Michael Scott | October 20, 2019
2019 Motegi MotoGP Results and News
Sunday
MARQUEZ MAKES IT MORE
MotoGP Race – 24 Laps
New World Champion Marc Marquez and the Repsol Honda dominated for another race, securing the constructors title to add to the individual crown he gained last week, after leading almost from start to finish.
There was a brief interruption on the first lap, when brilliant rookie Fabio Quartararo’s Petronas Yamaha nosed firmly ahead at Turn Seven. Three corners later, the 20-year-old French class rookie lost the front on corner entry, and Marquez was through once again as he recovered.
After that, Marquez’s major enemy was fuel consumption, and he explained how he juggled the electronic mapping to be sure to finish the race at the track with the heaviest fuel consumption of the year.
“I was able to open a gap, but when one-and-a-half laps, the fuel lamp was flashing. I knew I could finish, but after the finish line, after seven corners, the bike stopped.”
His 54th premier-class win, his tenth this year, put him equal with Mick Doohan. Only Agostini (68) and Rossi (89) have more.
Quartararo regrouped to hang on to second, himself securing Rookie of the Year in the championship, He was alone throughout, but not without pressure in the final laps as his tyre grip faded, with Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati closing to within half-a-second at the end.
“The race was not enough laps,” the Ducati rider smiled later.
Dovi had fended off a very determined Maverick Vinales (Monster Yamaha) almost throughout, but better than a second clear at the flag. Second factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi never recovered from a poor qualifying position and bad start, and eventually crashed out of 11th position with four laps left.
Cal Crutchlow (LCR Castrol Honda) pounced on front-row starter Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha) to take fifth on the run out of the last corner, with Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki) a tenth behind. Second Suzuki ride Joan Mir was eighth, with Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) and Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) completing the top ten, the latter fading from an early podium challenge with radily vanishing rear grip.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull) was top KTM in a solid 11th; struggling Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda) was 17th.
Marquez has an unassailable 350 points, Dovi is barely threatened on 231; Rins and Vinales have 176 apiece, and Petrucci (169) is under threat from Quartararo on 163; the rookie having taken sixth ahead of no-score Rossi.
Moto2 Race – 22 laps
Pole starter Luca Marini made it two in a row, underlining the late strong form for the SKY VR46 Kalex rider. But he didn’t have it all his own way … with Dynavolt Kalex veteran Thomas Luthi coming through from fifth on lap one to lead from laps 11 to 20, and still half-a-second behind over the line.
Great joy for class rookie Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM), after the Moto3 champion fought his way past Lorenzo Baldassarri’s Flexbox HP40 Kalex with two laps to go for a maiden Moto2 podium
There was good racing behind, with Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) finally emerging to leave championship leader Alex Marquez (EG-VDS Kalex) a couple of seconds adrift, and busy holding off another fast rookie, Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Kalex), with Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP40 Kalex) and Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Kalex) eventually just off the back.
Stefano Manzi underlined a step forward for the new MV Agusta chassis, taking tenth, the marque’s best yet.
Brad Binder’s late title challenge took a knock. Qualified 18th, the Red Bull KTM rider was forcing through when a collision in the early laps put him towards the back again with a damaged bike, and he could do no better than 12th.
Marquez’s lead shrank slightly over new second-placer Luthi, 234:198. Fernandez has 192, Navarro 186 and Binder 184, with Marini closing on 176.
Moto3 Race – 20 laps
Bad luck for Aron Canet and brilliant riding from Lorenzo Dalla Porta proved a major strike in the championship battle. The Italian Leopard Honda rider took a fine fighting second win of the season; Sterilgarda KTM’s Canet fell off struggling to stay with the generally faster front pack, for a third no-score in four races.
Dalla Porta fought off the pressing KTM of Alberto Arenas in a fierce last lap; inches behind star rookie Celestino Vietti (SKY VR46 KTM) came through from fifth at the start to snitch the final podium position from long-time race leader Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Honda).
Rookie Sergio Garcia was a career-best fifth at the back of the group; just faded off the back John McPhee (Petronas Honda) was a lone sixth.
Canet had been fighting with the leaders, but having to over-ride a KTM that was down on speed and acceleration … and he paid the price. Mechanical failure at San Marino and knocked off in Thailand combined to severely dent the early title leader’s chances.
