OCTOBER 26, 2022
Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 09:53AM 
Max Verstappen (No. 1 Red Bull Racing) emerged victorious at the end of an action-packed United States Grand Prix at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, overhauling and fending off Lewis Hamilton (No. 44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team) in a tense finale, while his Red Bull team wrapped up their first constructors’ title since 2013. Verstappen’s record-equalling 13th win of the season, and the squad’s championship triumph, came a day after Red Bull co-founder and owner Dietrich Mateschitz passed away – a milestone fifth F1 constructors’ title for the Milton Keynes operation sparking emotional celebrations. Having moved into the lead at the start, avoiding the drama behind as Carlos Sainz (No. 55 Scuderia Ferrari) and George Russell (No. 63 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team) clashed at Turn 1, Verstappen had looked set for a comfortable victory, dealing with multiple Safety Car restarts and managing his pace expertly. But a slow final pit stop opened the door for Hamilton and the recovering Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari), the reigning world champion having to pass both of them to take the checkered flag first – his move on Hamilton coming with just six laps remaining. Despite his sterling efforts, Hamilton had to settle for second place, with Mercedes’ wait for a 2022 victory continuing, while Leclerc salvaged a podium finish for Ferrari as the Italian team mathematically dropped out of contention for the constructors’ crown. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)
(Sutton images/Formula1.com)Verstappen and Hamilton made it interesting at the end of the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 2022 MotoGP™ World Championship title race will be decided at the season finale in Valencia, despite Francesco Bagnaia (No. 63 Ducati Lenovo Team) claiming a magnificent seventh win of the campaign at the PETRONAS Grand Prix of Malaysia. Enea Bastianini (No. 23 Gresini Racing MotoGP™) made Pecco and Ducati sweat to finish a close second, as a fabulous effort from reigning World Champion Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) saw the Frenchman claim P3 to take his title defense to the wire. Marco Bezzecchi’s (No. 72 Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati) charge to the podium didn’t quite come to fruition, but P4 for the Italian was another fantastic job done. Alex Rins (No. 42 Team Suzuki Ecstar) rounded out the top five, the Australian GP race winner was 1.5s up the road from sixth place Jack Miller (No. 43 Ducati Lenovo Team) – the Australian produced a great comeback ride from P14 on the grid to help Ducati Lenovo Team pick up the Teams’ title. So, after a magical return to Malaysia, we head to Valencia with the MotoGP™ title race still left on the table. Bagnaia vs Quartararo, Ducati vs Yamaha, Italy vs France at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo. Watch Race Highlights here. (Thank you to MotoGP.com)
MotoGP heads to Valencia with the title race still left on the table. It will be Bagnaia (above) vs Quartararo, Ducati vs Yamaha and Italy vs France at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo.
Offense not defense.
By Whit Bazemore
Bend. With the four championship contenders arriving to the second-to-last race of the year at the Sepang International Circuit with only 43 points between them, the Malaysian race was always going to be an edge-of-your-seat affair. It’s a term we use often, but not lightly. The race, and the entire weekend did not disappoint.
Ducati’s “Pecco” Bagnaia started the weekend with a fourteen point advantage over main title rival and defending World Champion Fabio Quartararo. With a total of 25 points on offer from each of the remaining two races, (Valencia is in two weeks) Bagnaia was in a position to win his first MotoGP World Championship and Ducati’s first since 2007, when Casey Stoner brought the first — and so far — only championship glory to the Italian team.
Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was third, 27 points back, and given declining form in each of the last three Asian races, did not figure to feature in the title battle. On the other hand, fourth place Enea Bastainini on the Gresini Ducati, was 43 points back, but has continued to be a real thorn in Bagnaia’s ass by racing with little or no regard for the Championship fortunes of his future teammate, Bagnaia.
Ducati’s one Championship success at the hands of Stoner, and it’s many failures since, are well documented. If anything, the Ducati story only serves to illustrate just how difficult the MotoGP Championship is to win. One can build the fasted and most powerful bike, which Ducati has now done for many, many years, but if the bike doesn’t stop just as quickly, or turn “with a good feeling” or have a near perfect and ultra-quick rider riding it, the Championship will remain an unrealized dream, such as it has.
