A terrible piece of bad luck saw Scott Redding leaving Australia with a broken wrist and effectively no chance of taking the Moto2 title. Ruled out of both the Australian and Japanese GPs, sometimes racing can be a cruel sport but at least Scott has a MotoGP ride next year.
Lorenzo qualifies with a passenger...
On a lighter note, anyone watch MotoGP qualifying? The lap Lorenzo set with a seagull wedged in his fairing was top entertainment, PH2 just hopes someone has the sense to get that bird stuffed and then create a fairing/seagull sculpture out of it...
Minus his passenger, Lorenzo stuck his Yamaha on pole but Marquez was right behind and only needed a win and Jorge to finish in third to take the title. But due to tyre wear issues Phillip Island was effectively a two part race with a bike swap in the middle. All very weird.
Lights off and Lorenzo grabbed the holeshot from the Repsol riders with Bradders taking off like a rocket and slotting into fourth! Lorenzo dropped the hammer from the word go but that familiar number 93 wasn't far behind and by the time the riders started to pull in for bike swap there was nothing in it between Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Marquez.
Fun and games at the bike swap
With Pedrosa swapping bikes first, what would happen between Lorenzo and Marc back out on track? Simple - massive moments and a huge error by Marc! With Lorenzo performing the best ever bike swap/stoppie into his mechanic, Lorenzo briefly took the lead as Marc eventually pitted on his 11th lap. Had he broken the rules? No one really seemed sure, but great bike swap spin Marc...
Exiting the pits Marc nearly got taken out by Lorenzo, but with Pedrosa done for speeding in pit lane he had to drop a place to Marc. Confusion was rife in Australia! Back on track Lorenzo led the way from Pedrosa and Marquez with seven laps to go. Would his tyres hold up? Would Marc get penalized? Would Pedrosa get penalized? What the hell was going on?
Head down and Marc was on fire while the pit lane was full of arguments between team mangers. Then the black flag came out for Marc...
Lorenzo's win makes gap to Marquez 18 points
Disqualified from the race for exceeding his laps, Marc could only watch Lorenzo cruise to the win and cut his championship lead to just 18 points. Pedrosa took second while the Bautista/Cal/Rossi battle was won by Rossi. Anyone else get the feeling Honda will be protesting the result?
Moto2 and with Redding out of the Australian and Japanese rounds with a broken wrist, all Espargaro needed to do was stay out of trouble to get his hands on the championship. Taking full advantage of the situation, instead he won the round, taking the championship lead by 16 points.
A dramatic Moto3 race saw Rins take the win by about a tyre's width from Vinales and close up on championship leader Salom. With just five points between them and two rounds to go, expect some carnage in Japan or Valencia...
MotoGP
1. Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing)
2. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team)
3. Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing)
Moto2
1. Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40)
2. Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2
3. Torres (Aspar Team Moto2)
Moto3
1: Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
2: Vinales (Team Calvo)
3: Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
Brit watch
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 4
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 6
Michael Laverty (MotoGP - CRT) - 18
Scott Redding (Moto2) - DNS
Danny Kent (Moto2) - 13
Gino Rea - (Moto2) - 14
John McPhee (Moto3) - 17
Sykes took the title after coming so close in 2012
After losing out on the title last year by just half a point, few could begrudge Tom Sykes his first WSB crown. Pretty much only needing to bring the bike home in Spain to take the title, Sykes finished the first race in third spot and took the championship.
Top effort Tom, congratulations. The race was won by Laverty after an incredible last lap overtake on Melandri.
Race two was also won by Laverty, with Sykes in second spot and Guintoli in third place. With Sykes taking the title, Laverty second overall and Guintoli third, not to mention Haslam winning the Suzuka 8-Hour, it's been a great year for the Brits in superbike racing. Aside from Jonathan Rea breaking his leg...
Finally PH2 has to say a sad farewell to Carlos Checa, who announced his retirement from racing this weekend. Over the years Careless Chucker has provided some superb entertainment for race fans and having met him, PH2 can confirm he's a genuinely lovely chap as well as a bit of a mentalist on a bike...
Race 1:
1. Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team)
2. Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK)
3. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
Race 2:
1. Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team)
2. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
3. Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
Brit watch
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) - 1, 1
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) - 3, 2
Leon Camier (Fixi Crescent Suzuki) - 8, 6
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike) - DNF, DNF
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike) - DNS
Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet SBK) - 7, 5
An incredible year of BSB of racing was rounded off at a damp Brands Hatch. Having kept his head in race one on Saturday, poor Alex tipped off and effectively handed the championship to Shane Byrne at Druids on the first lap of race two on Sunday.
Fraught final race ended in Lowes taking the title
Well, that's what the form book said... a few laps later Shane was also on the floor, meaning it was all to play for in the second race. You couldn't write this script...
Race three and with Lowes leading Byrne by three points in the championship, it was a case of winner takes all. However having both tipped off, Shakey was in 22nd place with Lowes well ahead on row three. What would the next very wet 20 laps bring?
One lap in and Shakey was in 12th and Lowes fifth, but the wet has a habit of evening things up. Five gone and he was behind Lowes and it was a case of whoever took the chequered flag first would take the title. Or who hit the deck first would lose...
Lap seven and Shakey overtook Lowes, however with a target ahead Lowes upped his pace and Byrne got it massively sideways while behind Lowes, Linfoot and Kirkham were potential party spoilers. And then Tommy Bridewell appeared in the distance.
On lap 16 Alex made his move, could Shakey respond? With Lowes in all sorts of shapes, not only was Shakey on his tail, but so now was Tommy! This was going to go down to the final lap.
Last lap and Lowes was in front when a mistake by Byrne handed Alex the title. What an amazing race by both riders and a stunning end to the season.
Congratulations to Stuart Easton, who took the BSS title. Easton has come back from some horrific injuries he sustained at the North West a few years ago and few could begrudge him the title. That said, Seeley must feel quite aggrieved as if it wasn't for a red flag he would probably have taken the title.
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