The other remaining contender, Tony Arbolino (Snipers Honda) also crashed out, after fighting through to the top ten from 27th on the grid after qualifying problems.
Dalla Porta’s points lead is not unassailable, with 75 points still available, but he has a significant comfort zone of 47, with 229 points to Canet’s 182; then Arbolino 161, Marcos Ramirez (eighth today) 144 and McPhee 136.
Saturday
Marquez Claims a Full Set
Marc Marquez claimed his first-ever premier-class pole position at Motegi, the last circuit on the calendar to go on his list, and his tenth this season. The Repsol Honda, reveling in mixed conditions, had risen to the top in FP4; and stayed there on the finally almost dry track in Q2 some 30 minutes later.
The predicted heavy rain had affected morning free practice and qualifying for the smaller classes, but had dried by the time MotoGP was coming to the end of FP4, just before the two qualifying sessions.
“These were not normal conditions – a little half and half, and I always feel strong in those conditions, like in FP4. But in qualifying you could ride in a normal way, and finally we got pole at Motegi,” he said. His time of 1m 45.763 was a couple of seconds short of the record.
The Repsol Honda rider, who secured the BMW award for top qualifier of the year ahead of Fabio Quartararo, will also head the Frenchman on tomorrow’s grid. The rookie superstar qualified third, displaced at the last gasp by Petronas Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli, the second time this year the new satellite team has claimed a double front row.
“My crew is working really well, and we are improving together,” said former Moto2 champion Morbidelli. Quartararo, with minimal wet experience in MotoGP, was happy enough: “The front row was my goal, and in these conditions we struggle a lot, like in Brno” (where he qualified tenth).
Morbidelli’s late run pushed factory Monster Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales to fourth, heading row two, still less than three tenths off pole time, with the full dozen of Q2 all within one second.
A heroic effort by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Castrol Honda), through from Q1, put him fifth after struggling all weekend so far, ahead of Pramac independent team rider Jack Miller, the top Ducati qualifier.
Factory rider Andrea Dovizioso was seventh to lead row from team-mate Danilo Petrucci, who had been fastest in morning FP3 on a sodden track.
Aleix Espargaro was an astonishing ninth on the supposedly outclassed Aprilia.
Behind him, Valentino Rossi (Monster Yamaha) led row three from Q1 graduate Alex Rins and his Ecstar Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir.
Rins’s late run in Q1 ended Takaaki Nakagami’s hopes of making it to Q2 for his home GP, the LCR Idemitsu Honda rider’s last race this year before retiring for shoulder surgery.
Lap record holder Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda), still tentative in his return from injury, qualified 19th.
Moto2 – Marini Makes It
Two weeks after his first victory of the season, SKY VR46 Kalex rider Luca Marini underlined his improved form with a first pole of the season, by a massive margin of better than a second over Augusto Fernandez and Lorenzo Baldassarri (both Flexbox HP40 Kalex).
The track started damp after the sodden morning, but was drying at the end, prompting Q1 leader Remy Gardner (ONEXOX Kalex) and late title challenger Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) to risk slicks. In both cases, however, it was too late, and they ended up tenth and a troubling 18th respectively.
Coming from Q1 proved an advantage however for Beta Tools Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro and star rookie Somkiat Chantra (Honda Team Asia Kalex), who qualified fifth and sixth on row two, which was led by points leader Alex Marquez (EG VDS Kalex).
Tom Luthi and Dynavolt Kalex team-mate Marcel Schrotter sandwich rookie Marco Bezzecchi (Red Bull KTM), who also enjoyed the Q1 effect.
Gardner completed the top ten; Stefano Manzi was a best-yet 11th on the MV Agusta.
Mired in Q2 were Xavi Vierge (Kalex) and Di Giannantonio (Speed Up), 20th and 21st. There was heartbreak also for Jake Dixon (Gaviota KTM), fastest in wet morning FP3, but falling on his out lap, and not setting a time.
Moto3 – Antonelli Returns
Freshly back from injury, Nico Antonelli came through from Q1 to take his third pole position of the season in Moto3.
Although the track was drying, it was not only the SIC58 Honda rider who found having gained track time in the first qualifying session.
Alongside him, Alonso Lopez (EG Honda) had led the earlier session; although third front-row starter Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Honda) was out in Q2 only.
