JUNE 8, 2022

(Cadillac images)
Cadillac has unveiled its Project GTP Hypercar that previews the third-generation prototype race car from the American luxury brand. In 2023, Cadillac will contest the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “Cadillac will be competing again on the world racing stage, and we are all thrilled to return to Le Mans after 20 years,” said Global Cadillac Vice President Rory Harvey. “By competing in both the 2023 IMSA and WEC championships, Cadillac Racing has the opportunity to demonstrate its capability, craftsmanship and technology.” Codeveloped by Cadillac Design, Cadillac Racing and Dallara, the Project GTP Hypercar incorporates key brand design characteristics. Elements of the brand’s heritage such as vertical lighting and floating blades are present throughout and connect the Project GTP Hypercar to the future of Cadillac. “The Project GTP Hypercar is a unique convergence of form and function and showcases Cadillac’s future performance aesthetic,” said Chris Mikalauskas, lead exterior creative designer, Cadillac. “We have plenty more to come, from the upcoming race car to amazing production vehicles.” Since 2017, Cadillac has been competing at the forefront of American sports car racing in the IMSA manufacturers championship achieving numerous wins, podiums and championships in the Cadillac DPi-V.R. The new racing machine will be powered by an all-new 5.5L DOHC V-8 that will be paired to the LMDh common hybrid system and will begin on-track testing this summer and make its first race appearance at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2023. Recent Cadillac Racing achievements include: Winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship three times: 2021, 2018 and 2017. Winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona four times in a row: 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Winning the Michelin North American Endurance Cup four times: 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017. Watch the intro video here.

(Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment)
In an intriguing race that blended strategy and speed, Will Power (No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet) earned his first victory of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, holding off Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda) to win the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday. Power and his Penske Team used a two-stop strategy to perfection, holding off a charging Rossi, who was on a three-stop strategy. Power led 55 of 70 laps in a race that ended under caution. Team Penske opted for the different strategy to try to help Power gain track position on the bumpy, narrow temporary street circuit from his 16th starting position. Power drove the final 20 laps on Firestone alternate “red” tires, which initially have more grip but lose traction quickly with time. Rossi was on the more durable and consistent Firestone primary “black” tires for his final stint. “I drove it as straight as I could,” Power said about his tire preservation strategy over the last 20 laps. “I never put any slip (angle) into it. I was just driving it really straight and really nice on the brakes and the throttle. I knew if I could keep a reasonable gap until the end, we’d be OK.” It was Power’s 41st win of his INDYCAR SERIES career and first since August 2021, when he triumphed on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. His victory today also was the 100th for a Chevrolet engine since the 2.2-liter V6 Turbo powerplant era started in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2012. Australian native Power also returned to the series lead by three points over Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, who finished seventh in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Huski Chocolate Honda. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)
(Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment)
The race ended under caution when Rinus VeeKay crashed on the final lap in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet just as the checkered flag flew above Power and Rossi. It was the only caution period of the race. “I think one more lap would have been really interesting,” Rossi (above) said. “But you’ve got to give credit to the 12 guys and Will. That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on. It was a good recovery from yesterday. The strategy was good.” 
(Photo by James Black/Penske Entertainment)
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing PNC Bank Honda) finished third at Belle Isle on Sunday to round out the podium finishers on the 14-turn, 2.35-mile course. NTT P1 Award winner Josef Newgarden finished fourth in the No. 2 Team Penske Hitachi Chevrolet to put two Team Penske cars in the top four. It was the last time the INDYCAR SERIES would compete at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park, as the event is moving to the streets of downtown Detroit in 2023. Next up for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday, June 11. Live coverage starts at 12:30 p.m. (ET) Sunday on NBC, Peacock Premium and the INDYCAR Radio Network. 

(Michelin Motorsport)
Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande (No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Performance Academy DPi-V.R) essentially led Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Chevrolet Sports Car Classic from start to finish. But it was far from easy. Bourdais, who claimed the Motul Pole Award with a track record lap of the Belle Isle Raceway 2.3-mile, 14-turn temporary street course on Friday, led the first half of Saturday’s race before bringing the No. 01 Cadillac in to hand off to van der Zande. While saving fuel to make the single-stop strategy work in the 100-minute sprint race, the Dutchman withstood intense pressure from Oliver Jarvis in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05 DPi throughout his 50-minute closing stint. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi was catching them at a rapid rate while trying to execute a two-stop gameplan. Derani caught the lead duo and Earl Bamber in the third-place No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R with about 25 minutes remaining. From there, it was a nail-biter to the finish, with van der Zande in control at the front and a frenetic battle for the remaining two podium positions. Derani briefly moved into third place, but ultimately crossed the finish line fourth after a fierce scrap with the No. 02 Cadillac. The No. 31 Cadillac was found underweight in postrace technical inspection, however, and moved to the rear of the class. Bourdais and van der Zande completed 73 laps, a record distance for the Detroit race that ran without a full-course caution for the first time. They won by 0.398 seconds over Jarvis and Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura, followed by Bamber and co-driver Alex Lynn in the No. 02 Cadillac. The next race for the WeatherTech Championship, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International set for June 23-26, is the third of four rounds in the 2022 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. All five series classes will compete. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)