The Italian brand has much in common with Ferrari - namely the high expectation that comes from being more of an Italian National team than “just another team.” For sure, there is magic in the red paint of both, but checkered flags are black and white, not red. The global passion which infects both is a valuable commodity, but passion alone doesn’t mean much without all of the other ingredients necessary to win the ultimate prize.
With that passion comes high expectations, and with high expectations comes pressure - sometimes insurmountable pressure - which leads to mistakes. In motorcycle racing, where the stakes and danger are the highest of all motorsports by far, mistakes almost always lead to crashes, which of course almost always results in a DNF and zero score. Injuries in MotoGP are as common as grass on a soccer field, and play a big role in a season as well, so mistakes cannot be made with a championship on the line.
While drama is ever present in MotoGP, Saturday qualifying saw more than normal, which increased every fan’s appetite for Sunday’s race.
Bagnaia had a fall in FP3 (at turn 8) which meant he failed to get the lap time necessary to go directly into Q2, so he had to participate in Q1 - (the fastest lap times from the first three practice sessions move the top eight riders directly into Q2 which determines the top 10 starting positions including pole), while Q1 is a qualifying session for all the rest with the two quickest in Q1 then getting to participate in Q2. If it sounds confusing it isn’t — and it does make for dramatic Saturday afternoons. WIth Bagnaia’s team mate Jack Miller and Honda’s Marc Marquez also in Q1, the fight for the top two positions promised to be as mercenary as a fight for a race win - because winning starts with decent qualifying…
Immediately, Bagnaia went quickest in the 15 min session, followed by Miller. After a quick change to new tires, the entire Q1 group went out for second attempts and the drama only increased, with Miller suffering a violent highside crash at T2, then Marquez setting a super quick time only .02 behind Bagnaia slotting into second, demoting Miller to a disastrous 14th starting position.
With Pecco and Marc advancing to Q2 to battle Quartararo and all the other fast Ducatis, the drama continued.
But Quartararo had already suffered his own fall — in FP4 just 45 minutes prior — which broke the middle finger of his left hand. No matter, if you’re a MotoGP Champion fighting for your second straight championship, a small bag of ice is all that’s needed to “fix” a broken bone… so Fabio was suited up and ready to rock for pole position, small ice bag and all.
Jorge Martin broke the track record immediately in the first stint, with Bagnaia second, and Fabio down in 11th. It was not going to plan for the Frenchman.
Then, almost unbelievably, at the start of the second stint on fresh rubber, and after being bumped down to 6th, Bagnaia was “on one” with three minutes left (of 15) when he lost the front while tipping into T4, and crashed out. This had potentially huge consequences.
But the drama and consequences were not yet over. Quartararo, now bumped down to last place (12th) was in the process of trying to improve when he lost the front in T8 again, doing a magical job of not crashing, but of course the damage to the lap time was already done. It was his worst qualifying result of the entire season, and the timing could not have been worse, broken finger and all.
The line-up for the race had Martin on pole with a new track record, Peck starting 9th, Espargaro 10th, and Quartararo 12th. Bastainini meanwhile, was quietly doing his thing under the radar, but ended up second - an outstanding effort and result.
The Championship math was thus: If Bagnaia could win the race, he would be Champion if Quartararo finished fourth or lower. Bagnaia needed 11 more points than Quartararo.
Race day was dry and the start was something else. Martin led from the line, Bastainini slotted into third, but Bagnaia went from 9th to second by the apex of T1. Unbelievable. Fabio was right there too, from 12, he was 6th by the exit of T3 and 5th after the first lap. Martin was on a charge, showing the outright speed that has made him a future World Champion in the eyes of most, but on lap 7 (of 20) he committed an error and lost the front in a high speed crash which saw his Ducati somersaulting violently off the track. Martin walked away while Bagnaia inherited the lead with Bastainini still right on his rear wheel in second. Quartararo meanwhile, was now third.
