, and was actually hoping for the 2 Yamaha riders to battle it out for 3rd and 4th in true championship fashion! How wrong was I. It did start out going my way with Pedrosa and Marquez leading for a while and I was happy as I watched the two championship leaders start to overtake each other. Then it all started to go wrong. Somehow Lorenzo managed to catch up with Marquez, which then left Rossi and Marquez alone together. The two riders started to constantly over take each other which let the two front riders get away , crushing Rossi’s dreams of taking a win. Andrea Iannone sadly had technical difficulties with his bike which sadly saw him retire from the race, which I was really sad about as I wanted him to be up there fighting again! But it was all eyes on Rossi and Marquez as they made viewers squirm, especially me, as they were on the limit passing each other on almost every turn. At this point I knew something wasn’t right. In fact I can honestly tell you, right from the moment VR (Valentino Rossi) and MM (Marc Marquez) starting fighting I said, Marc will crash. Sadly this happened. Just after turn 13 with 14 laps to go, the controversial move that everyone is talking about happened. MM crashed out, with VR at fault for this. Pedrosa ended up taking a very quiet win (but well deserved, well done Dani!) and Lorenzo in 2nd. Bradley Smith also managed to overtake Crutchlow to take a brilliant 4th place, I am so happy with that! But before they crossed the line everyone wasn’t sure whether VR was to be black flagged for the incident, or what race direction was to decide. So here is my verdict!

It all started on Thursday with VR making those ridiculous claims that MM was trying to help Lorenzo. I feel Rossi came out with this because he knows he cannot beat MM or Lorenzo because they are too strong, so to do this he would have to play with their minds. And then as MM has always said he is a big fan of Rossi, Rossi was hoping MM would hear these comments and think ‘oh no, I am a big fan, I would never go against you, let me show you and go out and win this next race and stay away.’ I have a big feeling the media would play a huge part in this also, as they would want more attention in the press. Could the media have influenced VR into making these claims to get more publicity? Even if this is true. Then VR is wrong for playing into this, as it shows he is just as bad as they are. MM should have ignored this, and been the bigger person to go out and win, and after the race then come back on the claims that VR had come out with, showing HE is the bigger person. But MM went the wrong way about it and played into VR’s games saying ‘ok you wanna play a game, I will give you a game,’ showing VR’s comments clearly backfired. MM is clearly holding VR up, personally I feel he had the opportunity to go away and win this race easily. He had the pace all weekend, and he had it at the start, until he started to slow down. He was playing VR at his own game by battling with him, but without breaking the rules. He did his race, and was fighting for the podium. However you could clearly see VR getting frustrated as he lifts his arms up at one point, to which then soon the incident happened. After turn 13 on lap 14, VR deliberately makes MM run wide. At this point he looks at him as if to say ‘what are you doing.’ MM ignores this and continues to the race, to which VR obviously wasn’t best pleased. You can see that MM’s helmet touches VR’s knee, he is off balance. VR then pushes his knee out on purpose, CAUSING MM TO CRASH. VR’s foot is off the foot peg, whether he kicked or not I don’t know, but either way he still interfered with MM’s crash which is not good sportsmanship. He caused another rider to crash which is dangerous, and not the way to go out and win. But like I say MM was also wrong as he also did not show good sportsmanship. He was playing a game, and should of stayed away. However, he was wrong in the sense he was acting immature. VR was also wrong in the sense for acting immature. But then he ended up more wrong, by actually breaking the rules. To which MM did not. They are both WRONG. They have both not shown good sportsmanship. VR is old enough, mature enough, experienced enough, to know that this is not the way to deal with this. He is a big brand, and is the face of the sport. And this is what also makes me sad the fact if this was another rider, they WOULD have been disqualified! I will continue to support MM as he is a rider I enjoy to watch, and I like him as a person. But he made me sad with his choice of actions today. It is a huge shame that VR may have lost the championship this way, I was really looking forward to his 10th world title. Disappointed in the level of maturity being shown from these riders.

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