Racing updates

Photo: Domi77.ch

Here are a few quick updates from the world of roadracing:

Aergerter stripped of win

Dominique Aergerter has been stripped of his Moto2 win at Misano.

After Aergerter took first place in his class at the Italian GP, his bike’s engine oil was shipped off for testing, to see if it was within spec.

Alas for Aergerter, the testing proved his oil was not the spec lubricant that the regulations called for, which means he’s lost his race win; he appeared before the FIM Stewards at the Aragon GP, and at a follow-up during the Motegi GP weekend, he was informed he was having his results from the Italian race disqualified. Bye bye race win!

Lorenzo wages word warfare on Zarco

Jorge Lorenzo, currently in a season-long slump aboard the Ducati factory GP bike, has a new target for his ire: Tech3’s Johann Zarco.

Lorenzo didn’t like Zarco’s risky pass in Turn 9 in the opening laps of the Japanese GP last weekend. Zarco bumped Lorenzo into the paint, as seen below:

That was CLOSE! Maybe too close? JZ5 barges his way through on JL99!#JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/ANR2uLy764

— MotoGP™??? (@MotoGP) October 15, 2017

Lorenzo’s reaction? He said Zarco rides like he’s playing a video game.

“You saw what happened … It’s not the first time he’s done this kind of thing – with me but also with two or three other riders. But he keeps doing it as though he’s playing on the Playstation on time attack, like there’s no one at the side; very aggressive. I went to his box but he doesn’t understand he’s doing something bad and he won’t change.”

Lorenzo went on to threaten to talk to the Safety Commission, since there’s no principal or parents to complain to; if that does no good, rumour in the paddock is that he will unfriend Zarco on LinkedIn.

Spies to mount comeback?

Yeah, we thought we’d seen the last of Ben Spies too, at least as far as roadracing is concerned, after his 2013 retirement. With his body broken to bits, he was supposedly unable to handle a racebike properly anymore, thanks in particular to a mangled shoulder.

But, Spies is now using social media to tease a return to roadracing, in the MotoAmerica series. Publicity stunt? Has he finally escaped his mother’s clutches? Hard to say, but you can read more about it here at Asphalt & Rubber.

2018 MotoGP schedule posted

The brain trust at Dorna have posted a provisonal 2018 MotoGP schedule. Barring some sort of disaster, this is likely pretty much what we can expect for next season, unlike the World Superbike schedule, which gets altered a few times every year after it’s issued, especially if the Russians decide they want in on this year’s action, then change their mind.