MotoGP

Sepang MotoGP Saturday Round Up: Of Pressure, Tows, Bumps, And Championships

By David Emmett | Sat, 22/10/2022 - 22:02

There is a cliché about sports events having a "pressure cooker atmosphere", but in the case of the Sepang MotoGP race, it is almost literally true. A combination of withering heat, completely saturated humidity, and incredible pressure is cooking up an explosive climax to the MotoGP championship.

With a championship on the line, the pressure is plain to see. In the previous 18 races, Pecco Bagnaia had just 12 crashes. On Saturday, he added another two to that tally. Fabio Quartararo has had six crashes in the 18 races before this weekend, and added another during FP4, fracturing a finger in his left hand in the process. Likewise Aleix Espargaro, who has added another two crashes this weekend, taking his total to 13. For the record, the current crash leader is Darryn Binder, with 22.

2022 Sepang MotoGP FP4 Result: Bezzecchi Leads Amongst Crashes

By Zara Daniela | Sat, 22/10/2022 - 07:11

The final practice session was a bit of a challenge for the premier class, with a handful of unexpected crashes scattered throughout the session. While Pol Espargaro, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco crashed within a couple of minutes of each other, Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi were trading top spot on the timesheets and it was the rookie who eventually took the chequered flag from prime position. Bastianini missed out by seven hundredths of a second, while Martin had sealed third prior to his turn nine tumble.

2022 Sepang MotoGP FP3 Result: Martin Leads As Bagnaia Falters

By Zara Daniela | Sat, 22/10/2022 - 04:01

Track surface was just getting back to fully dry by the time the premier class had another go at practice, but dark clouds were closing in once more for the final third of FP3 and although raindrops were modest, they brought some drama on the timesheets. After missing out on the top 10 on Friday, Pecco Bagnaia was in a rush to prove his speed on Saturday morning and headed straight to the top of the timesheets on his first flying lap. It was still nowhere near enough, as the Italian took a surprise tumble in the final couple of minutes and found himself into Q1 at the chequered flag.

Sepang MotoGP Friday Round Up: Rain Ruining Plans, The Dangers Of A Wet Q1, And Aprilia Coming Up Short

By David Emmett | Fri, 21/10/2022 - 22:18

The weather in the tropics is always a gamble. At some places, you can set your clock by the rains during monsoon season. If it's 3:45pm, you're about to get soaked. At others, you only know that at some point during the afternoon, a lot of rain is going to fall. It might rain at 1pm. Or it might rain at 5pm. But of one thing you can be certain: a hard rain is gonna fall, and it will flood the track.

Friday at Sepang the rain came shortly after 2:15pm, less than a quarter of the way through the Moto2 FP2 session. Light at first, then more heavily, then a torrent of water from the heavens, forcing a red flag, and a delay of an hour.

It caught everyone by surprise. The forecast had been for dry weather through the afternoon, and teams had made their plans accordingly. That meant that in FP1, a lot of riders didn't bother putting in a set of soft tires to chase a fast lap, expecting to improve in the afternoon.

2022 Sepang MotoGP FP2 Result: Crutchlow Fastest On Drying Track

By David Emmett | Fri, 21/10/2022 - 09:28

The second MotoGP session started wet, but the track dried out quite quickly, with half the field fittings slicks at the end. The track was never dry enough to improve the times from this morning, however, so FP1 times determine who will go through to Q2 provisionally. The current forecast is that there could be rain during FP3.

Results:

Sepang MotoGP Thursday Preview: Crunch Time For The Title Fight

By David Emmett | Thu, 20/10/2022 - 22:13

We are nearing the climax of the 2022 MotoGP season. At Phillip Island, Pecco Bagnaia took over the championship lead from Fabio Quartararo, Bagnaia scoring a podium, Quartararo first making a mistake and the crashing out. The factory Ducati rider now leads the reigning champion by 14 points, and Aleix Espargaro by 27 points.

So what has to happen for Bagnaia to be crowned champion at Sepang? The MotoGP press office provided this handy list of calculations. Bagnaia will win the 2022 MotoGP title at Sepang if the following things happen:

  •  Bagnaia wins and Quartararo doesn’t finish on the podium,
  •  Bagnaia finishes P2, Quartararo doesn’t finish better than P7 and Espargaro doesn’t win,
  •  Bagnaia finishes P3, Quartararo doesn’t finish better than P11 and Espargaro doesn’t finish on the podium,
  •  Bagnaia finishes P4, Quartararo doesn’t finish better than P14 and Espargaro doesn’t finish on the podium,
  •  Bagnaia finishes P5, Quartararo fails to score any points and Espargaro doesn’t finish on the podium.

Basically, Bagnaia has to finish in the top five and score 11 more points than Quartararo. Bagnaia needs Aleix Espargaro to finish off the podium, or not win if Bagnaia is second. And whatever happens, Bagnaia has to finish in the top five. If he doesn't, the championship goes to Valencia.

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