Ducati team orders have been a subject ever since Bagnaia closed the 91 point lead Fabio had held back in July, and now, more than ever, surely they would be enacted on Bastainini who, at 200mph, was literally inches from Bagnaia’s rear wheel looking for a way past, lap after lap. Ducati management looked nervous and undecided — the three team leaders going back and forth and discussing what to do. The plan has always been “race for the win if you can, but do not put a fellow Ducati racer in danger (of crashing).”
With 10 laps to go, Bastainini made a move on Bagnaia for the lead and opened a small gap. Fabio was 3.2 seconds behind in third. Surely Ducati would interviene. This was, after all, for the biggest prize in the sport. Enea was unable to shake Pecco, and within three laps, Pecco moved back to the front in an aggressive pass. Enea stayed close, very close, and on the last lap, seemed to line up another move for the win, but he made a mistake and lost precious tenths and thus finished second. It was truly edge-of-your-seat action. Fabio was third and did one of his best races, if not his best ever. The Yamaha is not a Ducati - it is slow, it is sensitive, it is hard to ride quickly - yet Quartararo rode to an amazing third place, never mind the freshly broken finger.
Valencia is next weekend, and it is still all to play for. Quartararo has to win the race. Period. If he wins, and Pecco finishes 14th or worse, Quartararo will keep his title. And this being MotoGP, of course anything and everything is possible. Pecco, for his part, will become the first Italian World Champion since his mentor and idol Valentino Rossi back in 2009. And Ducati will win only it’s second Championship. The pressure on Bagnaia and Ducati comes from not wanting to lose the championship. They cannot allow themselves to lose it. This is a much greater pressure than simply wanting to win. Playing defense is much more difficult than playing an aggressive game of “win at all costs.”
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Special AE contributor Whit Bazemore - the Renaissance Man and superb photographer - is continuing to give us updates and his insider's perspective on the MotoGP season. To have someone with Whit's talent share his visual art and deep knowledge of MotoGP is truly special for us, and we really appreciate it. By the way, you may recognize Whit's last name. Bazemore began making a living from drag racing when he was sixteen years old, and he is a two-time U.S. Nationals winner and still the fifth-fastest Funny Car driver ever at 333.25 MPH. -PMD
(Audi)
Audi has selected Sauber as a strategic partner for its Formula 1 project and plans to acquire a stake in the Sauber Group. The partnership will see the traditional Swiss racing team competing as the Audi factory team in Formula 1 beginning with the 2026 season using the power unit developed by Audi. Sauber has around 30 years of competitive experience. While the power unit will be created at Audi’s Motorsport Competence Center in Neuburg an der Donau, Sauber will develop and manufacture the race car at its site in Hinwil (Switzerland). Sauber will also be responsible for planning and executing the race operations.
(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
Marcus Ericsson unveiled his image on the Borg-Warner Trophy on Oct. 27 in Indianapolis, one of the most significant honors since he won the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The bas-relief, sterling silver image of Ericsson is the 109th face to be affixed to the iconic trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the Indianapolis 500 since 1936. Ericsson, a native of Kumla, Sweden, earned his first victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda and is the second Swede to win the race, behind Kenny Brack in 1999. This was the fifth Indy 500 victory for Chip Ganassi Racing as a sole entrant and sixth overall. Renowned sculptor Will Behrends created Ericsson’s image, as he has for every winner since 1990. The unveiling ceremony took place at Union 50 in downtown Indianapolis. “I’m truly honored to have my face sculpted onto the historic Borg-Warner Trophy as an Indianapolis 500 winner,” Ericsson said. “It was an incredible experience to work with Will Behrends and see his dedication and artistry firsthand. Will has done a marvelous job. Today is a very special day for me, as well as everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing. Joining all the previous winners on the trophy is something I'll always be very proud of and will never forget." Behrends begins his creative process by studying a series of 360-degree photos of the winner to get a baseline for sculpting. Winners are then invited to an in-person session where Behrends constructs a full-scale clay model of the driver’s face in his studio in Tryon, North Carolina. This life-size clay version is used as reference for Behrends to construct the smaller model, a piece created out of a mixture of oil-based clay. The smaller clay model is turned into a mold and casted in wax before being sent to a jeweler to be transformed into sterling silver. Behrends completes his process by polishing and buffing the sculpture before adhering it to the trophy.
Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG