(Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Digital)
Twenty-seven-year-old Chase Briscoe (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) captured his first-career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Briscoe had to hold off the field on not one, but two late-race restarts on the one-mile desert oval, including the final restart with three laps remaining to earn his first career Cup Series win. Briscoe, last year’s Rookie of the Year, earned the victory by .771-seconds over Ross Chastain (No. 1 Chevrolet) – in only his 40th start. Wacth the highlights here. (Thank you to Holly Cain/NASCAR Wire Service)
Twenty-seven-year-old Chase Briscoe (No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford) captured his first-career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon. Briscoe had to hold off the field on not one, but two late-race restarts on the one-mile desert oval, including the final restart with three laps remaining to earn his first career Cup Series win. Briscoe, last year’s Rookie of the Year, earned the victory by .771-seconds over Ross Chastain (No. 1 Chevrolet) – in only his 40th start. Wacth the highlights here. (Thank you to Holly Cain/NASCAR Wire Service)
From the Porsche press release:
Porsche motorsport legend Vic Elford passed away at his home in Plantation, Florida on March 13. The 86-year-old battled against cancer in recent years with the same tenacity and determination that made him one of only four drivers to record six major victories at the Nürburgring during his long racing career. Elford earned the nickname “Quick Vic” for his ability to ring speed from cars ranging from hill climb specials to rally racers, open wheel Formula One cars and rocket-fast sports car prototypes. Elford is survived by his wife, Anita.
Elford was the first driver to have an average lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans) above 150 mph – he did so in a 1970 Porsche 917 LH (Long-Tail). He was a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner (1967 and 1973) and famously won the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Porsche 911, and the Rolex 24 At Daytona, behind the wheel of a Porsche 907, in back-to-back weeks in 1967. The ’67 Daytona win was the marque’s first international 24-hour race victory. Elford made eight starts at Le Mans, six in a Porsche, with the first victory coming piloting a Porsche 906 K, the second in a Ferrari. His last start at the endurance racing classic came in 1974 in the seat of a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. His remarkable driving career also spanned into Can-Am and NASCAR’s Daytona 500.
While his on-track success is nearly mythological, the greatest of all the accolades Elford achieved came in 1972 when he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by French President Georges Pompidou. The prestigious honor was awarded for his act of courage and heroism during the 24 Hours of Le Mans when he stopped to assist a fellow driver from a burning car. The same outreach and consideration of his fellow drivers reached through the generations as Elford is recognized as a hero and mentor by countless drivers of today.
Elford’s skill can readily be seen in the movie Le Mans where Steve McQueen chose him to handle the high-speed close-up action shots driving the famous Porsche 917. A role that celebrated its golden anniversary in June 2021 with the 50th Anniversary of the premiere of the iconic film. A longtime driving coach, Elford also wrote two books: The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook and Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsport.
Porsche motorsport legend Vic Elford passed away at his home in Plantation, Florida on March 13. The 86-year-old battled against cancer in recent years with the same tenacity and determination that made him one of only four drivers to record six major victories at the Nürburgring during his long racing career. Elford earned the nickname “Quick Vic” for his ability to ring speed from cars ranging from hill climb specials to rally racers, open wheel Formula One cars and rocket-fast sports car prototypes. Elford is survived by his wife, Anita.
Elford was the first driver to have an average lap of the Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans) above 150 mph – he did so in a 1970 Porsche 917 LH (Long-Tail). He was a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner (1967 and 1973) and famously won the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally, driving a Porsche 911, and the Rolex 24 At Daytona, behind the wheel of a Porsche 907, in back-to-back weeks in 1967. The ’67 Daytona win was the marque’s first international 24-hour race victory. Elford made eight starts at Le Mans, six in a Porsche, with the first victory coming piloting a Porsche 906 K, the second in a Ferrari. His last start at the endurance racing classic came in 1974 in the seat of a Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. His remarkable driving career also spanned into Can-Am and NASCAR’s Daytona 500.
While his on-track success is nearly mythological, the greatest of all the accolades Elford achieved came in 1972 when he was named Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite by French President Georges Pompidou. The prestigious honor was awarded for his act of courage and heroism during the 24 Hours of Le Mans when he stopped to assist a fellow driver from a burning car. The same outreach and consideration of his fellow drivers reached through the generations as Elford is recognized as a hero and mentor by countless drivers of today.
Elford’s skill can readily be seen in the movie Le Mans where Steve McQueen chose him to handle the high-speed close-up action shots driving the famous Porsche 917. A role that celebrated its golden anniversary in June 2021 with the 50th Anniversary of the premiere of the iconic film. A longtime driving coach, Elford also wrote two books: The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook and Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsport.
