dimanche 30 août 2015

Hołowczyc wins LOTTO Baja Poland

For the second time in a row and fifth in his career

Krzysztof Hołowczyc (MINI 4All Racing) won LOTTO Baja Poland, eight round of this year's FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies. LOTTO Rally Team driver took the rally lead during the first running of nearly 150-kilometer long stage held at the military training ground in Drawsko Pomorskie. Overall, Hołowczyc together with his co- driver Łukasz Kurzeja, has won two out of five stages of the rally. Second place went to Nasser Al-Attiyah (also in a MINI), who extended his lead in the FIA World Cup. The podium was completed by a Dutch-Belgian pairing of Bernhard Ten Brinke and Tom Colsoul (Toyota Hilux Overdrive). After the rally come to an end Hołowczyc announced his retirement from cross-country rallying after a decade-long career highlighted by a Dakar podium finish earlier this year.

Final act of the rally, second running of the stage “Dobra” located by the rally park in Szczecin, was interrupted by a downpour. However the weather didn't have any impact on the front-runners. Hołowczyc, chasing his fifth victory in the rally, drove preservative being 20 second slower compared to his own time from the first running of the stage. The Pole, despite being 23 second slower than the Qatari at the final stage of the rally, won comfortably with over 7-minute advantage. Third driver of the rally Bernhard Ten Brinke won the first running of “Dobra” test. Making his comeback after a back injury Martin Kaczmarski, ended-up just outside the podium. Former motorcycle rider Marek Dąbrowski (Toyota Hilux Overdrive) finished fifth, ahead of another two-wheel specialist Jakub Przygoński (MINI All4 Racing) who was making his off-road car debut. Further places went to Adam Małysz (MINI All4 Racing), Miroslav Zapletal (H3 Evo) and Paweł Molgo (Toyota Hilux Overdrive).

In the T2 category Jarosław Kazberuk and Robin Szustkowski (Ford Raptor), representing LOTTO School of Champions, had an impressive run, taking the lead after the first running of the stage “Poligon Drawsko”. On Sunday the duo, due to a technical failure, lost their T2-category lead, however they were fastest on the final test. Eventually the victory in T2 went to Denis Berezovskiy / Ignat Falkov (Nissan Patrol Y62) of Kazakhstan. Klaudia Podkalicka (Mitsubishi Pajero) did a good job and finally ended up second in the T2 category. T3 was won by, known from traditional rallying, Aron Domżała and Szymon Gospodarczyk.

LOTTO Baja Poland was also a round of Polish Championship for Cross Country Rallies, where the victory went to Hołowczyc, ahead of Ten Brinken and Kaczmarski.

In the FIA CEZ in T1 group Krzyszof Hołowczyc took the victory, in T2 Klaudia Podkalicka, in T3 Aron Domżała and in TH Piotr Gadomski.

In the Polish Cross Country Cup in S1 group Piotr Bugajski / Kamil Nowak (Nissan Patrol) took the victory, while Tomasz Stokłosa and Karol Trzebny (Mitsubishi Pajero) were the fastest in S2. Sebastian Kałużny (Husaberg FE03) was the fastest motorcycle rider, Paweł Samek (Suzuki LTR 450) was the best of two-wheel drive quads, Arkadiusz Lindner among four-wheel drive quads (Can-Am Renegade), while Łukasz Szymczak and Artur Jankowski (Can-Am Maverick) won the UTV category.

LOTTO Baja Poland 2015 leaders:

SS 1: Nasser Al-Attiyah

SS 2 – 5: Krzysztof Hołowczyc

LOTTO Baja Poland 2015 stage winners:

SS 1: Nasser Al-Attiyah

SS 2: Krzysztof Hołowczyc

OS 3: Krzysztof Hołowczyc

SS 4: Bernhard Ten Brinke

SS 2: Nasser Al-Attiyah

FIA World Cup for Cross Contry Rallies standings after LOTTO Baja Poland 2015:

1 Nasser Al-Attiyah: 201

2 Vladimir Vasilyev: 179

3 Reinaldo Varela: 97

4 Marek Dąbrowski: 92

5 Miroslav Zapletal: 84

Quotes after LOTTO Baja Poland 2015:

Krzysztof Hołowczyc / Łukasz Kurzeja (MINI All4Racing):
- It all went really well for us. Now the really is over. Always up until the last moment you never know what is going to happened, but a few corners away from the finish line we know that we have won the rally. We didn't put a wheel wrong over the course of the rally and we managed to keep some big names behind. Nasser arrived here very tired and that played a role for sure. I've managed to maintain the gap even though he tried to push. Winning in front of your home crowd is something special. My co-driver was making his cross-country debut, but we worked really well together.

