Hello everyone! It's Kelly here with my first blog for the podcast. My plan for the foreseeable future is to talk about the winners and losers from each class for the weekend, and a little bit of my thoughts on each one
@Michelin
For those of you who know me at this point, you may be saying "Oh god, she'll put Collin and Fermin as winners regardless" well you'd be incorrect! At least for the blogs, I plan to be as honest and as least delusional as possible!
Moto3
Starting off strong, let's talk about an…eventful Moto3 race, we shall say. Most notably for Kelly at least, Collin Veijer crashing out of the lead after less than two laps! I won't say too much more here, because there were certainly more losers than winners! So this section may include some honourable mentions.
Winners
Starting off with our winners, the most obvious is of course
David Alonso
So as our championship leader, its clear to see and say that David Alonso has had a sensationally solid season so far, and this weekend was no different.
He was solid in all 3 of the practices, finishing 3rd and 5th respectively. He fell short to Collin Veijer in qualifying, but nothing he couldn't come back from.
He had a slow start to the race, dropping to p4 but that was nothing to the Colombian.
And after Collin crashed out on lap 2, the world was David's oyster. He had some small fights with Munoz here and there, but my god nobody could take this man down. An absolute winner in my books.
Leopard Racing- both riders
Of course we know Leopard racing is known for their on and off weekends, and…questionable rider methods. (looking at you Jaume Masia) I mean what? Anyway. They haven't had the absolute best start to a season, so to speak. But on this weekend they put up a stellar performance.
Adrian Fernández finished in p4, with teammate Angel Piqueras finishing behind in p5. Kudos to them!
Scott Ogden
Now, is this a risky choice? To some, for sure! But I feel like he deserves this small win. Scott has had a less than desirable start to his 2024 campaign, so his P10 finish this weekend was an added bonus to anyone who likes Scott, same as I do!
A great race from a man with such a lack of luck.
@Pirelli
Now to our Losers.
Collin Veijer
Now of course, as much to Kelly's despair, Collin Veijer is probably the most obvious loser of this weekend.
Collin was fast over the first part of the weekend, quick in practices and qualifying on pole for the race! Nothing could go wrong, right?
INCORRECT!
After just two laps, Collin crashed from the lead, and only managed to make it back to P18. A true loss for the Dutchman (and for Kelly's predictions too.)
Jose Antonio Rueda
Jose had a pretty mediocre qualifying in P5, but the same cannot be said for the race. Rueda absolutely sped his way past the other competitors, and made his way to p2, looking completely set for a podium finish.
It looked like nothing could go wrong, until 21 laps into the race. Rueda went down, finishing his weekend in shame, and losing out on a well deserved podium and points paying decision.
(We blame this on pozz.)
Luca Lunetta
Now as we all know, Lunetta isn't a rider that would be known for his podiums, but my god he looked set to change that this weekend. He put up a strong performance, even qualifying on the front row!
He stayed relatively close to the front for 18 laps, and it seemed like everything was going to pay off. But unfortunately, on lap 19, Lunetta went down, ending his podium chance, and ending his dreams.
Honourable mentions
An honourable mentions to Josh Whatley, who after an injury, never quite regained his luck or speed. And after another lackluster performance at the Sachsenring, Whatley and MLAV racing have amicably parted ways.
Good luck on your future endeavours Josh.
Moto2
Moving onto a slightly calmer race this weekend, let's talk about Moto2! Of course for Kelly and Kate it was a winning scenario, with Fermin Aldeguer taking top step of the podium! There was very few crashes of significance, but a very strange finishing order. So let's get to it with our winners and losers hm?
Winners
Fermin Aldeguer
Of course the obvious choice for the Moto2 Sachsenring race is our good friend Fermin Aldeguer, who Kelly didn't curse! Fermin had a very solid race, keeping a 2 second lead from second place Jake Dixon after qualifying 3rd.
But that's not to say he led the entire race on his own. We had Vietti on pole, hell, even Arbolino came through to have his tackle of it, but through all the mess and battles, our winner of the Moto2 Sachsenring was Fermin Aldeguer, certainly a season favourite for the championship.