(Michelin)
Just over a year on from the tragic passing of much-adored Fausto Gresini, Enea Bastianini (No. 23 Gresini Racing Ducati MotoGP™) delivered a Grand Prix of Qatar masterclass to claim an emotional victory under the lights. Brad Binder (No. 33 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) produced a terrific ride to seal P2, the South African finishing just 0.3s away from the win, with Pol Espargaro (No. 44 Repsol Honda Team) completing the podium on the opening night of the season. With two laps to go, the gap was 1.2s in Bastianini’s favor over Binder, with Pol Espargaro 0.7s off the KTM’s coattails. Aleix Espargaro (No. 41 Aprilia Racing) was threatening his younger brother for the final podium spot. Bastianini lost a tenth to Binder on the penultimate lap, with the gap just 1.1s. It was down to 0.6s heading into the final sector, but Bastianini held on. The Italian powered his GP21 Ducati out the final corner and took an incredible, emotional victory under the lights in Qatar, the perfect tribute to the late, great Fausto Gresini. Brad Binder’s second is something no one was expecting during pre-season testing, but the South African, as he so often does, pulled a rabbit out of the hat when it mattered most. Pol Espargaro, after leading for so long, held onto a fantastic podium – his second with HRC. Watch the Top 5 moments from the race here. (Thank you to MotoGP Media)
THE BEAST COMES THROUGH.
By Whit Bazemore
Bend. The 2022 MotoGP season kicked off in Qatar and delivered on all the buildup, suspense, and surprise the off-season had promised. Already hailed as the best racing in all of motorsport (according to people who would know: the late Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Lewis Hamilton, et al., as well as the Editor-in-Chief of AE), it’s difficult to imagine MotoGP somehow increasing it’s excitement, but it did exactly that.
There are many emotional, dynamic human story lines surrounding this 2022 season, and pre-race there were many questions being asked. A shortened 2022 test schedule allowed only five days total of testing, and three of those days were on the new Indonesian track in Mandalika. Which meant Qatar could be have been an upset-filled race. Except, of the 24 MotoGP entrants in 2022, there are only a few racers who could actually be considered “upset winners,” such is the level of competition among both the riders and the six factories (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia, KTM, and Ducati). It seems, on paper at least, 60-70% of the field could and “should” actually win a race this year.
Among the stories and questions pre-race:
Would six-time Champion (and the most Ayrton Senna-esque racer of this generation) Marc Marquez return fully recovered and fit from his two years of serious and potential career ending injuries? Would he be competitive on a new-style Honda developed in his absence so the other three Honda riders could be competitive on a bike previously so difficult to ride quickly, only Marquez could do it? (Pre-injury, in 2019, Honda - Marquez - won 12 of 19 races, and finished on the podium in all but one race! Post-injury, with Marquez sidelined, Honda was winless - with three riders! - in all of 2020.) And the manufacturer only won three races late in 2021 with a returning, but still unfit Marquez, then went winless again after Marquez missed the last several races due to another, potentially more serious injury from a training accident. As a result, Honda realized that to ensure longer term success, it might be wise to develop a more rider-friendly bike that someone other than Marquez could actually ride with pace. So, they listened to new 2020 signing, Pol Espargaro, and addressed the problem of the lack of rear grip Marquez so expertly rode around. Could Pol be competitive on this revised bike and make good on his potential and the faith Honda has in him? Could he actually be competitive against Marquez, the best rider in the world? It is said one’s first win is the hardest, and Pol has yet to win in MotoGP…
Would Ducati - with three different teams, in addition to the factory bikes, (8 bikes total!) - build on a super strong finish to the 2021 season? Could Ducati factory star and ’21 Championship runner-up Pecco Bagnaia pick up in 2022 where he left off in 2021 (winning four of the last six races)? Would the 2021 Ducati standout rookies, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, become Championship contenders, all the while vying for the one factory seat possibly available in 2023? The Italians are never short on drama and intrigue, or performance...
Did Suzuki and Yamaha “fix” their respective top speed issues, and if so, would Yamaha World Champ and ultra-quick rider Fabio Quartararo be competitive against the onslaught of Ducati? Yamaha “needs” to resign Quartararo, but Quartararo has been frustrated with a perceived lack of development and is thus far non-committal. As the world turns…
Would underdog Aprilia continue to improve and deliver on the promise showed in preseason testing? Would South African rookie Darryn Binder, who received much criticism after the new Yamaha satellite team RNF Racing promoted him to MotoGP straight from Moto3 (bypassing the Moto2 intermediate class), prove a liability as a moving chicane (or as a crasher), or would he race intelligently and learn by doing? His nick name is “Dive Bomb,” if that is any indication.
So many questions, and only one way to answer them all: With the Qatar opener.
Ducati ace and sophomore racer Jorge Martin (No. 89 Pramac Racing Ducati) qualified on pole, but the 2018 Moto3 World Champ was swallowed up at the start, finishing lap one in 7th. He went nowhere from there, before being taken out at half distance by 2022 title favorite and fellow Ducati star, Pecco Bagnaia (No. 63 Ducati Lenovo Team) in a very scary crash at turn one. Both were okay physically, and Ducati later apologized to its star Bagnania for using Friday’s free practice to continue testing and development work on the new bike, instead of helping Bagnaia find a competitive setup for qualifying and the race. The other factory Ducati of Jack Miller (No. 43 Ducati Lenovo Team) went backwards as well, before Miller pulled into the pits with “an unridable bike” due to electrical problems. At this point, at half distance, things didn’t look too good for Ducati. Bastianini (No. 23 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati) was in third, however, and he was on the 2021 spec Ducati, which proved to be advantageous in handling and speed. Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) was holding on in fourth, looking smooth, but the real surprise were the two in front: Pol Espargaro (No. 44 Repsol Honda Team) leading and Brad Binder (No. 33 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in second.
In MotoGP tire choice is critical, and even though the races are typically 45 minutes or so, there is an element of endurance racing involved - you must have some tire performance left for the last laps. Hence a selection of Michelin compounds: Hard, Medium, and Soft. Espargaro was on the softs, and with seven to go, the tires started to go away. Bastianini, who had several strong finishes as a rookie last year, including two podiums, has already developed a reputation as someone easy on his tires. Plus, he was on the much more durable mediums. He was lurking, and with nine laps to go, he made his move on second place Binder, moving to within 1.5 seconds of race leader, Espargaro. Bastianini was able to slowly cut the gap down, and with six to go, set the race’s quickest lap to that point. He was riding out of his skin, the Ducati visibly on the naked edge of control. It’s exactly at these moments when MotoGP is so mesmerizing to watch, even on a laptop.
With four to go, the Italian Bastianini was on Espargaro’s tail, and he made his move on the front straight and then rode cleanly for his first ever MotoGP win. But Bastianini’s win was important for another, bigger reason. We are living in difficult times, all of us, all around the world with a Russian madman killing the innocent people of a free, democratic country. The pandemic has also taken a toll on every country in the world, killing more than six million people. One of those six million was two-time 125 cc World Champion, Fausto Gresini. Gresini was a lifelong racer, with his own championship winning teams in Moto3 and Moto2, as well as being the team manager of Aprilia’s factory MotoGP effort. It was his dream to have his own MotoGP team again, and he was in the process of making it all happen when he contracted Covid-19 during Christmas of 2020. He passed away from the virus on February 23, 2021, age 60. The MotoGP world, no stranger to tragedy, was in disbelief, as Gresini was a much loved and respected character.
The new Gresini Racing MotoGP team was his dream, so his widow and two children decided to press on with building the team in his memory. They signed with Ducati mid-year last season to become one of three Ducati satellite teams. Bastianini was the rider, which was appropriate, since he started his full-time world championship career at age eighteen with Gresini Racing in 2015. There is a strong history between the team, Fausto, and Enea. Enea had stated that his dream was to win in MotoGP with this team - Fausto’s team, for Fausto. That it happened in the team’s first race together is almost surreal.
Needless to say, there were tears everywhere, and it was perhaps a bigger moment than just a motorcycle race. Perhaps, it is a great and dangerous sport reminding us all that in the face of current tragedies playing out around the world, for a moment at least, good and meaningful things can happen that can, and will, give us hope for the future. Sport is entertainment, yes, but sport can also teach many life lessons.
Post script: Dive Bomb Darryn Binder rode an excellent race, staying out of trouble from his last place starting position, and ultimately finished 16th, being the third from last finisher. It bodes well for him. Marquez finished 5th, saying afterwards “I still have to learn this bike.”
Quartararo finished down in 9th. “I rode as hard as I could, I expected a little more pace, but that was a fast as we could go. I had front tire pressure problems from lap two, (caused by the front tire overheating while in race traffic) so that was it. I cannot say that I am confident.”
The Alprilia of Pol’s old brother Aleix, finished an excellent 4th. A first win is coming.
Round two is in Mandalika, Indonesia, March 20. The Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, hosts round four, April 10.
