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| Kropotkin Thinks | ... that a change is as good as a rest |
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Press releases previewing this weekend's WorldSBK round from the iconic Imola circuit:
#ITAWorldSBK: A tale at every turn
Submitted by David Emmett on
KTM has exercised the option it held over Miguel Oliveira's contract, extending it for the second year, according to German-language website Speedweek. The Portuguese rider will now race for the satellite Red Bull KTM Tech3 for the 2019 and 2020 seasons at least.
That KTM should decide to sign Oliveira up early is hardly surprising. The Portuguese rider has been quietly impressive since moving up to MotoGP. He rode well in the first half of the season opener at Qatar, before burning up his tires and dropping down to finish seventeenth.
But he learned quickly, and put on an outstanding display in Argentina, just losing out in the battle for ninth from Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia and brother Pol Espargaro on the factory KTM. In Austin, he finished shortly behind the other factory KTM of Johann Zarco, who Oliveira has frequently outperformed this year.
Submitted by David Emmett on
Chaz Davies has a lot of catching up to do with the Ducati Panigale V4R. Assen showed he was well on his way
Alex Lowes has finished ahead of teammate Michael van der Mark more often than not. Except at Assen, of course...
Submitted by David Emmett on
Alvaro Bautista's reign continued at Assen, though it wasn't quite as easy as at previous races
Local hero: Michael van der Mark always finds that little bit extra around Assen
Submitted by Gordon Ritchie on
After one chilled and one deep-frozen WorldSBK outing since the last column we still have red-hot Bolognese as the only meal available in the WorldSBK race-winning restaurant.
It may have a liberal sprinkling of Manchego cheese on top, in the form of the super-fast and utterly faultless Alvaro Bautista, but so far the winning recipe in WorldSBK has been mostly about a game-changing machine and the people who make it sing at castrato engine frequencies all the way to 2019 perfection.
Proof that a well-set-up Ducati Panigale V4R is peerless right now came in two ways in Assen; an event so cold that even well-padded people known for their polo-shirts-with-everything-attire had to fiddle with zips on puffa jackets on their way out of the media centre.
Firstly, when the Aruba.it Ducati team decided to try to give Bautista more of a potential advantage for the future, their attempts to take his bike setting into a potentially more golden point on the compass met with disaster. In any direction of change, it seemed. Disaster was their rider’s word, not mine.
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Press releases from the MotoGP teams and Michelin after Sunday's race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas:
BRILLIANT RINS WINS HIS FIRST MOTOGP RACE IN TEXAS
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Press releases from the organizers and some of the teams after the Sunday races at Assen:
Submitted by David Emmett on
After a display of utter domination by Marc Márquez in Argentina, MotoGP heads 7000km north to Austin where if history is to be the judge, we are in for a repeat performance. Marc Márquez has never been beaten at Austin, and indeed, has not been beaten on US soil since he moved up to Moto2 in 2011. It seems foolish to bet against him at the Circuit of the Americas.
Yet the Termas De Rio Hondo circuit and the Circuit of the Americas are two very different beasts indeed. Termas flows, with only a couple of points where the brakes are challenged, and is a track where corner speed and the ability to ride the bike on the rear is paramount. COTA is more a collection of corners than a flowing race track. Three tight corners where the brakes are taken to the limit – Turn 12 being the toughest, braking from nearly 340 km/h to just under 65 km/h – a dizzying extended esses section from Turn 2 to Turn 9, a tight infield section and a big sweeping right hander.
If there is a section where the track sort of flows, it is from the top of the hill. The first corner is one of the most difficult on the calendar. The riders charge uphill hard on the gas, then slam on the brakes compressing the suspension harder than at any point on the calendar. At the top of the hill they release the brakes and try to turn in, managing rebounding suspension with a corner which rises, crests, and then falls away down towards Turn 2.
Precision and forcefulness combined
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Press releases from the organizers and some of the teams after Sunday's races in the WorldSBK series at the Motorland Aragon circuit:
#AragonWorldSBK - Day 3:
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Press releases from the organizers and some of the teams after the first day of practice at Aragon:
Bautista sets the pace at MotorLand Aragón after FP2
