MotoGP

[GuzziMoto]

12 hours ago, p6x said:

Actually, Zarco has been praised by Gigi Dall'Igna for his contribution in validating new options for the factory bikes. One of the less known reason why he was not always at the front, is because he was checking new options before they would end up on the other motorcycles. If you remember the complaint from Bagnaia that he was not a test pilot, this is when Ducati decided that all new options would be first checked by Zarco for a green light. This often prevented him to concentrate on his own setup. But he was happy to oblige.

One of the main reason Honda signed Zarco to LCR is to use his skills, experience, to get the RCV back to where it should be. Now Marquez said that the defect of the Honda is very well known, but Zarco will be able to validate the modifications as we can expect it is going to be a step by step process.

Zarco said that he did not consider the HRC proposal, first because it was only for a single year, and second, he had already worked with Lucio Cecchinello, and the LCR team, and he felt comfortable with them. Also, he has an option to remain for a 3rd year if things go well.

The reason why he did not stay at KTM, according to him, is because they were not interested to modify the chassis to suit his riding style. They later did, but not during his time.

Zarco rode all the MotoGP minus the Aprilia. I am pretty certain he will bring some value to Honda. I would have liked that he had remained at Pramac, but again, he said that Ducati was slow to make their intentions clear. So he chose to leave before it was too late.

At Motegi, he was 2 seconds faster than the guys at the front before he went hydroplaning. He was 6th. Who knows what could have happened.

Well, we will see.

As a development rider one of the most basic skills required is to be able to adjust your riding style to what you are riding. A change to a bike might be faster, but it may require riding in a different way to make it faster. A prime example of this is Binder. He has adjusted his style to what the KTM wants, and is seriously fast because of it.

Some test riders are not as fast, but they are good at figuring out what works and what doesn't. Being fast helps as a tester, but it is clearly not required.

I wish Zarco luck at Honda, but it is probably good that he won a race before going there.

[LowRyter]

@GuzziMoto  Zarco was on KTM at the very beginning of their entry.  There might've been lots of reasons.  Perhaps slow development or ignoring his input.   He is a different category of rider for sure, considering his unpredictable results positive and negative. 

[GuzziMoto]

33 minutes ago, LowRyter said:

@GuzziMoto  Zarco was on KTM at the very beginning of their entry.  There might've been lots of reasons.  Perhaps slow development or ignoring his input.   He is a different category of rider for sure, considering his unpredictable results positive and negative. 

It was 2019, KTM was already in their third year.

They were clearly still developing, but some here are saying that Zarco is a great development rider. So he should not have had an issue with that. 

Zarco's team mate at KTM that year, Pol Espargaro, was 11th for the season in points with a best finish of 6th. And Pol was really putting in the effort, trying to make the KTM the best it could be. Where as the best finish for Zarco was 10th, he wasn't putting in the effort the way Pol was. His partial year there was clearly lackluster and a failure. He was unable to ride the KTM. The one thing I will give him credit for there was that he didn't just phone in the rest of the season. Once he realized he was not going to be able to do anything on the KTM he made a deal to leave midway through the season. I respect that, some would have just rode around at the back to finish the season and get paid. The Honda he is going to ride is a lot like that KTM was. So I am not optimistic about his prospects at LCR Honda. Maybe he will do better, but maybe not.

Side note, it would be funny if LCR signed with KTM for 2025 after their contract with Honda is up at the end of 2024.

[p6x]

11 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

They were clearly still developing, but some here are saying that Zarco is a great development rider. So he should not have had an issue with that.

Zarco stated that he was told in no uncertain terms that KTM (Pit Beirer) wanted to continue with the chassis which they finally ditched later on. This chassis was the complete opposite of his riding style, and he quickly understood that KTM was not going to make any of the changes he wanted. This is what lead to his resignation from the team. After a little while he knew that he would never be able to ride such a chassis. Interestingly, KTM abandoned that chassis which Ducati also had renounced to before.

If you read what Miller said about the new carbon fiber chassis introduced recently, he actually praised that the bike was now a lot easier to turn than before.

Now, what is the definition of a good development pilot? simply the ability to properly describe what should be improved on the bike, to make it more homogeneous and suitable to all pilots. Unlike the RCV which was modeled around Marc Marquez requirements. 

Let's see how Honda improves the RCV while Zarco rides for LCR. This should be our tattletale. From what I read, one of the reason Honda picked Zarco was exactly for that reason. If they believe he can help, I think they know more than we do. Gigi Dall'Igna gave him a job when he thought he was going back to Moto2. This should also support that he had a good reputation for testing, since this is what he did for Ducati until recently. Now that he has signed for Honda, he no longer has to check new parts.

[p6x]

It looks like Jorge Martin is giving Francesco Bagnaia a run for his money. At least for the sprint races. Tomorrow's race will be interesting.

