James Toseland’s Insider Insights: 1st May 2019

Circuit of the Americas

Hi all! 

I’m just catching up with all the action from The Circuit Of The Americas and it was jam packed with unpredictable action! With all 3 championship leaders crashing out, it’s all to play for!

Moto3. 

For two thirds of the race it looked like an epic freight train of Moto 3 riders were going to be fighting for those precious podium places. But Tatsuki Suzuki’s pace towards the end of the race spread the field out. Unfortunately Tatsuki’s pace was too much for his own bike and crashed out whilst leading. His team mate and leader of the championship Kaito Toba, also crashed out. This meant there was going to be a new championship leader after the race and that was Jaume Masia. But it’s equal points at the top with the 19 year old Spaniard, Aron Canet. Aron really does look like a championship contender this year on the Max Biaggi shod KTM.

Alonso Lopez was very impressive also. He’s only 17 and already at the sharp end so definitely one to watch. The award for ‘Outstanding Team’ though went to Bester Capital Dubai Team! Both Jaume Masia and Andrea Migno were on the podium in second and third place respectively. 

Let’s see how things pan out when the championship kicks off the European campaign next time out. I wouldn’t like to call it!

Moto 2. 

It was another record breaking weekend for the Triumph powered Moto 2 machines! Records have gone in all 3 opening races of this years championship and I wouldn’t bet against more records tumbling as we return to Europe (weather permitting)!

Let’s start with the race winner, Thomas Luthi. What a comeback it’s been for the Swiss rider! It was a year to forget aboard the Marc VDS Motogp bike last year and I’m really pleased he’s on a great package this year and enjoying his racing again. It was a great weekend all round for his team in America. The Dynavolt Team riders were both on the podium with Marcel Schrotter coming home in second. A slightly surprising result was Jorge Navarro. It was a spectacular ride from the Spaniard aboard the Speed Up machine. Coming from way back on the grid to take a fantastic third place. It looks like he much prefers his Triumph engine compared to last years Honda. But as I said at the beginning, if you led one of the 2019 championships coming into this round it was as though it was cursed. Lorenzo Baldassarri crashing out half way through the race has really closed the championship up. Marcel Schotter’s second place has honed in on Lorenzo’s commanding lead to just 3 points.

Sam Lowes had a very strong weekend. Qualifying on the front row and bringing it home in 7th. Really good solid results so far and I’m sure it won’t be too long before he’s spraying that champagne once again! 

Motogp. 

I think we all thought after the first few laps that Marc Marquez was going to take his 7th victory in a row at the American Track. But an uncharacteristic mistake meant he lost the front and was out of the race. We all see Marc crashing a lot on Friday and Saturday, trying to find the limits of the bike and the track, but not too often in the races. With Marc out, it was Valentino Rossi and Alex Rins fighting it out for victory. The Suzuki of Rins looked like it had protected its tyres in the latter part of the race compared to Valentino’s Yamaha. This gave Alex his first MotoGP victory and it was a very well deserved victory because of the way he had to battle from quite far back to catch the leaders. 

Valentino had another phenomenal 2nd place though and his consistency at the beginning of this season is amazing at the age of 40! The Yamaha doesn’t look the complete package though yet and I’m sure Yamaha will have to work unbelievably hard to give Valentino a championship winning bike this year. 
A brilliant third place for Jack Miller also! Since his move from Honda to Ducati, he has gone from strength to strength and I hope it continues for the likeable Aussie! 

America once again was not a happy place for Cal Crutchlow. He crashed out when it looked like the podium was in his sights, if not the win. After Cal’s controversial jump start last time out in Argentina it’s been an unlucky two races for him and I hope the winds change next time out. One outstanding ride for me was from Pol Espargaro! It’s was KTM’s best finish as he came home in 8th place. Andrea Dovizioso rose very well also as he came back from his disappointing qualifying position in 13th to finish 4th. That result for Andrea means he now leads the championship by 3 points ahead of Valentino! 

Next time out it’s Jerez! Who will keep their cool and who will fall victim to the tight and twisty Spanish circuit?! 

Till next time!

JT.