portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Portimao MotoGP: Vinales tops FP1 as Marquez comes third

Friday’s FP1 in Portugal marked the first time in 265 days six-time world champion Marc Marquez started an official MotoGP session, having suffered a serious arm break in the 2020 season-opener at Jerez. Overnight rain left the Algarve circuit damp in places, which meant lap times started at around 15 seconds slower than the benchmark laps from last year. As conditions continued to improve, so did the session-best laps, with a number of riders taking turns leading the timesheets. Yamaha’s Vinales took over from reigning world champion Joan Mir with 16 minutes to go with a 1m44.777s, which he improved on his following tour to a 1m44.334s. Francesco Bagnaia moved his factory Ducati ahead of the Qatar GP race winner with a 1m44.239s moments later, before Vinales dipped under the 1m44s bracket with a 1m43.544s. The timing screen continued to light up as the opening 45-minute session of the weekend drew to a close, the returning Marquez serving a brief stint at the top of the pile with a 1m43.544s. The Honda rider remained fastest for all of 10 seconds, before Bagnaia blasted his effort away with a 1m42.934s. Amidst the flurry of laps at the end of the session, Marquez looked set to steal all the headlines when he shot back to the top of the order with a 1m42.378s on his final effort. But faster laps for both Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Vinales denied this, the Yamaha rider setting the pace at 1m42.127s to lead Rins by 0.151s. Marquez held onto third, 0.251s off Vinales’ pace ahead of Honda teammate Pol Espargaro, while championship leader Johann Zarco was fifth on his Pramac Ducati. Bagnaia was shuffled back to sixth at the end ahead of Fabio Quartararo on the sister works Yamaha and Jack Miller on second factory team Ducati – the Australian fresh from arm pump surgery last week. Alex Marquez was ninth on the LCR Honda ahead of Tech 3 KTM’s Danilo Petrucci, who revealed on Thursday he suffered a dislocated shoulder last month in Qatar. Valentino Rossi was 11th on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, while champion Mir was 13th ahead of the other SRT bike of Franco Morbidelli. Last year’s Portugal race winner Miguel Oliveira made a low-key start to his home weekend in the iffy conditions down in 17th on the factory team KTM, while teammate Brad Binder rounded out the 22-strong field. Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 12 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1’42.127   2 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 1’42.278 0.151 3 93 Marc Marquez Honda 1’42.378 0.251 4 44 Pol Espargaro Honda 1’42.382 0.255 5 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1’42.443 0.316 6 63 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1’42.464 0.337 7 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1’42.528 0.401 8 43 Jack Miller Ducati 1’42.536 0.409 9 73 Alex Marquez Honda 1’42.781 0.654 10 9 Danilo Petrucci KTM 1’42.957 0.830 11 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’43.013 0.886 12 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1’43.036 0.909 13 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1’43.060 0.933 14 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1’43.243 1.116 15 32 Lorenzo Salvadori Aprilia 1’43.539 1.412 16 89 Jorge Martin Ducati 1’43.702 1.575 17 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1’44.000 1.873 18 10 Luca Marini Ducati 1’44.602 2.475 19 27 Iker Lecuona KTM 1’44.967 2.840 20 23 Enea Bastianini Ducati 1’45.325 3.198 21 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1’45.335 3.208 22 33 Brad Binder KTM 1’47.774 5.647

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Portimao MotoGP: Vinales tops FP1 as Marquez comes third

Friday’s FP1 in Portugal marked the first time in 265 days six-time world champion Marc Marquez started an official MotoGP session, having suffered a serious arm break in the 2020 season-opener at Jerez. Overnight rain left the Algarve circuit damp in places, which meant lap times started at around 15 seconds slower than the benchmark laps from last year. As conditions continued to improve, so did the session-best laps, with a number of riders taking turns leading the timesheets. Yamaha’s Vinales took over from reigning world champion Joan Mir with 16 minutes to go with a 1m44.777s, which he improved on his following tour to a 1m44.334s. Francesco Bagnaia moved his factory Ducati ahead of the Qatar GP race winner with a 1m44.239s moments later, before Vinales dipped under the 1m44s bracket with a 1m43.544s. The timing screen continued to light up as the opening 45-minute session of the weekend drew to a close, the returning Marquez serving a brief stint at the top of the pile with a 1m43.544s. The Honda rider remained fastest for all of 10 seconds, before Bagnaia blasted his effort away with a 1m42.934s. Amidst the flurry of laps at the end of the session, Marquez looked set to steal all the headlines when he shot back to the top of the order with a 1m42.378s on his final effort. But faster laps for both Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Vinales denied this, the Yamaha rider setting the pace at 1m42.127s to lead Rins by 0.151s. Marquez held onto third, 0.251s off Vinales’ pace ahead of Honda teammate Pol Espargaro, while championship leader Johann Zarco was fifth on his Pramac Ducati. Bagnaia was shuffled back to sixth at the end ahead of Fabio Quartararo on the sister works Yamaha and Jack Miller on second factory team Ducati – the Australian fresh from arm pump surgery last week. Alex Marquez was ninth on the LCR Honda ahead of Tech 3 KTM’s Danilo Petrucci, who revealed on Thursday he suffered a dislocated shoulder last month in Qatar. Valentino Rossi was 11th on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, while champion Mir was 13th ahead of the other SRT bike of Franco Morbidelli. Last year’s Portugal race winner Miguel Oliveira made a low-key start to his home weekend in the iffy conditions down in 17th on the factory team KTM, while teammate Brad Binder rounded out the 22-strong field. Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 12 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1’42.127   2 42 Alex Rins Suzuki 1’42.278 0.151 3 93 Marc Marquez Honda 1’42.378 0.251 4 44 Pol Espargaro Honda 1’42.382 0.255 5 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1’42.443 0.316 6 63 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1’42.464 0.337 7 20 Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1’42.528 0.401 8 43 Jack Miller Ducati 1’42.536 0.409 9 73 Alex Marquez Honda 1’42.781 0.654 10 9 Danilo Petrucci KTM 1’42.957 0.830 11 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1’43.013 0.886 12 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1’43.036 0.909 13 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1’43.060 0.933 14 21 Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1’43.243 1.116 15 32 Lorenzo Salvadori Aprilia 1’43.539 1.412 16 89 Jorge Martin Ducati 1’43.702 1.575 17 88 Miguel Oliveira KTM 1’44.000 1.873 18 10 Luca Marini Ducati 1’44.602 2.475 19 27 Iker Lecuona KTM 1’44.967 2.840 20 23 Enea Bastianini Ducati 1’45.325 3.198 21 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1’45.335 3.208 22 33 Brad Binder KTM 1’47.774 5.647

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Imola FP1: Mazepin crashes as Nicholas Latifi slides offtrack

Haas’ Nikita Mazepin endured a troublesome debut in Bahrain with two spins in qualifying before he crashed out just three corners into the race. His woes continued in the hour-long opening practice session at Imola. Mazepin spun into the gravel exiting Rivazza 2 early on in the session and then came to grief at the same corner just as the chequered flag was flown. Mazepin made contact with the outside wall, causing damage to the Haas VF-21, which came to a halt just shy of the pit lane entry. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi slid off the Imola track and into the gravel during first practice for the 2021 Formula 1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Imola First Practice session flagged down after Perez and Ocon crash

The first practice session at Imola has been red flagged with twenty minutes to go, as a result of a bizarre incident between Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon. The exact circumstances are yet to emerge, due to technical issues with Formula 1’s world feed for broadcasters. Footage of the incident hasn’t been released, but Perez and Ocon appear to have made contact entering the Villeneuve chicane. Perez was left facing the wrong way with a blown left rear tyre, while there was minor right front damage to Ocon’s Alpine. Both clambered free under the red flag, while the cars were recovered.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Hamilton makes fun of Perez in an Instagram post

Lewis Hamilton thoroughly enjoyed watching Sergio Perez being put through his paces judging by his latest Instagram story. In the three-week break between Bahrain and Imola (which was painful enough), Perez showed it was far from a relaxing time off as he posted a video of one of his workout routines at the Athlete Performance Centre used by both Red Bull drivers. Catching up on events ahead of the Imola GP weekend, Hamilton was very amused when he saw poor Perez going through what looked like a brutal session. Hamilton also had a great plan for the cold weather expected at Imola throughout the weekend, donning one of the tyre covers in between his media duties on Thursday.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

V8 and V10 engines may be coming back to Formula 1

There is a way for Formula 1 to revive its iconic normally-aspirated engines whilst ramping up its green credentials. That is the view of former F1 driver Lucas di Grassi, who now races for Audi in Formula E. The Brazilian thinks Formula 1 should abandon its hybrid engines and instead focus exclusively on the “development and use of e-fuels”. “Then you can bring back V10, V8 and still be relevant into the zero net carbon industry without (the sport) losing its identity,” di Grassi said. “This is proper sustainability for F1, not the green-washing we see today with planting trees and other good PR to look sustainable. Spend the money and ingenuity into getting cheap, clean e-fuels.”

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Formula E to feature on the full Monaco circuit for the first time

Formula E will, for the first time, race on the full Monaco Grand Prix circuit, the electric series has confirmed. The Monaco EPrix is scheduled for May 8 and is set to go ahead despite COVID-19 restrictions, which have been tightened in recent weeks in France and Monaco. Formula E has used a shorter version of the famous track in its three previous visits, turning right before the Massenet corner, cutting out Mirabeau, the hairpin and tunnel. This year’s event will utilise the full 3.32km track layout, which has been made possible by the introduction of the Gen2 car, which features increased performance and range, whilst the full circuit has already been constructed in anticipation of Formula 1’s visit just a few weeks after Formula E. The LED lights on the halo will also illuminate as the cars make their way through the famous Monaco tunnel for the first time. The circuit won’t be identical to the F1 version, with a change to the kerbs at Turn 1 (Sainte Devote), harking back to the original 1929 layout. The Turn 11 chicane on the exit of the tunnel will also be tweaked. “I’m glad to see the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship back in the Principality,” commented FIA President Jean Todt. “It is in the series’ DNA to compete on streets circuits and Monaco is one of the most iconic tracks in the world. This discipline has its own identity, that’s why, together with Formula E and the ACM, we’ve designed a bespoke layout which suits its particularities.” Formula E chief championship officer, Alberto Longo, added: “To see Formula E race around the longer version of the most historic racing circuit in the world will mark another great milestone for the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship. “In many ways, this circuit is made for Formula E – it’s a fast and narrow street circuit which will see plenty of opportunities for overtaking and will really test driver’s energy management with sharp inclines and high-speed sections. “The FIA and the ACM are allowing us to race around corners steeped in motorsport tradition and we are honoured that Formula E will be creating its own history on May 8.”