By Whit Bazemore
Bend. The 2022 MotoGP season kicked off in Qatar and delivered on all the buildup, suspense, and surprise the off-season had promised. Already hailed as the best racing in all of motorsport (according to people who would know: the late Niki Lauda, Mario Andretti, Lewis Hamilton, et al., as well as the Editor-in-Chief of AE), it’s difficult to imagine MotoGP somehow increasing it’s excitement, but it did exactly that.
There are many emotional, dynamic human story lines surrounding this 2022 season, and pre-race there were many questions being asked. A shortened 2022 test schedule allowed only five days total of testing, and three of those days were on the new Indonesian track in Mandalika. Which meant Qatar could be have been an upset-filled race. Except, of the 24 MotoGP entrants in 2022, there are only a few racers who could actually be considered “upset winners,” such is the level of competition among both the riders and the six factories (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia, KTM, and Ducati). It seems, on paper at least, 60-70% of the field could and “should” actually win a race this year.
Among the stories and questions pre-race:
Would six-time Champion (and the most Ayrton Senna-esque racer of this generation) Marc Marquez return fully recovered and fit from his two years of serious and potential career ending injuries? Would he be competitive on a new-style Honda developed in his absence so the other three Honda riders could be competitive on a bike previously so difficult to ride quickly, only Marquez could do it? (Pre-injury, in 2019, Honda - Marquez - won 12 of 19 races, and finished on the podium in all but one race! Post-injury, with Marquez sidelined, Honda was winless - with three riders! - in all of 2020.) And the manufacturer only won three races late in 2021 with a returning, but still unfit Marquez, then went winless again after Marquez missed the last several races due to another, potentially more serious injury from a training accident. As a result, Honda realized that to ensure longer term success, it might be wise to develop a more rider-friendly bike that someone other than Marquez could actually ride with pace. So, they listened to new 2020 signing, Pol Espargaro, and addressed the problem of the lack of rear grip Marquez so expertly rode around. Could Pol be competitive on this revised bike and make good on his potential and the faith Honda has in him? Could he actually be competitive against Marquez, the best rider in the world? It is said one’s first win is the hardest, and Pol has yet to win in MotoGP…
Would Ducati - with three different teams, in addition to the factory bikes, (8 bikes total!) - build on a super strong finish to the 2021 season? Could Ducati factory star and ’21 Championship runner-up Pecco Bagnaia pick up in 2022 where he left off in 2021 (winning four of the last six races)? Would the 2021 Ducati standout rookies, Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini, become Championship contenders, all the while vying for the one factory seat possibly available in 2023? The Italians are never short on drama and intrigue, or performance...
Did Suzuki and Yamaha “fix” their respective top speed issues, and if so, would Yamaha World Champ and ultra-quick rider Fabio Quartararo be competitive against the onslaught of Ducati? Yamaha “needs” to resign Quartararo, but Quartararo has been frustrated with a perceived lack of development and is thus far non-committal. As the world turns…
Would underdog Aprilia continue to improve and deliver on the promise showed in preseason testing? Would South African rookie Darryn Binder, who received much criticism after the new Yamaha satellite team RNF Racing promoted him to MotoGP straight from Moto3 (bypassing the Moto2 intermediate class), prove a liability as a moving chicane (or as a crasher), or would he race intelligently and learn by doing? His nick name is “Dive Bomb,” if that is any indication.
So many questions, and only one way to answer them all: With the Qatar opener.
Ducati ace and sophomore racer Jorge Martin (No. 89 Pramac Racing Ducati) qualified on pole, but the 2018 Moto3 World Champ was swallowed up at the start, finishing lap one in 7th. He went nowhere from there, before being taken out at half distance by 2022 title favorite and fellow Ducati star, Pecco Bagnaia (No. 63 Ducati Lenovo Team) in a very scary crash at turn one. Both were okay physically, and Ducati later apologized to its star Bagnania for using Friday’s free practice to continue testing and development work on the new bike, instead of helping Bagnaia find a competitive setup for qualifying and the race. The other factory Ducati of Jack Miller (No. 43 Ducati Lenovo Team) went backwards as well, before Miller pulled into the pits with “an unridable bike” due to electrical problems. At this point, at half distance, things didn’t look too good for Ducati. Bastianini (No. 23 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati) was in third, however, and he was on the 2021 spec Ducati, which proved to be advantageous in handling and speed. Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) was holding on in fourth, looking smooth, but the real surprise were the two in front: Pol Espargaro (No. 44 Repsol Honda Team) leading and Brad Binder (No. 33 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in second.
