Weekend Recap: May 28 - 29

MOTOGP
Bagnaia and Quartararo - 1st and 2nd in Mugello

Monster Energy’s Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) and Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy/Yamaha MotoGP) went 1st and 2nd on Sunday at the famed Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, or “Mugello” for short.

Bagnaia, who was as far back in the pack as 9th on the opening lap, charged to a podium position by lap five and into the lead at the start of lap nine. Leading somewhat comfortably, Bagnaia was impervious to the feverous charge by Quartararo – aka “El Diablo”. With six laps to go, Bagnaia would be well aware of Quartararo’s charge to the front as Bagnaia’s lead was cut to less than a second.

Bagnaia was able to put the hammer down on his Ducati, extending his lead over his fellow countryman to 1.1 seconds before finishing .6 seconds ahead for the win.

Said Bagnaia: “It was incredible. I didn’t manage to have a great start. I arrived at the first corner behind, so it was very important to overtake the rider in front of me as soon as possible. From there I just tried to set my pace and after that, I just tried to control the other riders. We have to be very happy with the result. And it was not easy because Mugello is always a very tricky track.”

Next up on the MotoGP tour is the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, June 3rd through 5th.

MXGP
Maxime Renaux Tops the Podium in Spain

French racer Maxime Renaux of the Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP Factory Team mastered the Circuito Internacional Comunidad de Madrid, intu Xanadú-Arroyomolinos in Spain on Sunday afternoon to convincingly win the Spanish Grand Prix. Standing on the podium in Spain alongside Renaux was his Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP Factory Team squad member Glen Coldenhoff, the Dutch racer speeding to 5-2 moto scores which was good enough for third on the day. Tim Gajser leads the 2022 MXGP World Championship with 404 points, but Renaux continues to close in on the championship lead, now second in the point standings with 338m markers to his surname. Holding down third in the MXGP World Championship title fight is Jeremy Seewer of the Monster Energy Yamaha MXGP Factory Team. The MXGP World Championship will now move on to the Monster Energy MXGP of France set for the 1,517-meter Raymond Demy Circuit.

SPEEDWAY GRAND PRIX
Tai Woffinden Runs 2nd in Prague

Monster Energy’s Tai Woffinden scored a 2nd place finish at the Speedway Grand Prix in Prague on Saturday scoring ten points and a finals berth in front of a packed house at Marketa Stadium.

“Obviously the start of the season was quite tough”, said Woffinden. “We went to Warsaw learning on the job, understanding things more and figuring it out. Every week I’m riding I’m learning more and more about how to get things set up this year”.

Next up on the Speedway GP tour is Saturday’s (June 4th) GP of Germany.

MOTOCROSS

Chase Sexton Wins and Christian Craig Places 3rd in the MX Nationals Opening Round

Putting up the day’s fastest lap times, both in qualifying and racing, and running virtually mistake-free through two grueling motos, Monster Energy’s Chase Sexton (Honda) out-dueled veteran two-time champion Ken Roczen, to capture Saturday’s top honors in the premier 450cc class at Fox Raceway in Pala, Calif., Round One of the 2022 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross Championship, presented by Monster Energy.

Sexton, coming off a successful sophomore season racing the 450 class in Monster Energy AMA Supercross, was absolutely dominant on his path to victory at the rugged track located on the Pala Indian Reservation in San Diego County.

“Man, it was a dream day for me”, said Sexton. “All supercross season I wanted to be fast qualifier, win a heat race and win the main. I couldn’t do that… until today. And I think it’s harder to do it outdoors”.

Also making the 450 class podium at Fox Raceway, fresh off his Western Supercross (WSX) 250 championship, was Christian Craig (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha). Craig would place 3rd with a strong and consistent 3-3 finish in the two-moto format. Sexton and Craig led a Monster Energy 450 class contingent that featured four racers placing in the top six overall, including Eli Tomac (Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha) in 4th place (7-4) and Jason Anderson (Monster Energy/Kawasaki) in 6th place (4-8).

In the 250cc Class, Joe Shimoda earns a solid 3rd place finish to round out the podium.

NASCAR XFINITY CHARLOTTE
Ty Gibbs Battles Through the Pack to Finish 2nd

Although racing rival Josh Berry may have won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race on 1.5-mile, 24-degree-banked Charlotte Motor Speedway, but he had a huge head start on Charlotte runner-up finisher Ty Gibbs. Berry started fourth in the Alsco Uniforms 300 at the 1.5-mile track, while Gibbs started at the very rear of the field in the No. 54 Toyota after hitting the wall in Friday’s practice and failing to make a qualifying run. By the end of Stage 2, Monster Energy athlete Gibbs had worked his way up to seventh, and though he was no match for the race winner, his second-place run was an excellent result, given the adversity he faced. “We were just a little slower than those guys, and I was too tight in the center of the corners”, Gibbs pointed out. “Our guys worked really hard overnight to get this thing ready, so I’m very thankful to my guys. Just need to be able to rotate the center of the corner. That’s where we were lacking the most and that’s where we got beat. But we held onto a second-place finish. We’ll take that – solid day. You’re never satisfied unless you win, and you can make mistakes and win, too, but you have to fix those. If not, then you just shouldn’t be here”.