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Verstappen wants a second DRS zone added at Imola

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has called for a second DRS zone to be introduced at Imola to encourage overtaking at the track which is holding the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix this weekend. Drivers can only use their Drag Reduction System once per lap along the pit straight. This zone, which has been extended for F1’s return, leads from the high-speed final corner of track down to the first braking zone at the second corner, Tamburello.But Verstappen, who spent much of last year’s race trying to overtake Valtteri Bottas, expects it will still be “super hard” to overtake even when the longer DRS zone is used. The activation zone lasts almost a kilometre on a track which is 4.9km long. The detection point is positioned at the end of another straight which leads to the Rivazza left-handers towards the end of the lap, another favoured overtaking place. Verstappen believes this would be a good spot for another DRS zone. “We can easily have one out of the [Alta] chicane,” he said. “That would help a lot because then you get a bit closer for the last two corners. Because you lose so much time in the last two corners that even when you put the DRS a bit earlier, you will not arrive in time for turn one.“Turn one is super narrow and it’s a fast corner, so it’s difficult to really out-brake someone. So I don’t think [the longer zone is] going to help a lot.” Last year Imola made its first appearance on the F1 calendar since 2006 when it was drafted in at late notice. It was a substitute addition to the 2021 calendar too, its place on the schedule only having been announced three months ago. Just six overtaking moves were recorded during the inaugural Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. The next-lowest of 2020 was the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, with 19 passes.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

F1 still holding talks with Canadian GP organisers amid cancellation reports

Formula 1 says talks continue with promoters despite reports the Canadian Grand Prix will be cancelled for the second straight year. The race, scheduled for June 13 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, was set to be the first outside of Europe and the Middle East since the Covid-19 pandemic began over a year ago. But current quarantine guidelines in Canada, which F1 would be unable to follow, and concerns from public health authorities that the event could be a Covid ‘superspreader’ with fans in attendance means there has been a recent push towards holding the race behind closed doors. For that to happen, it was claimed F1 is demanding an extra $6m from local governments to cover the costs of holding the race without fans, creating another hurdle on the race’s path. “We are told [that] because there won’t be any spectators there would have to be compensation from the government, and we already have given quite a lot,” said Quebec Premier Francois Legault via Motorsport Week. “The worry we have is if we don’t have the Grand Prix in 2021, what will happen in 2022, between 2022 and 2029, because, let’s not forget, the Grand Prix is the event where there’s about the most real economic [benefit] as that is money that comes from foreign lands and is spent here in Quebec. “Of course we always make sure that the help that is given [to the event] is less to the real economic advantages in Quebec, and there’s no conclusions on that right now.” But with a final call needed imminently to prepare the circuit or find a replacement, local media declared on Thursday that the decision had been taken to cancel. “We are continuing our discussions with the promoter in Canada and have no further comment,” an F1 spokesperson said in response.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Marquez and Miller pass Thursday medical check-in at Portimao

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez has been officially confirmed to partake in this weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix. Ducatti’s Jack Miller also passed fit. Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez is officially confirmed fit for this weekend’s Grande Prémio 888 de Portugal after passing Thursday’s medical exam at the Algarve International Circuit. When we see the eight-time World Champion back on board his RC213V in Free Practice 1, it will have been 256 days since we last saw Marc Marquez on a MotoGP™ bike. It’s a very welcome return to action for the famous number 93, and all eyes will be on the Spaniard when he emerges out of the Repsol Honda pit box at 09:55 local time (GMT+1) on Friday morning. Ducati Lenovo Team’s Jack Miller has also been passed fit to ride in Portimao. This was after Miller underwent an arm pump surgery just after Doha MotoGP.

portimao motogp: vinales tops fp1 as marquez comes third

Pirelli presents an artistic trophy for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Pirelli has presented the trophies for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. They look very different from the trophies of 2020: at that time, a design with the layout of the circuit was chosen, with the particularity of a diamond at the Tamburello corner, where Ayrton Senna crashed in 1994. Now, an artistic design in the form of a lightning bolt has been chosen. As title sponsor of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Pirelli is responsible for the trophies awarded to the top three. They have opted for an artistic approach, having the trophies designed by artist Alice Ronchi. Ronchi has chosen a lightning bolt, taking inspiration from the Greek god Zeus. “I see the lightning bolt as a symbol of strength, speed and excitement,” explains Ronchi, “hopefully this trophy will provide a new, narrative aspect.”