Pecco Moto GP

[p6x]

Watched the entire free practices and both qualifying.

This is really great for Aprilia, and in particular Aleix. The Aprilias have been strong him and Maverick throughout FP1 and FP2. I would not be surprised if we see an Aprilia win tomorrow.

The Ducati horses got one outsider at the front. While Jorge Martin is always able to deliver during qualifying, having Luca Marini 3rd is exceptional.

If you saw Pol Espargaro fighting the bars' shimmy (is this the proper English term?) in Q1, this was incredibly bold to keep full throttle. He completely deserves to be 4th in Q2.

Fabio Quartararo was again the Yamaha savior, even after the unfortunate encounter with Jack Miller on the racing line. Is Franco Morbidelli the true indicator of the M1's performance?

The Suzuki are always there, ready to pounce.

I don't really understand the real value of KTM on the scale.

It seems that both factory Ducati were in a lot of trouble. Francesco Bagnaia was really struggling.

 

[p6x]

Aleix Espargaro has no competition; at least based on the warm up lap times. He is the only one capable of going in the 1:38 constantly, while the second best, Fabio Quartararo is in the low 1:39.

So we could see the first ever win for both Aleix and Aprilia. Aleix never won a GP in any MotoGP category. Providing he starts well.

[Tomchri]

That’s it for me with GP, best ever gladiator IMO is out. 
Cheers Tom.

[p6x]

8 hours ago, Tomchri said:

That’s it for me with GP, best ever gladiator IMO is out. 
Cheers Tom.

He is still planning to come back. I would not sell him short. As you said, he is a gladiator. But now his body has taken a toll, will that change the way he rides?

Answer maybe at COTA or later.

[p6x]

The genuine emotional happiness of Aleix Espargaro was nice to look at. Jorge Martin was impressive too.

 

[LowRyter]

hell freezes over

[Joe]

Very happy for Aprillia too, it’s been a long road to the top. I root for Suzuki, Alex Rins & Joan Mir, although they don’t seem to have the top speed of the Ducati’s. 

[LowRyter]

Not only winning but Alex is leading the points.  Pretty good race for a guy that had never won on a bike that had never won.

[Joe]

MotoGP

 

RIDERS

 

CONSTRUCTORS

 

1. 2022 Standings

   Rank	Rider		Points	Wins	Podiums
   1		A. Espargaró Aprilia	45	1	1
   2		B. Binder KTM	38	0	1
   3		E. Bastianini Ducati	36	1	1
   4		Á. Rins Suzuki	36	0	1
   5		F. Quartararo Yamaha	35	0	1

   6		J. Mir Suzuki	33	0	0
   7		M. Oliveira KTM	28	1	1
   8		J. Zarco Ducati	24	0	1
   9		J. Martín Ducati	20	0	1
   10		P. Espargaró Honda	20	0	1
   11		J. Miller Ducati	15	0	0
   12		F. Morbidelli Yamaha	14	0	0
   13		M. Viñales Aprilia	13	0	0
   14		F. Bagnaia Ducati	12	0	0
   15		M. Márquez Honda	11	0	0
   16		T. Nakagami Honda	10	0	0
   17		L. Marini Ducati	10	0	0
   18		M. Bezzecchi Ducati	7	0	0
   19		D. Binder Yamaha	6	0	0
   20		Á. Márquez Honda	4	0	0
   21		A. Dovizioso Yamaha	2	0	0
   22		R. Gardner KTM	1	0	0
   23		R. Fernández KTM	0	0	0
   24		F. Di Giannantonio Ducati	0	0	0
   25		S. Bradl

[GuzziMoto]

I am really happy that Aleix Espargaro won on the Aprilia. He has worked so hard on that program. That it is both their first win in MotoGP and his first win an a world championship race makes it even better. Add to that he is now leading the points, wow.

The Marquez story was a poor idea of an April fools day joke. It was not a legit story, just an April fools day joke that was in really bad taste. I would not be surprised to see Marquez retire, but that the joke is actually a believable story makes it even worse, not better.

As to MotoGP without Marquez, I don't think it has been better racing since they switched to fourstrokes than it is right now. When a tiny little team like Aprilia can win a race and lead the points, anything can happen in MotoGP right now. I am enjoying it, with or without Marquez.

[Joe]

[PJPR01]

Big congrats to Aleix...super riding and a reasonably fun race to watch.  Jorge Martin shows lots of guts in his riding style.

Aside from Marc's medical issues, the other tragedy is that as bad a season as Marc is having, he's still doing better than his brother.  I'm beginning to doubt whether they should have elevated AM from Moto 2 to GP...or he may be years away from reaching his potential, like Aleix has shown.  200 starts is a lot of races never to have won.  

COTA will be exciting...another new winner likely unless the KING comes back, but I doubt he'll make it unfortunately.

[LowRyter]

I see that the publication that published the MM hoax has formally apologized.   That was really bad taste.

I'm still on the fence for COTA.  I think I only have a couple of days to sign for Ducati Island.  Since it's a good ride, I'd like a riding partner but can't find one.  I did ride to North Carolina once alone on the Greenie, that was a hardy trip with some great times.  By comparison, the Ducati should be a piece of cake.

[PJPR01]

I'll throw in a free meal at Black's on Sunday after the race for you John...come on down! 

[LowRyter]

Considering Alex' win, I'll bet they'll be some at AF1 this week.