Any Moto GP Fans?

MM93 out due to concussion in warm up lap. 4 crashes this weekened. And, and it's gonna be a rain race. Rain race bet- Morbidelli, Binder, Rins.

 

I made a bold prediction in my head that Pol would finish ahead of Marc in the championship this year. Looks like that's got a good chance of coming to fruition, at this rate.

Also, just a friendly reminder of how much the Yamaha sucks.

 

Did you guys watch that highside in practice from marc marquez? looked rough. Hope he heals up... i read a report hes seeing double again.

 

Totally agree with you on this. Marc continues to crash and unfortunately get hurt. Another episode of double vision for him. Could last days or weeks... Can't finish a race you didn't start in. I still have friends who think he will be champ again.

Rain races, my man. They are more about the rider than the bike. Now, everyone has rear grip issues and Yamaha doesn't have to worry about the front tire overheating in the wet! Pretty much levels the playing field. lol...

One wet race doesn't mean the game has changed for Yamaha. Previous race, Yamaha finished 9th, 11th, 14th and 16th out of 18 finishers. Pretty much the back half of the field, no?

Dovizioso's bike decided it was done going in circles last race and just stopped. Fucking done. I feel for him. Fighting Marquez for the championship for 4 or 5 years and now reduced to piloting a turd hoping for a tenth place finish.

We'll see what race 3 brings for the boys in blue. Fingers crossed for them.

 

Let's be honest though, the night race at Qatar is just as much an outlier or wild card race as the new track. Like you said, the game hasn't changed because of one race. But, there's something to be said about second place, pole, fastest race lap etc at a new track with a level playing field. Objectively, the bike does not suck.

We shall see what happens in Argentina. Last race there was in 2019. Rossi finished 2nd...on a Yamaha. With all the shakeups, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Edit: I would argue that rain races are more about setup thank bike.

 

I wouldn't call Qatar an outlier or wild card or even compare it to a new track. New tracks have no data to start with: transmission gearing, roughness of track surface, left vs right side tire wear, etc, etc, etc... Whereas Qatar has 22 years of data of what works and what doesn't. They are least have a good starting point to then fine tune from. And Yamaha has a very good record for winning or at least putting it on the box at Qatar. I'm certain without looking that 2022 results for Yamaha were the worst they've had in the 18 years of racing Qatar. Coincidence?

There is something to be said about pole, 2nd place and FL of the race. That credit goes mainly to the man piloting that machine. Quartararo has better feel and ability (on average of all tracks, not just one here or there like some) than most all but maybe 2 others there. Again, if the bike was as good you believe it to be, I would expect to see Morbidelli and Dovizioso doing much better. Binder, well he's still a rookie and has much to learn. So I don't expect much from him.

We'll see what happens as teams iron out the shortcomings of their machines (or not) through the season. I pretty much expect Quartararo and Dovi to not renew their contracts once they are up. Fingers crossed things change for them. Either way, it's looking to be in interesting season. It's nice to not have Rossi or Marquez walking away from everyone most every race these days. Keeps things fresh.

 

So Fabio's dash shut down earlier in the weekend and they thought it may be due to a loose rock on track (as there were many)... After Dovi's debacle, we can probably rule out the rock theory. But a loose grip??? C'mon... That's moto racing 101.

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/999288/1/dashboard-drama-ends-shutdown-andrea-dovizioso

 

Here's a prediction:

Honda cans Marc since they've been paying him mega bucks and he hasn't produced squat and his double vision is recurring.

Honda's open Factory spot is offered to Quartararo and he takes it. (Good for him)

Yamaha offers open Factory spot to Mir. He may as well take it, he's not going to win another Championship. lol

 

Yamaha has always promoted from within, so it's difficult to imagine Mir going straight to the factory bike. I could honestly see Fabio going to any one of 3 manufacturers (Honda, Ducati, Suzuki). I'm sure they're all placing their bids. Based on what factory he chooses, the rest of the dominos will start to fall. He'd replace Jack at Ducati, Marquez at Honda and all but certainly Rins at Suzuki. It's going to be an exciting silly season for sure. Based on the last few years, those dominos should start falling within the next few rounds.

 

Welp, MM93 sitting out another race. All of a sudden that 4 year extension ain't looking so appealing is it?

 

"Due to two separate issues affecting two different flights, the final freight for the Argentina GP will now arrive in the country on Friday. The flight contains freight for all classes of the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship, with changes to the time schedule therefore obliged for all classes.

Free Practice sessions will now begin and take place for all classes on Saturday morning. Of the sessions that normally take place on Friday, only one has been cancelled, with the other moved to Saturday. Qualifying will take place on Saturday afternoon, with a slightly later start time.

Warm Up sessions on Sunday morning have been extended, with each race set to begin at the same start time as originally scheduled."

 

Holy sh!t!! It snowed in hell today. Esparargo, no the other brother, took pole on an Aprilia. Take notice cuz this does not happen often, I have officially eaten my words.

 

I may regret this but I'm going out on a limb and putting not 1 but both Aprilias on the box this weekend. Quartararo seemed happier last race saying they tried something new and it worked for him. Maybe it will carry over into Argentina. My picks are:

A Espargaro 4
Quartararo 4
Vinales 2

None of the Ducati boys impressed me enough for a pick, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a Duc on the box if the right carnage occurs.

 

1. J. Martin
2. A. Esparargo yes that one
3. Binder the good one

 

Is the light at the end of the tunnel getting any clearer? To add some salt to that wound, Vinales finished ahead of all the Yamahas.

I so regret putting points on Quartararo due to a good FP2 time in conjunction with him saying they figured out something on the bike.

And to double whammy things, I had 5 points on Aleix Espargaro and 3 on Quartararo originally. Last second I dropped a point from Aleix and added it to Quartararo. Ugh

Bummer for Martin, he rode a great race considering his rear struggled to hook up on exits. Had that not been an issue that would have been an easy win for him.

I feel for Morbidelli. 2 mechanical dnf's in 3 races. Dude should be in the top 7 regularly with his talent.

Great year so far with lots of different faces on the podium. If it stays like this, it's just a battle of consistency and another sub 200 point winner in the end. Well, seeing as we now have 21 races this year, sub 200 points champion would be pretty sorry.

 

Congrats Aleix and Aprilia!!!!! Way to go!!!!!

 

As much as I dislike him, I'm super stoked for Aleix. You can't deny that he's put in the work and deserves this win. Vinales also had a good race, so I'm hoping to see more races like this from Aprilia.

 

Alright I take it back and swallow my shit talking sandwich. Amazing showing for Aleix and Aprilia. Especially on his 200th outing. It was nice to see it live. Started at 11am here.

 

COTA! This has been a track that Marc Marquez owns through the years. Will he win? I kind of doubt it. Podium, maybe. Early prediction: Rins

I'm interested to see how well they ironed out the bumps on the track this year. They were pretty bad in past years.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb here, and even without watching qualifying make a prediction. COTA is a fast track with fast turns, except the first one! It's gonna be a Duc track. I predict Duc's 1-2-3. Let's say, Martinator, Pecco and Zarco.