Nasser Al-Attiyah / Matthieu Baumel (MINI All4Racing):
- It wasn't an easy rally, but obviously we're really happy. Second place is very good in terms of the FIA Word Cup season standings. I would like to congratulate Krzysztof, he drove really well. I wish to take part in the rally also next year.

Bernhard Ten Brinke / Tom Colsoul (Toyota Hilux Overdrive):
- It was great rally for us. Baja Poland is an amazing, but a very specific event. It's very hard to compete against Mini which, thanks to its diesel engine, has a lot more torque. We have a petrol engine in our Toyota that plays to our disadvantage mainly in a sandy terrain.

Martin Kaczmarski / Tapio Suominen (Toyota Hilux Overdrive):
- I'm fourth and I have to take it as a success. We're made it to the end in one piece, so I'm very pleased. I regret that we have lost third place. The podium wasn't far away. Today's stage wasn't my favourite. I was simply scared to run that fast between the trees.

Marek Dąbrowski / Jacek Czachor (Toyota Hilux Overdrive):
- Sunday was really good, we were really quick on the stages, whereas yesterday we were struggling with the set-up. All in all, I'm happy with the result.

Jakub Przygoński / Andreas Schulz (MINI All4Racing):

- I'm really happy. Together with my co-driver we have kept really good pace. Our progression is our priority at the moment. I think that quite soon we should reduce the gap to the front-runners. Morocco is going to our next rally.

Adam Małysz / Xavier Panseri (MINI All4Racing):

- It wasn't the best rally for us. I haven't been driving a rally car since may and I could feel that. Drivers who drive more than us have the experience on their side.

Zarco s’impose en solitaire à Silverstone/ Zarco takes fifth win of season in Moto2™

Le leader de la catégorie Moto2™ a été intraitable dans une course commencée sur piste mouillée et finie sur le sec.

Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) a excellé dans des conditions très difficiles au Grand Prix Octo de Grande-Bretagne pour décrocher sa cinquième victoire de la saison, la deuxième consécutive suite à celle de Brno, dans une épreuve que les pilotes avaient commencée sur piste mouillée.

Concurrencé par Tito Rabat (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Álex Rins (Páginas Amarillas HP 40), Álex Márquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) et Jonas Folger (AGR Team) en début de course, le Français a réalisé un dépassement décisif sur Rins dans le huitième des dix-huit tours de la course et a pris trois secondes et demie d’avance sur ses poursuivants en l’espace de deux tours.

Alors que la piste séchait et que de nombreux pilotes se retrouvaient en difficulté sur des pneus pluie qui surchauffaient et offraient de moins en moins de grip, Zarco n’a eu qu’à calmement gérer son avance pour s’assurer une victoire indiscutable et poursuivre sa série record avec un onzième podium consécutif.

Vainqueur devant Rins et Rabat, qui a fait une courte sortie de piste en fin de course, Zarco porte son avance au Championnat à 85 points sur Rins, qui repasse devant Rabat, le Champion en titre, désormais à 88 points du Français. Malgré un pneu arrière complètement détruit en fin de course, Rabat a réalisé son meilleur temps sur le dernier tour afin de s’assurer la troisième place.

Après une très bonne course en République Tchèque, Márquez, le Champion du Monde Moto3™ 2014, a confirmé ses récents progrès en finissant à nouveau à la quatrième place, juste derrière Rabat et devant Jonas Folger (AGR Team).

Qualifié en pole position, Sam Lowes (Speed Up Racing) a manqué son entame de course et a terminé avec une bien décevante sixième place à domicile, alors que les conditions semblaient idéales pour le pilote anglais.

Autre spécialiste des courses sous la pluie, Anthony West (QMMF Racing) a pris la septième place devant Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Tom Lüthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) et Ricky Cardús (JPMoto Malaysia), dixième avec trois secondes d’avance sur son ancien coéquipier Marcel Schrötter (Tech3 Racing).

Louis Rossi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) a dû passer aux stands en début de course en raison d’un problème technique et est reparti sans changer de pneus pour finir en 27e position.

Florian Alt (E-Motion IodaRacing Team) a été le seul pilote à miser sur les pneus slicks dès le début de la course et s’est arrêté juste avant Rossi, un pari qui n’a pas fonctionné puisque le jeune Allemand a terminé à la 24e place, devant Xavier Siméon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), lui aussi passé sur slicks un peu plus tard.

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

Johann Zarco extends his championship lead after a commanding race win in the wet, with Alex Rins and Tito Rabat completing the podium.

Ajo Motorsport’s Johann Zarco made it 11 podiums in a row and extended his lead in the Moto2™ World Championship standings after taking a commanding win during a wet race at the Octo British Grand Prix. The Frenchman crossed the line 3.360s ahead of Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Alex Rins, with Tito Rabat on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex completing the podium.

