Monday 19th October 2015

MotoGP Australia & WSB Qatar: PH2

Another MotoGP epic at Phillip Island and the WSB championship settled in Qatar

---

After a poor qualifying, Rossi was in need of a bit of help in Australia and thankfully for Vale another Italian was there to assist during the first few laps. Andrea Iannone was not only busy head butting seagulls, he also caused enough chaos to stop Lorenzo checking out in the early laps. But then he broke them.

Damn seagulls!

After a brilliant few opening laps, Lorenzo squeezed out a lead and left Rossi to exchange paint with Iannone and Marquez. With Marquez now ahead of him, Rossi seemed to calm it down, concentrate instead on bridging the gap between them and the leader, using the Honda's speed to drag him along the straight. Could they catch Lorenzo?

With 15 laps to go, Iannone joined the battle for second and demonstrated just how fast the Ducati is. Or how brave Andrea is on the brakes... With his rhythm disturbed by Iannone, Rossi couldn't hang onto Marquez, who was now setting the fastest laps of the race and hunting down Lorenzo. Could this play into the Doctor's hands? A win for Marquez would be a good result for Rossi's championship hopes and if Marc and Lorenzo ended up in a battle, that could give Rossi the chance to catch them up. If only Iannone would get out of his way!

Ten laps left and Marc slipped past Lorenzo with ease, demoting Lorenzo to second and allowing Iannone and Rossi to close up a few more vital meters. Were we going to see a four bike scrap for the lead? Worn tyres and a bit of elbow bashing would certainly play more to Rossi's strengths than Lorenzo's. But then Lorenzo dug deep and not only took the lead, he even managed to create a small gap over the battling trio behind entering the last lap.

A stunning win for Marc Marquez

An amazing final lap saw Marquez somehow drag back and overtake Lorenzo while Rossi couldn't match the speed of Iannone's Ducati. Andrea may have taken points off Rossi in the championship, but he rode a such a stunning race and you couldn't hold that against him. Rossi still has 11 points over Lorenzo in the championship and there are only two races left...

Moto2 and with the title decided, it was all about racing for pride in Phillip Island. A fairly subdued race saw Rins take a clear win from Lowes.

Moto3 and another solid race would all but secure Danny Kent the title and after a crazy first few laps when McPhee rode like a man possessed, the race settled down to a 'steady' seven bike group after McPhee highsided himself out of the race. With Kent only needing to finish ahead of Bastianini, all looked safe until he clipped another rider and dropped down the pack and into sixth. Then disaster struck as Kent was taken out... or did it? With Bastianini on the floor, if Oliveira failed to finish on the podium, Danny would take the title from his hay bale at the side of the track! A win for Oliveira ensured the title would go to Malaysia, but with 40 points in the bag and only 50 left to play for, Kent is still looking good for the title. Although in Moto3 nothing is certain...

---

Results:

MotoGP
1st: Marquez (Repsol Honda Team)
2nd: Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP)
3rd: Iannone (Ducati Team)

Moto2:
1st: Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40)
2nd: Lowes (Speed Up Racing)
3rd: Baldassarri (Athina Forward Racing)

Moto3:
1st: Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2nd: Vasquez (Leopard Racing)
3rd: Binder (Outox Reset Drink Team)

Brit watch:
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 7
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 10
Scott Redding (MotoGP) - 11
Eugene Laverty (MotoGP) - 19
Sam Lowes (Moto2) - 2
John McPhee (Moto3) - DNF
Danny Kent (Moto3) - DNF

Previous rounds:
MotoGP USA
MotoGP Qatar
MotoGP Argentina
MotoGP Jerez
MotoGP France
MotoGP Italy
MotoGP Spain
MotoGP Assen
MotoGP Germany
MotoGP Indianapolis
MotoGP Czech Republic
MotoGP Silverstone
MotoGP Misano
MotoGP Aragon
MotoGP Japan

---

With the title all wrapped up and Jonathan Rea proving his doubters wrong, all that was left to be settled in the final WSB round in Qatar was who would finish second and third in the title chase between Sykes and Davies. With Jordi Torres taking the first race win, Sykes finished in third, one place ahead of Davies. Race two saw Davies take second place behind Haslam with Sykes in third, giving the Ducati rider second place overall in 2015.

Yet again the British Superbike title was set to be decided at Brands Hatch (well, that's the point of the showdown rules), but this year it was far more of a formality. Josh Brookes only needed to beat Shakey by a few points to give himself, and the new R1, a first BSB title. The Kent track could have thrown up a few surprises in its three races, but in the end Josh took the Saturday race win and the title. Next year the PBM team are swapping from the dominant Kawasaki to Ducati, which could make things pretty exciting for Shakey.

---

WSB Qatar Results:

Race 1:
1. Torres (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils)
2. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
3. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Race 2:
1. Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils)
2. Davies (Aruba.IT Racing-Ducati SBK Team)
3. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

Brit watch:
Leon Haslam (Aprilia) - 6, 1
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) - 2, retired
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) - 3, 3
Alex Lowes (Suzuki) - retired, retired
Chaz Davies (Ducati) - 4, 2
Leon Camier (MV Agusta) - retired, retired

Previous rounds:
WSB Spain
WSB Thailand
WSB Assen
WSB Imola
WSB Donington
WSB Misano
WSB Malaysia
WSB Spain
WSB France

[smilo996]

Six really great motorcycle races in one weekend. Although an Aussie, Josh Brookes thoroughly deserved the title and with the changes for next year it looks like it will be another good season next year.

Danny Kent seems to be having a touch of the Jack Miller's, 2014 vintage. Lucky he put in so much work earlier. Sure to win next round and what a title to have.

WSBK. Well it would seem people were out to stop Rea getting to Edwards points total and they did. Thoroughly deserved placing for Chaz Davies and in a counter point to the Spanish Championship, four brits placed in the first four places. Best British result this year?

MotoGP. Well you have to wonder what Iannone was taking. Tries to eat a Seagull, best move of the year to take Rossi and Marquez in one corner and then makes it back to third.
Good to see Marquez having to work for a living for the first time since coming to MotoGP as there were three different manufacturers in the top three. Unfortuantely Dani takes his place again in the unique garage of MotoGP.
Lorenzo should take up Rallying then he could do a proper time trial. Same tactic different race, same result, odd.

Amazing race though.