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Sam Bird and Jaguar Agree Contract Extension

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Sam Bird and Jaguar TCS Racing sign a new contract extension ahead of the first race of Season 8.

Season 8 may not have begun, but Sam Bird has already secured his future with Jaguar TCS racing by signing a multi-year contract extension.

The team and driver pairing enjoyed a successful season 7, their first year together, with Bird taking two race wins in Diriyah and New York. He also enjoyed a further podium finish in Rome. These results, alongside the efforts of his teammate Mitch Evans, helped the team to secure 2nd in the championship.

It was undoubtedly a successful first season together and this contract extension shows that Jaguar is confident Bird is the right man to continue this success. It will provide a huge boost to all parties so close to the first race of Season 8.

Image Credit: Formula E

The exact length of the contract has not been confirmed, however it means that Sam Bird will enter the new Gen3 era, in Season 9, as a Jaguar driver.

Bird stated “My first season with Jaguar TCS Racing told me everything I needed to know – I wanted to continue to be a part of the Jaguar TCS Racing family.”

He added that “The whole team is determined, focussed and ready to get results and that’s exactly who I want to be working with. Now it’s time to get season eight underway and ensure we put all our off-season practice and learnings into action to score as many points as possible.”

This sentiment was echoed by the Team Principle of Jaguar TCS Racing, James Barclay. “It is a really positive start to Season 8 as we confirm Sam Bird will continue his electric racing career with Jaguar TCS Racing after a great first season with the team. Sam’s results from last year demonstrate he fits in extremely well here at Jaguar TCS Racing, shares our goals and is very much part of the family.”

Feature Image Credit: Formula E

Posted on 23rd January, 2022 for The PitCrew Online

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Number 69 Retired in Tribute to Nicky Hayden

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Back in January, Dorna announced that number 69 would be retired from racing, as a mark of respect for the late, 2006 MotoGP champion.

Nicky Hayden spent his entire career – from grassroots series, all the way up to MotoGP – riding under this number.

Dorna CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, stated at the ceremony that “Since the beginning, after we lost him, we thought it’s something we must do. Nicky was something special for all us, his behavior was really fantastic.”

 

“Nicky had a lot of success on track, but I think we all agree he made just as big an impact off the track and everyone’s lives – whether friends, family or fans. That’s something we are most proud of.”
– Tommy Hayden

Nicky Hayden’s family, surrounding his championship winning bike. (Credit: MotoGP.com)

 

Further to the official ceremony, Hayden’s 2006 championship winning bike was on display for fans at COTA’s turn 18. This part of the track has been affectionately renamed “Hayden Hill”.

This ceremony comes after Nicky was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2018.

 

Who is Nicky Hayden? A look back at his career…

Joining MotoGP in 2003, Hayden burst on to the scene with his fun-loving attitude, joking nature and, most importantly, serious speed!

In his first season, Nicky was invited to join leading team Repsol Honda, to ride alongside reigning world champion, Valentino Rossi. He finished fifth in the championship and, thanks to impressive performances, secured the title of “Rookie of the Year”. He then landed his first race win at the Laguna Seca GP in 2005.

Then, in 2006, came Hayden’s finest year as he ended his team-mates 5-year-long streak of Championship titles. He led the way for much of the season – taking command of the standings after only the third race. However, he was forced to fight back after an incident with Dani Pedrosa, at the penultimate race, left him eight points behind Rossi.

 

Moments after crossing the line and securing the 2006 title. (Credit: MotoGP.com)

 

Two further years with Repsol Honda were followed by five, sadly unsuccessful season with Ducati before he finished his MotoGP career with two years at Honda Aspar.

Making the switch to join World Superbikes for the 2016 season saw Nicky quickly return to his winning ways on the Red Bull Honda machine. He finished fifth in the championship after securing a brilliant win at the Malaysian GP and three additional podium finishes.

On the 17th of May 2017, Nicky was training in Italy after the recent Italian GP. He was hit by a car whilst cycling and suffered a traumatic brain injury. He died in hospital, five days later, aged 35.

 

(Credit: MotoGP.com)

 

Why did Nicky choose number 69?

Despite its connotations, Nicky, in fact, chose the number as it had been used by his father, Earl Hayden, who was also a racer. It was previously used by both of his brothers, during their own careers. This then allowed them the option to use each other’s machines if one happened to break down during a weekend of racing – so rumour says.

It is said that Earl originally chose the number after crashing a lot, stating that people could still read the number, even if the bike was upside down.

Nicky spent just one year without the number 69 on the front of his bike. In 2017, after winning the MotoGP World Championship, he traded it for number 1.

