Motor Sport Magazine August 2022

“The death toll has led to renewed questions over the future of the TT” I REMEMBER ONCE TRYING TO SET UP an interview with John McGuinness for our motorcycles editor Mat Oxley. Initially it was very straightforward – a phone call to the press officer, who in turn called John, who gave a quick answer in the affirmative. It was all refreshingly brief and to the point. No long email chains, requests for copy approval (always declined) and guarantees of covers (likewise). Neither was there an obvious incentive such as an upcoming autobiography to promote, making it particularly in his interests to do an interview. He was just happy to talk to Mat and to our readers. Mat suggested we do the interview at the Midland Hotel on Morecambe seafront. We thought the…

“The death toll has led to renewed questions over the future of the TT” I REMEMBER ONCE TRYING TO SET UP an interview with John McGuinness for our motorcycles editor Mat Oxley. Initially it was very straightforward – a phone call to the press officer, who in turn called John, who gave a quick answer in the affirmative. It was all refreshingly brief and to the point. No long email chains, requests for copy approval (always declined) and guarantees of covers (likewise). Neither was there an obvious incentive such as an upcoming autobiography to promote, making it particularly in his interests to do an interview. He was just happy to talk to Mat and to our readers. Mat suggested we do the interview at the Midland Hotel on Morecambe seafront.…

THE 2022 LE MANS 24 HOURS may not go down in history as a classic, but it will surely stand as the last time Toyota has it easy in the world’s greatest endurance race. The Japanese marque dominated the 89th running of the 24 Hours, with its twin GR010 Hybrid Hypercars running to a clear 1-2, some five laps clear of any other opposition. Both Toyotas enjoyed a relatively clean race, with the only drama coming for the No7 when José MarÍa López had to stop on track during the 16th hour to perform a reset of the frontal hybrid, losing a lap to the sister car. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa brought No8 to the flag over 2mins clear of No7. In doing so it marked Buemi’s fourth…

THERE COULD HARDLY BE A starker contrast in fortunes than between Sergio Pérez and Daniel Ricciardo over the last couple of years. The former has transformed from being potentially out of F1 at the end of 2020 to an actual contender in the 2022 world championship, with a pole and a victory already under his belt seven races in. Ricciardo, by contrast, has fallen from megastar to struggling also-ran fighting for his F1 future in much the same time period. This is about much more than just how competitive their cars have been. It’s also to do with how well driving styles are suited to particular car traits and it is clear that the 2022 regulation re-set – and the various teams’ reactions to them – has shuffled the driver hierarchy. Pérez…

THREE MONTHS AGO ALEIX Espargaró rode his Aprilia RS-GP to the company’s first MotoGP victory in four decades of trying, at the Argentine Grand Prix at Termas de Rio Hondo. The success was the crowning chapter of a long story for the Italian manufacturer that began at the 1994 Spanish GP, where Aprilia debuted its first premier-class motorcycle. Since then Aprilia, based in Noale near Venice, has been MotoGP’s perennial underdog, often finishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship, including a clean sweep of last positions from 2016 to 2021. That first MotoGP bike of 1994 was an over-bored 250cc twin, conceived to tackle the dominant 500cc fours, which were already struggling to use all their power around grand prix racing’s increasingly tight racetracks. Aprilia’s theory went like this: its lighter, 410cc twin…

THE 2022 LE MANS 24 HOURS may not go down in history as a classic, but it will surely stand as the last time Toyota has it easy in the world’s greatest endurance race. The Japanese marque dominated the 89th running of the 24 Hours, with its twin GR010 Hybrid Hypercars running to a clear 1-2, some five laps clear of any other opposition. Both Toyotas enjoyed a relatively clean race, with the only drama coming for the No7 when José MarÍa López had to stop on track during the 16th hour to perform a reset of the frontal hybrid, losing a lap to the sister car. Sébastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa brought No8 to the flag over 2mins clear of No7. In doing so it marked Buemi’s…