Ai Ogura
Ai Ogura certainly had a mediocre start to the season but in these last few races he has certainly made an impact.
He now stands 2nd in the championship, with a 17 gap lead to Joe Roberts in 3rd. If any of you didn't have your eyes on him for the championship before, I highly recommend you do it now. This man is hungry for more wins and a Moto2 championship. If Fermin won't get it, I am most certainly here to see Ai.
Celestino Vietti
Now, this isn't to say that Cele has had a bad season, not at all. He's been consistently in the points.
But this has been a race to remember for the rider. He qualified on pole, was fast through the sessions and had a good race. He was constantly fought after for the win, and after a long battle, he finished in p5, a good haul for the KTM Ajo team.
@Pirelli
Now on to our losers
Tony Arbolino
Tony had a better race than the results show. He qualified P6 and shot up the order, even fighting for the win at a certain point in the race. This would be a great confidence booster for the rider who has had a severe lack of luck since the seasons start.
Eventually he finished P9 after cooking his tires. So it's a loss this week, but in my head, certainly not a loss overall.
Sergio Garcia
Not to say that P7 is a bad result, but for our championship leader, it is a less than desirable points finish. He did qualify P12, so it was a great comeback, but just certainly not the result he wanted overall.
I truly believe he will come back stronger, but for now, it's a losing weekend for our championship leader, Sergio Garcia.
Aron Canet
Aron Canet just had a howler of a weekend overall. Qualifying p14, we believed he could build up the places, you know, he's a solid rider right?
Of course he is, but he purely struggled here. It was probably for the best when his weekend ended in the gravel, putting an end to his misery. We all know he was injured so I truly hope that he can recover, and get back to his old form.
Motogp
And finally what we have all waited for, my personal winners and losers for the Motogp weekend at the Sachsenring. It was an entertaining weekend, thats for sure, so let's talk about my opinions on it!
My winners
Francesco Bagnaia
Pecco qualified in p4, but that was nothing to the Italian rider, he was speedy throughout the entire weekend and didn't let anyone stop him.
He finished on the podium in P3, and won the Grand Prix after Jorge Martin sensationally crashed out (hint to later on in this blog). Once again a simply dominant performance by our championship leader.
Miguel Oliveira
Now, I'm sure we all love Miguel Oliveira as much as eachother but we cannot deny that the Portuguese rider has had a less than desirable start to his 2024 campaign. Trackhouse as a team have struggled to get good points paying positions.
But that all changed at the Sachsenring when those bikes turned into rockets, and sent both Oliveira and Fernández to the front row. Unfortunately, Oliveira was the only rider out of the two to benefit from it, but not to discredit this incredible performance.
Marc Marquez
Of course, the King of the Sachsenring. Marc had a less than desirable qualifying in p13, but he didn't let that disgruntle him. He sped his way through the sprint up to P6 and up to P2 in the race to share the podium with his brother. A sentimental moment as we haven't seen this since 1997.
He may not have won, but with his first good bike in years, I believe he deserves to retain this title, don't you?
@HRC
Now on to our losers
Jorge Martin
Probably one of my most obvious choices so far. Jorge won the sprint and seemed completely set to do the double for the race, but that wasn't the case.
I think it is apparent that Jorge struggles when pressure is placed upon him, not a desirable quality to have. I love Martin, but he truly needs to learn how to keep his composure in these types of scenarios.
Raul Fernández
Raul qualified on the front row alongside his teammate, and got any trackhouse fans excited for double points. But once again that was not the case. Whilst Oliveira managed to make the most of it, Raul just didn't, he dropped like a stone, finishing P10 and P14.
A true shame, for what could've been.
Fabio DiGiannantonio
Fabio qualified P8, and seemed completely set to get some good points over the weekend, but unfortunately that never came to fruition. He had a mechanical failure that caused him to retire during the race, and finished just outside of the points, in P10, during the sprint.
But I believe this was a once off, and that he will return stronger next time.
And that's it!
If you made it this far, thank you for reading! It's truly truly appreciated, and I hope you agreed with me too 😅.
With love for all our listeners and readers,
Kelly .
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