 

(Credit: MotoGP.com)

 

Who else has ridden under the number 69?

  • Roger De Coster – a professional Motorcross racer and is now Motorsport Director of KTM. He won five 500cc titles under the number 69.
  • Jimmy Gaddis – secured the 1991 125cc Supercross Championship, and later two AMA Arenacross Championships whilst adorned with the number 69
  • Ernesto Fonseca – a hugely successful Supercross and Motorcross rider who used number 69 throughout his career
  • Carlo Coen used number 69 in 1996 during his American Motorcross and Supercross careers
  • Doug Henry was adorned with number 69 in 1990 before going on to become a three-time AMA Motorcross champion
  • Kent Howerton rode with number 69 in 1989 after winning three AMA national championships, including the 500cc title in 1976 and the 250cc title in 1980 and 1981
  • Rodney Smith, now a Motorcross Hall of Fame inductee, used number 69 on his bike in 1983 before going on to win five Brazilian MX championships and a further 13 AMA National championships

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP.com

Posted on 15th April, 2019 for The Checkered Flag

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Marquez Steals MotoGP Pole in COTA

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Reigning champion Marc Marquez has put himself and the Repsol Honda in the best position possible to secure his much sought-after seventh consecutive win at COTA.

Setting a time of 2:03.787 early in the Q2 session, he secured his seventh pole in a role at the American circuit. Just 0.273 seconds behind was Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha with Cal Crutchlow rounding out the top three.

Marquez’s closest title rival, Andrea Dovizioso failed to make it into Q1 and will start from thirteenth for tomorrow’s race. He briefly took the promotion spots, setting the fastest Q1 times, but was eventually demoted to the fifth row of the grid.

Thankfully, qualifying was able to take place on a relatively dry track. The earlier Free Practice 3 sessions were canceled for all classes after severe rain and lightning.

Jack Miller and his Ducati secured fourth ahead of a Spanish trio. Pol Espargaro landed KTM’s best MotoGP starting position in fifth. He will line up ahead of Friday’s pace-setter, Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins who took sixth and seventh respectively.

Danilo Petrucci, rookie Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli then rounded out the top ten, who all completed lap times within 1.5s of each other.

 

Qualifying 1

Recovering Jorge Lorenzo set the best time in Q1 before struggling in Q2 after his bike jumped a chain. He will start tomorrows race in eleventh, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia in twelfth who suffered two crashes during qualifying.

Dovizioso will line up next to Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami who took fourteenth and fifteenth respectively. The Aprillia pairing of Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone secured sixteenth and seventeenth ahead of Miguel Oliveira in eighteenth.

Johann Zarco in nineteenth was just 0.969s off the pace to make it into Q2. The starting grid will be rounded out by Karel Abraham, Hafizh Syahrin and Tito Rabat. 

Tomorrow’s MotoGP race will kick off at 6pm (UK time) and The Checkered Flag will have all the updates to keep you fully informed. Stay tuned!

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP.com

Posted on April 14th, 2019 for The Checkered Flag

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MotoGP COTA Practice Cancelled

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With large storms hitting the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on Saturday morning, all three classes have had their Free Practice 3 session canceled.

The lightning and heavy rain have simply left the track too dangerous to venture out on. This meant that several delays culminated in canceled sessions.

However, this weather had been predicted and resulted in a heavier focus than usual placed on Fridays Free Practice 1 and 2.

As a result, it was Maverick Viñales who came out on top, marginally ahead of Marc Marquez. The reigning champion is chasing his seventh COTA win. Moto2 saw Marcel Schrotter and his Dynavolt Intact GP bike lead the way in both Friday session. Romano Fenati dominated both Mot2 sessions on the VNE Snipers machine.

Qualifying is still due to go ahead as normal, however this is subject to the conditions at the time. They are scheduled to kick off at 20:10 (UK time) for Qualifying 1 and 20:35 for Qualifying 2.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP.com

Posted on 13th April, 2019 for The Checkered Flag

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Season opener for BTCC gives a different winner in each race

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BTCC is back in action for 2019 this weekend, kicking off in Brands Hatch. We round up all the results and what this means for the championship at the end of a mad few days.

 

RACE 1

The first race of the 2019 British Touring Car season kicked off with the 2017 champion on pole. Ash Sutton flew off the line to take an early lead, ahead of Andrew Jordan.

The greasy track, whilst similar in condition to qualifying the previous day, certainly threw a curve ball to the drivers. It was Josh Cook at his BTC Racing car who eventually finished in the lead, having started in 10th.