(Michelin Motorsport)
With 14 turns packed into 2.3 miles, the Belle Isle street circuit presented a host of challenges to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT Daytona (GTD) competitors in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. The key to victory Saturday, however, lay as much on the quarter-mile stretch of pit lane as on those 2.3 miles of racetrack, for canny race strategy and a flawless pit stop put the No. 17 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of Kyle Kirkwood and Ben Barnicoat into a lead Barnicoat was destined to hold to the finish, leading the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn across the line by 2.263 seconds after 100 minutes and 67 laps of green-flag racing. The win was the first of the season for Vasser Sullivan Racing and the first career GTD victory for both Barnicoat and Kirkwood – in the first Belle Isle race for either driver. On the heels of a runner-up finish at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course three weeks ago, Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers brought the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 home in third place, with the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz finishing fourth. (Thank you to David Phillips/IMSA Wire Service)

(BMW images)
Ahead of the testing phase for its LMDh prototype for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, BMW M Motorsport has unveiled the all-new BMW M Hybrid V8. The machine will sport a look designed by BMW Group Designworks that "celebrates the history of BMW M Motorsport in North America while defining a dynamic hybrid electric future." More info to come.

(Photo by rossomotori.it)
Fabio Quartararo (No. 20 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) cruised to an inch-perfect victory in the Monster Energy Catalan Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona - Catalunya on Sunday. The Frenchman put to bed the nightmare of 2021 by easing to his second premier class victory at the venue, cashing in on his closest Championship rivals' despair to extend his title lead. Jorge Martin (No. 89 Prima Pramac Racing Ducati) and Johann Zarco (No. 25 Prima Pramac Racing Ducati) completed the podium after profiting from a mind-blowing blunder by poleman Aleix Espargaro (No. 41 Aprilia Racing) after the Spaniard celebrated a lap too early and threw away a secure second place. Watch the race highlights here. (Thank you to MotoGP Media)

(Photo by AE Special Contributor Whit Bazemore https://www.instagram.com/whitbazemore/)
Photo of Fabio Quartararo taken earlier this year in Austin, Texas.

Some Races are Better Than Others...

By Whit Bazemore

Bend. MotoGP, in recent years, has had more than its fair share of utterly thrilling, edge-of-your seat type races. There have been many in which the fight for victory has come down to the final turn on the final lap, with two or three of the sport’s fastest and bravest warriors, racing visibly beyond the limits of both man and machine, risking everything for glory. These types of races are the biggest reason why MotoGP is the most compelling form of motorsport today.

But not every race can be like this. 

Barcelona - the scene of such thrilling races in the past - was not an edge-of-your seat type race this year. Instead, for one racer, it was a master class of how to win in the cleanest and most clinically way possible. For others, it was a failed exercise in damage limitation. And for some others, the results were a positive surprise. As such, to say the race was not compelling due to its lack of a wheel-to-wheel fight for victory would be wrong. Don’t be mistaken: those wheel-to-wheel fights for victory are what we live for, but this race, and the events surrounding it, still provided plenty of drama, nuance, surprise, and dismay. 

With most riders out of contract at the end of this season, late spring/early summer always held the possibility of being the height of silly season. The past few weeks in particular have seen important pieces of the silly season puzzle come together. 

In no particular order, before the race, all of this happened off track: 

1. Race winner, championship contender, and the surprise of the season, Aleix Espargaro resigned with his longtime team, Aprilia. In recent weeks, Espargaro had expressed frustration with the length of contract negotiations, after having contributed massively to Aprilia’s current success. But to Aprilia’s credit, any multi-million Euro pay raise warrants consideration, and only a real racer would think otherwise! Reading between the lines, Espargaro - a real racer by every definition - was only saying: “Just F#(&!^ pay me! Without me, you are nothing!” 

2. Aprilia signed current Yamaha satellite team RNF Racing to a multi-year deal to be its official satellite team. This is a big deal, considering Aprilia’s excellent current form. No riders have been named yet.