Now only 18 points between them, and Jorge seems to be coming on top each time. Especially during qualifying which is so important. Starting sixth for Pecco presents a lot of adverse parameters.

 

[GuzziMoto]

The main race was a great race. Shame about Binder losing a spot for that minor touch of the green. But it was still a great race. Good job by Martin, but Bagnia is doing what he needs to so far. It will be a good race to the title I suspect.

[LaGrasta]

Being a Binder fan, that was an amazing, breathtaking race to watch, wow!

[p6x]

A recap of yesterday's free and practice at Sepang... (you will need to click the link as Dorna does not allow the YouTube video to be embedded here)

Nice to see that Alex Marquez is doing the job on the Gresini Ducati, even if only on the single lap. Jorge Martin is as expected, up there, and fast overall. Same for Francesco Bagnaia who seems to always need some warming up before challenging. Everything being relative since the differences are in tens of second.

Miller managed to remind us that he is still a force to be reckoned with. Brad Binder is showing consistency, in the same way Jorge Martin does.

Honda is still looking for a successor to Marc Marquez; nobody has a clue who it will ultimately be. They seem to have ruled out a Moto2 pilot; that does not leave much of a choice. While DiGiannantonio seems to be the only one, they are possibly looking at poaching someone who has a valid contract for 2024; Maverick Viñales is a name that keeps coming up; Pol Espargaro was also mentioned.

Speaking of Marc Marquez, it seems obvious, at least to me, that he will be performing on the GP23; if we only take for example how Alex Marquez made the jump in quality when switching from LCR to Gresini.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CI_GOdL7cg&t=158s

 

[p6x]

Sprint race recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3bliB8vGY8

The battle between JM and FB is heating up.

[p6x]

Main race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66o6I94xYSM

Interesting race where the incumbents are taking a step back.

[GuzziMoto]

That was a great race by Bagnia. He did what he needed to do, no more / no less. He did not risk throwing it away trying for more then he needed. And those were some aggressive passes to re-pass Martin when he passed Bagnia. It was exactly what he needed to do.

Sad to see such a bad day for the Apes. Odd to see Miller be first KTM, even before Binder went down. But most of all, glad to see Bastianini show his stuff. The Beast is back (I hope).

[p6x]

@GuzziMoto

I am scratching my head to understand what is happening with Jorge Martin's sudden loss of competitiveness; not going to get into conspiracy theory, but he went from invincible on sprint races.... to a shadow of itself. Bagnaia is still constant in how he performs.

We are seeing Fabio DiGiannantonio with strong showings over the last races and practices.

I was almost convinced Jorge Martin, in its past/current form was going to ace it to the title, but it seems that something clipped his wings. He seems to have lost all the confidence he had shown up to recently.

By the way, that tire pressure penalty system is the kind of rule that will make me stop watching MotoGP. We have had several riders called for "low pressure" during races, they are now exposed to being penalized if it happens again. So what happens on the race track may not reflect reality.

This kind of stuff is what deters people from getting an interest!

Let's discuss the rumors:

-Luca Marini to Honda as Marquez replacement: seems like VR46 would not object to it, giving that the replacement "if", would be Fermin Aldeguer, and the financial penalty to break his 2024 contract with the Speed Up Moto2 team would be born by Honda.

-Jack Miller to lose his factory ride to Pedro Acosta: Pit Beirer's said "at this time", we are not considering it; which means it is not completely off the table.

-Jorge Martin to replace Enea Bastianini in the factory team; it seems a strong possibility.

-Fabio Digiannantonio: too little too late? he seemed to be the sole choice for Honda 2024. Honda is looking around since they know they have a fall back plan.

 

[p6x]

From minus 7 to minus 21....

Martin said his rear tire was the culprit. He was lapping 1 second slower than the front men. Curiously, Bagnaia had a similar issue during the Sprint race.

Unless something drastic happens, Martin is out of the title chase in Valencia.

How could tires be not uniform across the board? surely Michelin test each and every of them for defects before they are released.

 

[Tomchri]

And do we like FG #49 was ordered to go to mapping 8, NO.

Cheers Tom.

[Lucky Phil]

3 hours ago, p6x said:

From minus 7 to minus 21....

Martin said his rear tire was the culprit. He was lapping 1 second slower than the front men. Curiously, Bagnaia had a similar issue during the Sprint race.

Unless something drastic happens, Martin is out of the title chase in Valencia.

How could tires be not uniform across the board? surely Michelin test each and every of them for defects before they are released.

 

They do but they can't control what the teams do with them. All heat cycles on the warmers are monitored and logged. A tyre thats been on the warmers and done a cycle is not as good as a fresh tyre with zero heat cycles on it, etc. Slightly too hot setting on the warmer? Tyre is junk. This is how stupid MotoGP is getting,. Becoming like F1. Aero, suspension jacking it's all going down a blind alley just like F1.

 

Phil