Heavy rain during the morning’s Warm Up session saw all the riders line up on the grid with wet tyres but it had stopped by the time the lights went out, leading to a dramatic and tense race. Frenchman Zarco showed that he was the master in the wet as he managed to preserve his tyres when a dry racing line appeared while many others struggled.

Zarco, starting from 3rd on the grid, was involved in an excellent early battle with Rabat and Rins with the three riders swapping the lead numerous times. On the second lap Zarco and Rabat almost touched, with Zarco running wide and dropping back to fifth. It took him until lap seven to work his way back to the front and take the lead. Zarco immediately set about creating a gap at the front as the others seemed to suffer from greater tyre degradation. By lap thirteen the gap between Zarco and second placed Rabat had reached 8 seconds. There was a slight scare for the championship leader as Rins started to close him down in the final stages but he responded to take his 6th career GP victory by a comfortable margin.

Rookie Rins came out on top in an excellent scrap for second between himself, and the two EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex’s off Rabat and Alex Marquez. Rins made a move with 5 laps to go to secure second for his own, leapfrogging Rabat in the championship standings in the process.

Rabat (+5.527s) had led into the first corner and looked liked he could match the pace of Zarco in the early stages of the race, but after 8 laps you could visually see the rubber flying off his tyres. The reigning Moto2™ World Champion ran wide while fighting with his teammate Marquez for third on the penultimate lap, but managed to recover to take third and secure his fifth podium of the season.

Marquez (+6.489s) came from ninth on the gird to take his second fourth position in a row ahead of AGR Team’s Jonas Folger (+8.228s). Pole man and local hero, Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes, had a terrible start and was down in eighth by the end of the first lap. The British rider responded in front of his passionate home fans and fought back to cross the line in sixth.

Australian wet race specialist Anthony West (QMMF Racing) fought his way from 22nd on the grid to claim seventh. Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten), and Ricard Cardus (JP Moto Malaysia) completed the top ten.

There were crashes for wildcard Bradley Ray (FAB-Racing), Forward Racing duo Lorenzo Baldassari and Simone Corsi, plus Thitipong Warokorn (APH PTT The Pizza SAG).

Check out the full Moto2™ race results, and the latest Moto2™ World Championship standings.

Up next is the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on 11th-13th September.

Rossi reprend la main avec un premier succès à Silverstone / Rain-master Rossi rules at Silverstone

L’Italien s’est imposé en maître sous la pluie au Grand Prix Octo de Grande-Bretagne.

Rattrapé par son coéquipier Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) au sommet du classement général suite à la victoire de ce dernier à Brno, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) a réussi à reprendre l’avantage dans la lutte pour le titre MotoGP™ 2015 en réalisant une course tout simplement parfaite à Silverstone.

Installés sur la grille sur pneus slick alors que la pluie commençait à s’intensifier, tous les pilotes sont rentrés aux stands à l’issue du tour de chauffe afin de changer de machines et de partir de la pit-lane, une situation inédite et dangereuse qui a rapidement été résolue par un drapeau rouge pour réinitialiser la procédure de départ, avec une course cette fois-ci déclarée sur piste mouillée.

Second sur la grille, Lorenzo a réalisé le holeshot pour mener durant les deux premiers tours, avant d’être repris par Rossi et Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda), qui était en pole position. Ces deux derniers n’ont pas tardé à faire la différence sur leurs poursuivants alors que Lorenzo, visiblement peu à l’aise sur piste mouillée, perdait plusieurs positions.

Márquez a poursuivi Rossi jusqu’à perdre le contrôle de sa RC213V dans le virage n°1, à Copse, dans une chute dont il n’a pas pu repartir. Six secondes derrière Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) et Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) se retrouvaient soudainement aux seconde et troisième positions. En pleine confiance, Petrucci a animé la fin de course en prenant l’avantage sur son compatriote et en rattrapant une grosse partie de son retard sur Rossi, pour finalement franchir la ligne d’arrivée trois secondes après le nonuple Champion du Monde. Le pilote de Terni s’offrait ainsi un superbe premier podium en Grand Prix, devant Dovizioso, qui retrouvait les places d’honneur après une série de résultats décevants.

Quatrième à l’arrivée après être parvenu à se défaire de Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Lorenzo concédait douze points à Rossi avant les six dernières courses de la saison tandis que Márquez, suite à son abandon, se retrouvait à 77 points de l’Italien.