3. Yamaha re-signed standout and reigning World Champ Fabio Quartararo. At this point, Yamaha needs Fabio more than he needs Yamaha, so they had to get out their checkbook. The man is the new standard, for now, and alone carries this bike. 

4. Marc Marquez, instead of driving the short distance from his home to Barcelona, flew to America for arm surgery at the Mayo Clinic. By all accounts, it was a success, and now we all wait with bated breath to see how long the expected many months recovery actually takes, and how successful the surgery really is when put to the MotoGP test. Every MotoGP racer can be considered as among the best athletes in the world, but Marquez, especially when he won three races last year at “half strength,” is easily considered to be the strongest and most gifted pure athlete (if not the most gifted pure racer also) to ever have raced in MotoGP. 

5. The Suzuki duo of Joan Mir and Alex Rins arrived in Barcelona still unemployed for 2023 after Suzuki announced its withdrawal several races ago. Since then, both have yet to finish a race, despite being among the fastest of the fast. Pressure, for sure, and part of the landscape of today’s MotoGP. Mir and Rins both needed to have a good result in Barcelona, because even if they are both known and highly respected talents, racing is a “what have you done for me today” kinda sport, perhaps more so now than ever before. 

6. The second factory Ducati seat is still up for grabs, but it seems Enea Bastianini is the one with one hand already on that particular throttle. But Jorge Martin is deserving as well, despite some struggles this season. Who gets this red rocket? No one knows...

All of this off-track maneuvering and news makes the racing more compelling and helps tell the story of this race. 

Race day was super-hot - low 90’s - and at start time, 2 p.m. local, the already low grip Barcelona surface was now slipperier than any other track on the schedule. By far. It would be a race of attrition, a 24-lap race of not just speed, but of survival, and this certainly played into the strategies of everyone. 

For Championship leader Quartararo, the best (only?) way to win would be to lead into the first turn from his third grid position, and ride away. Being stuck behind another bike causes the front tire pressure to increase dramatically (more heat due to less air flow and hot exhaust from the leading bike) and the Yamaha is particularly sensitive to this. Plus, the Yamaha is down on power compared to the other favorites - (Pole man Espargaro on the fast Aprilia, and Bastianini, Bagnaia from second, Martin, Zarco, and Miller, all on the screaming Ducatis). Barring a miracle, no one else was really in the mix.  

Quartararo had a great start and slotted into the lead at turn one with a daring pass of both Bagnaia and Espargaro. But suddenly there was chaos, as Taka Nakagami lost the front under braking while turning into turn one. Taka’s bike took out the helpless Rins, while his head banged into the rear tire of Bagnaia, causing Bagnaia to fall also. This crash took a huge chunk of momentum from Bagnaia’s championship challenge. Rins was diagnosed with a fractured left wrist, while Nakagami was also taken to the hospital for checks, given the severity of his head’s collision with Pecco’s rear wheel. Fortunately, Nakagami was okay, but the fallout from the crash, and the steward’s decision to call it “a racing accident” sparked much post-race conversation and controversy. 

Fabio proceeded to open a gap, and rode impeccably for an “easy” win, in what might eventually be considered the hardest race of the year. Espargaro was on pace for his fifth straight podium, in third, when he suddenly slowed after crossing the finish line to start the last lap. Was it a mechanical? No. Aleix actually waved to the crowd, before realizing his disastrous mistake - he saw “lap 0” on the timing tower, which at this track (and this track only) signifies the last lap. Aleix thought the race was over. After being passed by his still racing competitors, he got back to it and recovered one spot to finish 5^th, which has to be the worst feeling top-five finish in all of racing. 

Jorge Martin had his first great race since round three - finding “good feeling in the front” after switching back to last year’s forks - to finish a resounding 2nd. Just behind him was Pramac Ducati teammate Johann Zarco in third. 

Other than Quartararo’s stellar ride, perhaps the next best result was actually surprising rookie Darryn Binder in 12th. Binder has silenced his critics, for now, and has proved to this writer at least, that he fully deserves to be in MotoGP. 

Mir finished 4th - it will be interesting to see if he lands at Repsol Honda for next year as Marquez’s team mate. That possibility is exciting, and we can only hope. 

But as Barcelona proved, and as we all know, racing is a fickle business, and just because you are on top of the world today, you can just as easily fall to the bottom at the next race. And that is one reason every race, even the so called ‘bad” ones, are still compelling to watch. Anything can happen, and it always does. 

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. 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

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG