Aprilia on a roll!
Race report by Karrbon Copy.
For the first time since 2004, Brazil was invaded by the MotoGP army. If that sounded like a big gap between invasions, bear in mind that the last time the Goiânia circuit in particular experienced the erotic sensation of dozens of MotoGP racing rubbers caressing its tarmac, yours truly wasn’t even in diapers yet (The last race hosted at Goiânia happened in 1987, about thirty-eight-ish years ago).
Although Friday and (most of) Saturday was riddled with rain and sinkholes, and the Sprint thusly delayed in order for them to fix the hole, the cattail-track delivered some entertaining racing.
On a side note:
Could we get in touch with the team that fixed that sinkhole in such a short time? We need them to train some local SA teams…
Moto3:
While Esteban started the race from a maiden pole position, on a KTM-locked-out front row, our boy Moodley started from a meagre twenty-first, and Rammerstorfer had a Long Lap Penalty to his name.
During the third lap, Rammerstorfer was violently catapulted from his seat at Turn Twelve, landing with equal intensity and nearly causing a new sinkhole with his shoulder. Did he manage to serve his penalty before his aeronautical exploration? Did it really matter?
By Lap Seven, Quiles went ever so slightly wide into Turn Four, Esteban saw a gap opening, and thus Esteban tried to dive into that gap. Unfortunately for him, this was a mistake – one moment he was divebombing down Quiles’ inside, the next he was finding out what Max looked like from a drone point of view as he arced through the air, his bike tumbling far below.
Miraculously, neither Esteban nor his motorcycle actually hit anyone.
While leading the race on the thirteenth lap, Almansa became the third rider to join the low-orbit squad as his bike launched him into the air while exiting Turn Four.
Once Almansa finally came to rest in the gravel, he immediately buried his face in the pebbles like a short-necked ostrich looking to disappear.
Moments after Almansa’s flight, Ogden went sliding off through the kitty litter, feet first.
Just a few moments later, the Red Flag came out. It was said that they needed more time to safely remove Ogden’s motorcycle.
This being announced on Lap Fifteen, meant that three-quarters race distance had not been reached, and so the race had to be restarted. So, at 17:35 South African time, with a grid based off of the standings at the end of Lap Fourteen, the riders set off to complete a five-lap super-Sprint.
Hardly were they back to racing, when Rios and Bertelle came to blows. Apparently, Ríos had tried an overtake on the inside of Turn Four, but was a teeny bit overzealous, causing him to go into horisontal mode, sweeping Bertelle off his feet – and off the track.
At some point in the next three laps Moodley had the red-on-black flag shoved into his face, forcing him to retire.
While Quiles snatched up the victory, and his teammate Morelli his maiden podium in second, most of the focus was drawn to the rookie in third: Pratama not only claimed his first-ever Moto3 podium, but he did so in just his second race, and in the process earned the title of first Indonesian rider EVER to ascend a Grand Prix podium.
He celebrated with a superb cooldown-lap stand-up wheelie, which we’d rate a solid ten out of ten.
Meanwhile, the CFMoto duo decided a quick dance-off was just what Parc Fermé needed.
Moto2:
The Middleweight race was delayed a whole ten minutes after the Red Flag that happened in Moto3 prior.
Both Roberts and Van den Goorbergh started the race with Long Lap Penalties to their names, for causing a crash during the Indonesian round.
Sasaki’s race ended before it could even begin as he ducked into the pits at the end of the Warm-Up Lap.
During the fourth lap, Navarro’s bike ditched him in the Turn Six gravel to pursue its dream career as a road-compactor-roller.
Piqueras suffered an unusually gentle (for Brazil) toppling over as he navigated Turn Eleven for the seventh time. Two-for-two so far, Ángel?
In a very generic, standard turn-not-turning crash, Furusato was send flying off at Turn Twelve on the twentieth lap. The fact that he was running dead last, was in no way consoling.
Holgado took the win, with Muñoz in second, and González snatching third in the end.
MotoGP:
Sunday’s main race saw Jack Miller celebrating his two-hundredth race start. Congratulations, Jack!
Sprint Race:
This race was delayed so many times, we were beginning to doubt it would ever take place. Credit to the team who perfectly fixed that sinkhole in a relatively short time – they’re the true heroes of Saturday.
The delay ended up pushing the Sprint start back by an hour and twenty minutes. Some of us went to bed later than planned that evening.
Not even two full laps in, Mir was removed from the track by gravity, suffering a short though energetic roll off through Turn Six.
At the start of the eighth lap, Zarco’s machine apparently forgot how to motorcycle, sending him off the track at Turn One very high-speedly, and very straightly.
Having essentially run off with the lead early in the race, Di Giannantonio was looking good for the Sprint win. That was, until he suffered a tiny little oops on the penultimate lap, which gave Márquez (Marc here) all the chance he needed to snatch away the lead.
Marc Márquez took the win, with DiGi having to suck it up in second, while third went to Martín.
Binder had a hard time, finishing in fifteenth.
Main Race:
In a huge last-minute plot twist, it was announced that the race would be cut down from thirty-one laps – the second-most laps ever in a MotoGP race – to just twenty-three, a distance shorter than even the Moto3 race.
‘Why?!’ Everyone asked, confused and dazed.
‘Track must be too hot – it’s hotter than Buriram!’ Others speculated.
‘Track degradation.’ Answered officials.
Miller’s bi-centennial race lasted less than two laps before he, oddly anonymously, crashed. No replay, no details.
Just two laps later, Binder suffered an equally anonymous crash.
Bagnaia must’ve angered some deity, because by Lap Eleven he, too, went flying off, his crash nearly identical to that of Zarco in the Sprint Race a day before.
Keeping traditions alive, Mir torpedoed off at Turn Four on the same lap.
Having led all of the race, from pole to finish line, Bezzecchi continued his dominance with yet another victory. That made it four in a row, something no other Aprilia rider had ever managed to achieve.
Second position, and all the respect he deserved, went the way of Martín. What a stellar recovery.
And finally, a less-than-perfect third place was the destiny of Di Giannantonio.
Through all of the trials and tribulations, MotoGP’s return to Brazil and the Goiânia circuit was still a definite success.
Just maybe check for potholes before the races next time.
~ Karr