Derrière Pedrosa, qui a fini cinq secondes derrière Lorenzo, Scott Redding (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) s’est offert la sixième place, son meilleur résultat en MotoGP™, en allant chercher son compatriote Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) en fin de course et en s’imposant sur ce dernier.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Team Suzuki Ecstar) et Álvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) complétaient le Top 10 devant Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) et Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team), qui remportait la victoire en catégorie Open pour la deuxième fois de l’année, devant Héctor Barberá (Avintia Racing) et Mike Di Meglio (Avintia Racing).

Pilote Open le mieux qualifié, Loris Baz (Forward Racing) a fini seizième.

Tombé dès le premier tour, Yonny Hernández (Octo Pramac Racing) avait été le premier abandonné et a plus tard été rejoint par Jack Miller (LCR Honda), qui a fauché son coéquipier Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) en chutant. Le Britannique est rentré aux stands pour ensuite repartir mais a finalement dû jeter l’éponge après une seconde chute. Sont également tombés Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech3), qui avait pris l’avantage sur Smith dans la lutte pour la sixième place, et Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini).

Cliquez ici pour accéder aux résultats.

Valentino Rossi claims his fourth win of the season after a masterful ride in the wet, with Petrucci and Dovizioso completing the podium.

Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi produced a fearless ride in the rain to claim his first ever victory at Silverstone, and open up a 12 point lead in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings over his teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

There was drama before the lights even went out at Silverstone as it was originally declared a dry race, but rain on the grid prompted every rider to return to the pits on their warm up lap to swap for wets. This led to a 30-minute delay to allow the teams and riders to safely reform back on the grid.

When the action started in anger, Rossi enjoyed a solid start, before moving his way up from 4th on the grid to take the lead on just the second lap. Rossi managed to pass his teammate and main title rival Lorenzo at Village corner, much to the delight of the 73,000 fans at the legendary Silverstone Circuit.

He then tried to break away at the front, with only Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda able to stay with him. Lap after lap Rossi and Marquez pulled away at the front, opening up a gap of 7 seconds to the 3rd placed Petrucci by just the ninth lap. The 36-year-old Italian was setting a blistering pace in the dreadful conditions, and it proved too much for even Marquez. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion crashed out on lap 13 at Copse Corner to effectively end any chance he had of defending his title. The Spaniard now trails Rossi by 77 points in the standings, with just 6 races remaining.

Without Marquez to push him, Rossi seemed to relax and at one point it seemed as if the chasing Ducati’s of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso would close him down towards the end of the race. Petrucci had reduced the gap to just 1.6s with two laps remaining, but Rossi got a signal from his pit board and upped the pace once more. The ‘Doctor’ going to take the race win by 3.010s

Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci delivered an incredible ride to secure his first ever MotoGP™ podium as the leading Satellite rider. The Italian, starting from 18th on the grid, rode through the pack superbly before getting involved in an excellent battle for second with Dovizioso on the factory Ducati Team GP15. Petrucci’s GP14 is known as a good bike to ride in the wet and he made sure that he secured his best ever MotoGP™ career result to the delight of his team.

Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+4.117s) completed an all-Italian podium to equal his best results of the season in Assen. The former 125cc World Champion started form 12th on the grid but rode superbly in the tricky conditions to secure his 29th MotoGP™ Podium.

Rossi’s main title rival and teammate Jorge Lorenzo (+5.726s) had a frustrating race. The double MotoGP™ World Champion led into the first corner, but found himself dropping back through the field at an alarming rate. At one point Lorenzo was as low as sixth before he seemed to recover and fought back to cross the line in fourth, limiting the damage to his title chances.

Dani Pedrosa (+11.132s) on the second Repsol Honda battled hard throughout the race to secure fifth spot. The Spaniard was right in the mix for the podium during the race but started to drop back in the latter stages, eventually crossing the line over 5 seconds behind Lorenzo.

EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding (+25.467s) won the ‘Battle of the Brits’ as he pulled off his the best result of his MotoGP™ career in front of his passionate home support. His compatriot Bradley Smith on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha was a further second back, after he enjoyed a race long battle with his teammate Pol Espargaro, before the Spaniard crashed out at turn 3 on lap 14.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) finished in eighth ahead of the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro in ninth. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista secured the teams first top-ten finish on their return to the premier class.

Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) was the leading Open Honda in 12th ahead of the Avintia Racing duo of Hector Barberaand Mike Di Meglio, while his teammate Eugene Laverty crossed the line in 17th.

LCR Honda pair Cal Crutchlow and Jack Miller both enjoyed excellent starts to the race and found themselves battling for the final podium spot. Unfortunately Miller would take out his British teammate at Vale on the 3rd lap, with both men forced to retire. Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also crashed out of the race with 8 laps to go.

Check out the full MotoGP™ race results, and the latest MotoGP World Championship standings.

Up next is round 13 in the MotoGP™ World Championship the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on 11th-13th September.