In MotoGP tire choice is critical, and even though the races are typically 45 minutes or so, there is an element of endurance racing involved - you must have some tire performance left for the last laps. Hence a selection of Michelin compounds: Hard, Medium, and Soft. Espargaro was on the softs, and with seven to go, the tires started to go away. Bastianini, who had several strong finishes as a rookie last year, including two podiums, has already developed a reputation as someone easy on his tires. Plus, he was on the much more durable mediums. He was lurking, and with nine laps to go, he made his move on second place Binder, moving to within 1.5 seconds of race leader, Espargaro. Bastianini was able to slowly cut the gap down, and with six to go, set the race’s quickest lap to that point. He was riding out of his skin, the Ducati visibly on the naked edge of control. It’s exactly at these moments when MotoGP is so mesmerizing to watch, even on a laptop.
With four to go, the Italian Bastianini was on Espargaro’s tail, and he made his move on the front straight and then rode cleanly for his first ever MotoGP win. But Bastianini’s win was important for another, bigger reason. We are living in difficult times, all of us, all around the world with a Russian madman killing the innocent people of a free, democratic country. The pandemic has also taken a toll on every country in the world, killing more than six million people. One of those six million was two-time 125 cc World Champion, Fausto Gresini. Gresini was a lifelong racer, with his own championship winning teams in Moto3 and Moto2, as well as being the team manager of Aprilia’s factory MotoGP effort. It was his dream to have his own MotoGP team again, and he was in the process of making it all happen when he contracted Covid-19 during Christmas of 2020. He passed away from the virus on February 23, 2021, age 60. The MotoGP world, no stranger to tragedy, was in disbelief, as Gresini was a much loved and respected character.
The new Gresini Racing MotoGP team was his dream, so his widow and two children decided to press on with building the team in his memory. They signed with Ducati mid-year last season to become one of three Ducati satellite teams. Bastianini was the rider, which was appropriate, since he started his full-time world championship career at age eighteen with Gresini Racing in 2015. There is a strong history between the team, Fausto, and Enea. Enea had stated that his dream was to win in MotoGP with this team - Fausto’s team, for Fausto. That it happened in the team’s first race together is almost surreal.
Needless to say, there were tears everywhere, and it was perhaps a bigger moment than just a motorcycle race. Perhaps, it is a great and dangerous sport reminding us all that in the face of current tragedies playing out around the world, for a moment at least, good and meaningful things can happen that can, and will, give us hope for the future. Sport is entertainment, yes, but sport can also teach many life lessons.
Post script: Dive Bomb Darryn Binder rode an excellent race, staying out of trouble from his last place starting position, and ultimately finished 16th, being the third from last finisher. It bodes well for him. Marquez finished 5th, saying afterwards “I still have to learn this bike.”
Quartararo finished down in 9th. “I rode as hard as I could, I expected a little more pace, but that was a fast as we could go. I had front tire pressure problems from lap two, (caused by the front tire overheating while in race traffic) so that was it. I cannot say that I am confident.”
The Alprilia of Pol’s old brother Aleix, finished an excellent 4th. A first win is coming.
Round two is in Mandalika, Indonesia, March 20. The Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, hosts round four, April 10.
(Photo by special contributor Whit Bazemore)
Defending World Champion Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) finished a dispiriting ninth in Qatar. The 2022 edition of Yamaha's factory MotoGP entry is clearly not up to speed as of yet.
(Photo by special contributor Whit Bazemore)
Enea Bastianini (No. 23 Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati, at COTA last year) was the star in Qatar. His 2021 Ducati MotoGP bike clearly had the measure of the 2022 factory Ducati entries.
(Photo by special contributor Whit Bazemore)
Brad Binder (No. 33 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) had a huge question mark hovering over him going into the 2022 season. Could he deliver for KTM? His spectacular second place in Qatar boosted his stock tremendously. (Photo from COTA last year.)
(Photo by special contributor Whit Bazemore)
Pol Espargaro (No. 44 Repsol Honda Team) finished a fine third in Qatar, carrying the torch for the factory Honda team. (Photo taken at COTA last year.)
(Photo by special contributor Whit Bazemore)
Marc Marquez (No. 93 Repsol Honda Team) finished fifth in Qatar. A third and a fifth for the factory Hondas bodes well for the 2022 season. Marquez, finally recovered from injuries that severely hampered him for the better part of two seasons, will be a competitive force this season, make no mistake about it.
Editor-in-Chief's Note: Special AE contributor Whit Bazemore is back! The Renaissance Man and superb photographer is going to be giving us updates and his insider's perspective on the MotoGP season. MotoGP has become my personal favorite form of motorsport, and 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