Two more Q1 graduates led row two: Makar Yurchenko (Skull KTM) and rookie Sergio Garcia (EG Honda) head points leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Honda).
Aron Canet, the closest title challenger, will start his Sterilgarda KTM from the middle of row three; but double race winner Tony Arbolino (Snipers Honda) couldn’t escape from Q1, and qualified 27th.
Saturday News
Suzuki Jumps the Gun
Suzuki gave MotoGP a taste of 2020 at Motegi … and got a slap on the wrists as a result.
Test rider Sylvain Guintoli was exercising the new GSX-RR, outwardly similar to the Mk2 aero bodywork, with Honda-like bow-tie wings high on each side.
Inside was the 2020 engine, and he rode it to 19th in the dry on Friday.
Up in the control tower, the stewards had the rule book open … and on Saturday morning came the sanction: disqualification from both Friday sessions, FP1 and FP2.
Using next year’s engine was against the rule.
Another Miracle Marquez Save, This Time Alex
Never mind Save of the Weekend. Alex Marquez took the crown from his elder brother on Saturday morning at Motegi with the Save of the Century.
The Moto2 title leader was splashing through the final corner when the rear stepped out by around 90 degrees, then caught. He was flung feet-high and nose kissing the number on the front of the screen, but still clinging to the clip-ons.
He came down on the left of the bike, managed to elbow himself halfway back over the fuel tank … and somehow managed to bring the bike to a safe stop.
He was as flummoxed as anyone as to how he did it. “Something from the sky,” he said.
MV Agusta Moto2 Making Strides
The all-new MV Agusta Moto2 bike appears to have taken a step, with Stefano Manzi qualifying a best-yet 11th in the damp, after placing seventh in dry free practice on Friday.
The reason – a new swing-arm design for the Italian machine, which team manager Milena Koerner says is to the liking of both Manzi and team-mate Bo Bendsneyder, thanks to improved traction.
Friday
With torrential rain forecast for tomorrow, there was everything to play for in today’s free practice … and few surprises now as class rookie Fabio Quartararo put his Petronas Yamaha at the top in the closing minutes of FP2.
2019 Motegi MotoGP Results and News
Yamahas took four places in the top six, with factory Monster team rider Maverick Vinales second; team-mate Valentino Rossi fifth, and second Petronas rider Franco Morbidelli sixth.
Rossi came through only at the end of the session, languishing out of the crucial top ten for most of it.
The Yamaha success upsets predictions of an exclusive Honda/Ducati battle at the 4.801-km stop-and-go Motegi circuits, in the mountains two hours north of Tokyo. But the forecast of rain is much in line with circuit’s reputation for bad weather.
New champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) was a close third, less than two hundredths adrift of Vinales, who was three tenths off Quartararo.
Three tenths also separated the Honda from his expected main rival Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati); with Rossi nosing up to within five hundredths after the flag, to secure his place in Q2 tomorrow.
Morbidelli had set his time earlier; with Pramac rider Jack Miller coming through at the end as second-best Ducati in seventh, less than a tenth ahead of factory rider Danilo Petrucci.
Ecstar Suzuki’s Joan Mir and on-form Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro completed the crucial top ten; with the late flurry of times pushing second Suzuki rider Alex Rins and independent-team LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow back out of that group again.
Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM) was the top KTM rider in 13th, ahead of Pecco Bagnaia (Pramac Ducati) and Taka Nakagami (LCR Honda). Triple Motegi winner Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda) placed 17th, almost 1.9 seconds down on provisional pole.
Times were fairly close, with 11 inside one second, but the ultimate lap record still a second away.
Moto2
Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG-VDS Kalex) was at the head of 21 riders inside one second in Moto2, displacing morning leader Brad Binder’s Red Bull KTM by less than two tenths.
Rookie Jorge Martin on the second Red Bull KTM was a close third, with Thai GP winner Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Kalex) fourth; then Sam Lowes (Federal Oils Kalex) and Nicolo Bulega (SKY VR46 Kalex).
Stefano Manzi’s MV Agusta, then the Kalexes of Luthi, Nagashima and Baldassarri round out the top ten.
The main title challengers are Fernandez (40 points adrift, 12th today), Binder and Luthi (44 and 46), and Navarro (49 – 18th today).