Those at the front of the starting grid all chose to race on wet tyres, whilst Cook and others took the, seemingly genius, decision to use slicks.

Those on slicks initially lacked pace but as soon as these tyres came up to temperature, they were clearly the better option. Those on wet tyres were left unable to fight or fend off as Cook and others came powering through.

Cook took the lead on lap 9, passing Sutton at Clark corner. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the eventual winner, who faced a late challenge from Jake Hill as the leading pack had to make their way through a series of lapped cars.

Hill took 2nd having started in 15th, with the podium rounded out by Tom Chilton in 3rd. Aiden Moffet and Adam Morgan came across the line in 4th and 5th respectively.

The first wet tyre finisher was Matt Neal in 8th, ahead of pole-sitter, Sutton, who eventually crossed the line in 9th. There was further disappointment, this time for reigning champion, Colin Turkington, who could only manage 19th after starting 3rd.

 

RACE 2

The “topsy-turvy” theme of the morning continued into the second race of the day, which saw Andrew Jordan storm to victory after starting in 15th. He crossed the line with a dominant lead of nearly 10 seconds over his closest rival, and Saturday’s fastest man, Ash Sutton.

Josh Cook, who had started this race from pole, quickly pulled out a commanding lead which was up to nearly 4 seconds by lap 10. But just five laps later, an opportunistic move by Sutton and then another overtake from Jordan saw him back in 3rd. He later finished the race in 7th.

Despite taking the lead in style, Sutton was simply unable to hold back Jordan, who stormed passed at the start-finish straight, before pulling out his commanding lead. Sutton then faced further challenges from Adam Morgan – the pair could only be separated in the photo-finish.

Jake Hill crossed the line in 4th, with Tom Ingram and Stephen Jelley in 5th and 6th respectively. The top ten was rounded out by Rory Butcher, Tom Chilton and Senna Proctor.

 

RACE 3

The victor for the last race of the day – the reverse grid race – was actually decided off the track. Despite crossing the line in 1st place, Tom Chilton faced a five-second post-race penalty which demoted him to 2nd.

The penalty came after an incident with Honda’s Matt Neal – a move which, at the time, gifted him the lead of the race.

It was eventually Rory Butcher who inherited the victory, his first in BTCC, after finishing 2nd on track. He crossed the line ahead of Stephen Jelley, who also faced a battle with Neal.

While Chilton dominated at the front of the pack, there was a ferocious battle for these podium places. It looked as though Matt Neal would take one of these places, before his soft option tyres began to lose pace.

After contact between Jelley and Neal sent the Honda spinning, Jelley slowed to let him regain the position. Rory Butcher quickly took advantage of this and swiftly moved past both drivers.

Colin Turkington, having faced a miserable day so far, finished in a respectable 5th. Tom Oliphant and Chris Smiley crossed the line in 6th and 7th respectively, with Neal eventually finishing in 8th.

 

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

After the opening weekend in Brands Hatch threw up some truly interesting results, we leave the track with Josh Cook leading the championship, just 4 points ahead of Tom Chilton.

Pole-sitter, Ash Sutton is currently 7th with reigning champion, Colin Turkington in 13th, with just 14 points.

 

1 Josh COOK BTC Racing 44
2 Tom CHILTON Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher 40
3 Stephen JELLEY Team ParkerRacing 35
4 Rory BUTCHER Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance 34
5 Adam MORGAN Mac Tools with Ciceley Motorsport 31
6 Jake HILL TradePriceCars.com 30
7 Ashley SUTTON Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 27
8 Andrew JORDAN BMW Pirtek Racing 23
9 Matt NEAL Halfords Yuasa Racing 22
10 Tom INGRAM Team Toyota GB with Ginsters 20
11 Aiden MOFFAT Laser Tools Racing 20
12 Bobby THOMPSON GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct 15
13 Colin TURKINGTON Team BMW 14
14 Tom OLIPHANT Team BMW 11
15 Chris SMILEY BTC Racing 9
16 Jack GOFF RCIB Insurance with Fox Transport 9
17 Senna PROCTOR Adrian Flux Subaru Racing 6
18 Dan CAMMISH Halfords Yuasa Racing 6
19 Michael CREES GKR Scaffolding with Autobrite Direct 4
20 Jason PLATO Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing 3
21 Mark BLUNDELL TradePriceCars.com 2
22 Sam OSBORNE Excelr8 Motorsport 0
23 Rob COLLARD Sterling Insurance with Power Maxed Racing 0
24 Nic HAMILTON ROKiT Racing with Motorbase 0
25 Daniel ROWBOTTOM Cataclean Racing with Ciceley Motorsport 0
26 Sam TORDOFF Cobra Sport AmD AutoAid/RCIB Insurance 0
27 Matt SIMPSON Simpson Racing 0
28 Rob SMITH Excelr8 Motorsport 0
29 Ollie JACKSON Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Gallagher 0
30 Carl BOARDLEY AmD with AutoAid/RCIB Insurance Racing 0

Feature Image Credit: BTCC.net

Posted on 7th April, 2019 for Overtake Motorsport

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Marquez Dominates to Take Impressive Victory in Argentina

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A sublime performance handed victory to reigning champion, Marc Marquez and Repsol Honda for the 2019 Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina. After his struggles at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo in 2018, it seemed Marquez had a score to settle – and settle it he did, leading from pole, not making a single error. 

He finished nearly 10 seconds ahead of Valentino Rossi, who secured his first podium since Catalunya 2018. Rossi was able to secure second place after passing Mission Winnow Ducati rider, Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap of the race.

Numerous riders battled over the final two podium spots before Rossi and Dovizioso broke away to fight their own battle. It seemed experience allowed the pair to hold their position whilst still saving tyres and break away from the pack.

But it wasn’t until the final lap when Rossi finally took second place. Despite Dovizioso leading his compatriot since lap 8, Rossi snuck up on the inside of turn 7 to masterfully secure this spot with just a few corners to spare.

First of the riders to miss out on a podium was, last years pole sitter, Jack Miller and his Pramac Ducati who showed wisdom beyond his years as he held back a late attack from Alex Rins, who subsequently finished in fifth. Rins also enjoyed an impressive ride, recovering from his starting position of sixteenth.

The pair battled on ahead of a nasty clash between Franco Morbidelliand Maverick Vinales, knocking them out sixth and seventh, respectively, on the final lap of the race. They clashed at turn 7, as Morbidelli hit the back of Vinales and ruined both their races.

Further retirements came from Joan Mir on a Suzuki Ecstar with mechanical issues and Avintia Ducati team-mates, Tito Rabat and Karel Abraham who crashed on the penultimate lap.

Some might argue that the toughest day of all was faced by Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo was pushed back to last place after just the first corner of the race, whilst Crutchlow was given a controversial ride-through penalty for a jump start. The pair recovered and climbed through the pack to finish twelfth and thirteenth respectively.

They finished just behind siblings, Aleix and Pol Espargaro who rounded out the top ten after the Morbidelli and Vinales incident.

2019 Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina Results

Championship standings

After two races, Marquez now leads the championship ahead of Dovizioso despite his win in Qatar. Rossi has been promoted to third after his impressive return to form, ahead of Rins and Danilo Petrucci.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP.com

Posted on 2nd April, 2019 for The Checkered Flag

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Marquez Take Pole in Argentina

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After storming ahead during Free Practice 4 in Argentina, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez kept up this impressive form in qualifying. This is his fifth pole in six attempts at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo.

Qualifying 1

The first of those to miss out on Q2 was Aleix Espargaro who took thirteenth place. He finished just one spot ahead of a struggling Alex Rins and his Suzuki.

Miguel Oliveira and Karel Abrhm both impressed as they took fourteenth and fifteenth, missing out on Q2 by a few hundredths of a second each.

A difficult day was faced by Johann Zarco and Joan Mir who took eighteenth and nineteenth respectively. They were just ahead of  Tito Rabat, Hafizh Syahrin and Andrea Iannone who round out the grid for tomorrows race.

Qualifying 2

With a pole time of 1:38.304, Marquez saw off a late challenge from Maverick Vinales who was just 0.154s off the pace.

Qatar winner, Andrea Divizioso will start from third place tomorrow after pulling out a brilliant lap in the dying stages of qualifying. Valentino Rossi and Jack Miller, last years pole-sitter, took fourth and fifth respectively.

It was hard to split the top five who were covered by just 0.244s. The next five riders were just as close, again covered by just over two-tenths of a second.

A time of 1:38.886 gave an impressive sixth place to Franco Moribelli. His Petronas Yamaha team-mate, Fabio Quartararo, was less than 0.01s behind to land an equally impressive seventh place for the rookie.

Last years Argentinian race winner, Cal Crutchlow took eighth – he failed to improve on his time as the session clocked reached its end. Takaaki Nakagami and a struggling Danilo Petrucci round out the top ten in eighth and ninth respectively.

Jorge Lorenzo’s difficult weekend continued as he had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. This pushed him back to twelfth.

Feature Image Credit: MotoGP.com

Posted on 31st March, 2019 for The Checkered Flag

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