What a smorgasbord of Motorsport we’ve just had this weekend! With a busy viewing schedule, it was a race fan’s dream Sunday, switching between ASBK, WorldSBK, MotoGP, and F1!
To top it off, all categories provided thrilling racing, exciting overtakes, crashes, and plenty of drama!
Following the highly anticipated and successful season opening Round One of the Superbike World Championship here at #phillipislandcircuit last month, round two in Catalunya was a scintillating success also!
Firstly, our #Aussie contingent;
Some positive results for our WorldSBK star Remy Gardner with proof that the bad luck at his home round was momentary. Overcoming difficulties in Race One and improving in the Superpole race, Remy started from the second row in Race Two showing race pace and grit to cross the line in 6th before being demoted to seventh due to track limits.
REMY GARDNER – “We come back home scoring valuable points and being aware that we could enjoy a strong weekend in Assen.”
Our #WorldSSP rider Oli Bayliss had a difficult weekend struggling with the rear of the bike. He was able to salvage a P11 in Race Two after a difficult starting position down the grid following a red flag and restart.
OLI BAYLISS “From my side, we know what I need to improve come qualifying in Assen and for the remainder of the year.”
Some fantastic results from our Aussies Tom Edwards & Luke Power competing in the WorldSSP Challenge! Tom Edwards ended his first race weekend for his new team d34gracing aboard a Ducati with both a WorldSSP Challenge win and some valuable World SSP points on the board.
TOM EDWARDS – “A positive start to the season, but I think we have a lot more potential, and I’m looking forward to fighting further up the field in Assen. We’re only just getting started.”
Luke Power also had a WorldSSP Challenge win in Race 1 and a valuable P3 in Race 2 for an outstanding result aboard his new MV Augusta for the Motozoo R acing Team.
LUKE POWER – “What a day. Winning my first race of the season is the perfect way to repay my team who worked into the early hours to rebuild the bike after I crashed in qualifying.”
Young Cameron Swain in the R3 bLU cRU Championship, had a promising beginning to his first weekend of racing, qualifying in P5, but some unlucky incidents led to crashes in both races, culminating in an unfortunate weekend. A tough start, but we know he will be back in Assen giving his all, and we wish him all the best!
The World SBK races where incredible with some of the best overtaking, racing, and moments highlighted by Toprak Razgatlioglu giving BMW a weekend to remember with two wins and a P3 while the return of the king Alvaro Bautista redeemed himself with a win in Race 2, just in front of the rising star that is Nicolo Bulega who leads the championship after some incredible speed, consistency and pace in the first two rounds of the season. It surely is shaping up to be a season of @worldsbk NOT TO MISS!
In Round two of the mi-bike Motorcycle Insurance Australian Superbike Championship presented by Motul (ASBK), Josh Waters continued his early success making it back-to-back round wins, with Cru Halliday and Broc Pearson enjoying success also. Some hard moments for reigning champ Troy Herfoss with crashes making it a weekend to forget.
For the Supersport category, we witnessed young phenom Tom Toparis claim pole position on Friday night to score not only the race and round win but topped off his efforts with a blistering new lap record in the opening race with a 1:31.484 !
Between the action from Superbike racing, the premier classes of MotoGP & Formula 1 didn’t disappoint either with lots of drama, action, and motorsport moments also.
MotoGP saw Aussie Hero Jack Miller bringing his KTM home in an impressive 5th position showing his return to form at a difficult Portimão circuit for the Portuguese GP.
A surprise late crash with former and reigning champions Pecco Bagnaia and Mark Marquez created some drama, while the impressive rookie Pedro Accosta brought his first P3 and podium behind the always fast Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini.
The Australian F1 at Albert Park was a Ferrari fest and dream weekend, 1-2 finish after Max Verstappen’s car malfunctioned, the Mercedes Cars both out of the race, with Hamilton’s engine giving out and George Russel narrowly escaping injury after a hard wall slam! The Papaya McLarens showed speed and a great team strategy with Lando Norris achieving an accolade of most podiums in F1 without a win and Aussie young gun Oscar Piastri with a strong finish on home soil for fourth!
After all that adrenaline and action, it’s time to recover and get ready for what’s next!