Remy Gardner (Kalex) was 19th, failing to improve with two tumbles in the afternoon; American KTM rider Joe Roberts 20th.
Moto3
The same weather threat made FP2 potentially crucial, and times within three tenths of the absolute record reflected the importance.
Andrea Migno (Mugen KTM) topped a batch with 24 riders within a second, and Hondas and KTMs evenly mixed … but Migno needs to be fast, facing a six-place grid penalty for knocking Ogura off at the last race.
Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Honda) and John McPhee (Petronas Honda) are second and third, then Rodrigo’s Honda sandwiched between the KTMs of Kornfeil and Vietti. Suzuki (Honda), Darryn Binder (KTM), Toba (Honda) and Arenas (KTM) complete the top ten, with title rivals Dalla Porta and Canet 11th and 12th.
Friday News
Zarco to Return with LCR Honda
Troubled French star Johann Zarco is coming back! The former Yamaha star and double Moto2 champion is to contest the last three races of 2019 on a Honda, after quitting his abortive KTM adventure early, and now turning his back on a chance to become a full-time test rider for Yamaha as well.
The unexpected chance at redemption came after independent LCR Honda team rider Takaaki Nakagami pulled out of the last three races for shoulder surgery (see separate news story), leaving the seat on his 2018 RC213V vacant, and the team obliged to find a replacement.
The choice of Zarco immediately triggered rumours that Honda had a secret plan to dump current Repsol teamster Jorge Lorenzo in favour of the Frenchman, but LCR team owner Lucio Cecchinello said that the suggestion had come from his side. He first asked HRC if official test rider Stefan Bradl could take the seat, “but they told me he was too busy testing for the2020 machine,” the Italian former rider said.
He then suggested Zarco, and HRC gave him the okay.
Zarco was not in Japan, but in a statement played down thoughts of conspiracy, and thanked KTM for releasing him from what had been a two-year contract “so that I can do these races on another bike.
“What an opportunity … I will do my best to pick up some good results and to enjoy the time, because these could be the last three races I can do for a while,” he said.
Zarco had claimed six podiums in two years on a satellite Yamaha, gaining a reputation currently echoed by compatriot Quartararo; but hopes that his move to the factory KTM team would take him a step further quickly turned sour. He found the bike badly unsuited to his creamy-smooth riding style, and at the Austrian GP, after poor results and a number of crashes, requested early release from his contract. KTM complied, and two races later let him go even earlier, replacing him with test rider Mika Kallio.
It’s Complicated for Lorenzo
Jorge Lorenzo found himself again obliged to try to counter swirling rumours that his proposed two-year tenure with the factory Repsol team were to be cut short, after hopes that the partnership with title winner Marc Marquez would create “a dream team”.
Haunted by injuries that have crippled his attempts to adapt his riding style to the clearly difficult 2020 RC213V, Lorenzo’s results started poor, but have become radically worse in recent races as he tried to recover from a broken back.
The triple MotoGP champion ended his ultimately successful two Ducati years hurt, suffered a further wrist fracture during the winter, then sustained the worst of a fresh series of injuries with a double spinal fracture at Assen. He missed four races, and has scored just four tentative points in the four events since his return.
Asked if he thought the Zarco move signalled an intent by Honda to replace him early, he replied: “I don’t know. It’s a matter of the LCR team and Honda. They need a rider, and Zarco is free and a fast rider, so why not?”
His own intention to complete his Honda contract remained firm, he added; and the had yet more modifications to try as well as some previous solution to reassess at Motegi, where he claimed three wins on a Yamaha.
Meantime, “Let’s keep trying and let’s see. In life, you need to think positively – even if your situation is complicated professionally, like my situation now.”
Nakagami Set for 2020
Takaaki Nakagami had a double announcement in the week before his home Japanese GP … the long-delayed renewal of his contract with HRC to stay with the LCR team for 2020, plus that he will pull out for the rest of the season after Sunday’s race, for surgery to repair an increasingly troublesome shoulder injury.
Nakagami had been hoping to secure a full factory bike next year, to be on equal machinery with team-mate Cal Crutchlow. Honda remained obdurate, and he will once again race year-old machinery, as this year. But the contract renewal was still a reward for strong results, with a fifth at Mugello backed up by eight more top-ten finishes.
The injury – a fracture to his right shoulder – was sustained at Assen, where he was knocked off in the race by Valentino Rossi, but the Japanese rider had kept it very quiet. Eventually, however, worsening problems and increasing pain triggered diagnoses both in Spain and Japan of a long recovery time from essential surgery.
“The last few races it’s been a struggle even to finish,” he said. “Even without injury it’s not easy to ride a MotoGP machine. Since the injury, it’s been getting worse and worse, especially in the long brakings.”
He elected to have the surgery directly after his home GP, in the interests of being back at full strength for 2020.
Marquez Advice: Be a Compliant Patient
Marc Marquez, who had surgery to repair serial shoulder dislocations after the end of last season, had some advice. “Believe the doctors,” he said. He’d been told that he’d need three months for full recovery, “but I didn’t believe them. I thought I’d be better after one-and-a-half months. But in the end, it took two-and-a-half.”
World Supersport for GP Winner Oncu?
Mystery surrounds the future of youngest-ever GP winner Can Oncu and his much-fancied twin brother Deniz, with no contract renewal so far after Can’s debut season.
Can (pronounced something like Cheawn) won his first-ever GP at a sodden Valencia last year, as a 15-year-old wild card for the Red Bull Ajo KTM team; his under-age entry then and this year the reward for winning the Red Bull Rookies Cup.
Results this year have been more in line with his rookie status, twice in the points with a pair of 14th places; but the top-level team’s hopes of keeping him next year have been on hold for several races.
Brother Deniz has substituted for Can after the latter was injured, in addition to a couple of wild card rides for the team.
While Kaito Toba has been signed up for next year, the second seat remains open, team owner Aki Ajo told Dorna interviewer Simon Crafar. Would either of the Oncu brothers fill it? “I don’t know,” he replied.
The brothers are managed by former World Supersport superstar Kenan Sofuoglu, who is understood to be keen to switch one or possibly both out of MotoGP to that series, which runs alongside World Superbikes.
Quartararo Feels Yamaha is Good at All Tracks
The unexpected leader of Yamaha’s revival – satellite-team rider Fabio Quartararo – has a way of looking at things that doubtless helps.
Where problems in recent years have led to the conception that the M1 is at a disadvantage at some tracks and some conditions, the 20-year-old Frenchman just doesn’t believe it.
“I have heard many times this year that ‘the Yamaha is not good at this track’, but then we manage to get onto the podium.
“So I don’t think any more about Honda or Yamaha tracks.”
Accordingly, he went to the top of the time sheets on the first day, inspiring factory Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales to place second.
Success has eluded Yamaha at Motegi in recent years. In 2014, Jorge Lorenzo won the race, and in 2015 Rossi was second; but since then there has not been an M1 on the podium.
Old Kit for Rossi
Rossi had reverted to the older aluminum swing-arm and single exhaust system at Motegi, after having used the carbon-fibre swing-arm and twin exhausts for the last three rounds. Team-mate Vinales has tested the new equipment in practice, but stuck with the original material for races.
Salac Penalized
Moto3 rider Filip Salac earned the unenviable distinction of becoming the first to fall foul of the new “130-percent rule” introduced at the last round in Thailand – and as a three-times previous offender, this condemns him to a pit-lane start.
As part of an ever-stricter regime to prevent on-track dawdling looking for a slip-stream in the smallest class, this new rule applies sanction to a rider exceeding 130 percent of his best time on any section of the track.
This is in addition to the previous 112-percent rule, whereby riders exceeding this limit on three sections would be penalised.
More Seats Filled for 2020
More rider news: Briton Jake Dixon has been confirmed as the second rider in the Petronas Moto2 team, after a difficult first season on the ill-favoured KTM Moto2 chassis for the Aspar team. The former BSB runner up has scored points once, finishing 12th at Assen.
Double Moto3 winner Marcos Ramirez is also confirmed as Moto2 bound, where he will join the American Racing team, currently using KTM chassis. With KTM withdrawing next year, the team will need to find a new chassis supplier. Kalex is a likely option, but Speed Up and NTS are also available.
One-time Moto3 winner Phillip Oettl, currently struggling in Moto2 on a KTM, has declined an offer to return to Moto3 in favour of a switch to World Supersport, preferring to stay with a larger-engined bike.
—
Click here for all of the latest MotoGP news.
Click here for all of the latest Road Racing news.