MotoGP

[p6x]

51 minutes ago, LowRyter said:

I'd guess that Indy is the only track that could hold a GP as just a date.  I'm not sure that Montreal or Mexico F1 tracks would be acceptable.  I suppose Sears Pt, Laguna and Barber are too short but either would be great.

Don't know much about Indy, I am not certain it is still suited to MotoGP today. I don't know if Flatrock can be certified for MotoGP quickly...

[GuzziMoto]

While there were a number of MotoGP racers at the WSBK test, they were all on basically streetbikes. So comparing times between them and the WSBK regulars is meaningless. But it is interesting to me that they were there. 

On another forum one of the members went to the test, found that admission was free, and for a nominal fee he was able to procure paddock admission. It sounds like it was a good time. The paddock was more of a typical WSBK paddock, with much more access to the racers then you get in a MotoGP paddock. I think MotoGP could learn something from WSBK. On that note, I hear the guys that run MotoGP were in LA for the A2 round of Supercross. It seems they may also have something to learn from Supercross.

While it is not that close to me, my favorite option for a second round in the US for MotoGP is still Road America. That would be epic. Yes, I know it would take a lot of work to bring that track up to FIM standards. Currently the only tracks that meet FIM standards or are close aside from COTA are Laguna Seca and Indy. The Flatrock track might get there, but it doesn't look like the layout is anywhere close to being as cool as Road America.

[p6x]

@GuzziMoto

Seeing Valentino Rossi on a R1 again was sufficient an excuse to go there. The Marquez brothers did not install transponders on their bikes, so we don't know how they fared with the other GP pilots. However, they both stopped to provide assistance to Franco Morbidelli after he had a big crash that brought the red flag.

Seems like Andrea Iannone had more trouble than he expected to get at the front. Toprak seems to have taken on the BMW pretty well. Bautista is now riding with additional weight on his bike, just like they do in horse races. The more you win, the more additional weight you get; they call it a "handicap".

Let's hope this does not come to MotoGP...

 

[PJPR01]

Dare I say it…it’s probably sacrilege but Moto GP seems to have become boring. I hope there is more of a story in this year’s upcoming season, but it seems to have lost its luster…

 

[p6x]

7 minutes ago, PJPR01 said:

Dare I say it…it’s probably sacrilege but Moto GP seems to have become boring. I hope there is more of a story in this year’s upcoming season, but it seems to have lost its luster…

 

I feel the same. Since VR46 exited, I can't garner much interest. Maybe the Ducati made the expected outcome too predictable.

This year, with Mark Marquez able to fight "à armes égales", there should be some more suspense. 

It is also going to be interesting to follow Pedro Acosta's progression. Although, it takes now one year to completely master the current MotoGP bikes; I am talking about what riders have to operate during the race, especially the suspensions. It is like in F1 now. They continuously need to fiddle with the settings. It takes a lot of practice to not fumble with it.

 

[GuzziMoto]

29 minutes ago, p6x said:

@GuzziMoto

Seeing Valentino Rossi on a R1 again was sufficient an excuse to go there. The Marquez brothers did not install transponders on their bikes, so we don't know how they fared with the other GP pilots. However, they both stopped to provide assistance to Franco Morbidelli after he had a big crash that brought the red flag.

Seems like Andrea Iannone had more trouble than he expected to get at the front. Toprak seems to have taken on the BMW pretty well. Bautista is now riding with additional weight on his bike, just like they do in horse races. The more you win, the more additional weight you get; they call it a "handicap".

Let's hope this does not come to MotoGP...

 

Toprak is taking to the BMW real well. That is true. At this point the only concern left for BMW is can they manage tire life. That has historically been a weak point for them. 

I am fine with the weight rule they implemented this year. I think it is the least they could do, and think that partially taking away Bautista's weight advantage only puts him closer to where his talent would have put him without his weight advantage. And I would like to see a similar rule in MotoGP. They already have combined minimum weight for Moto3 and Moto2, so it already is in the series. In my opinion a combined minimum weight only makes things even, it takes away the advantage a lighter rider has with just a minimum weight for the bike. With out the combined minimum rule a lighter rider has several advantages, including a better power to weight ratio and better fuel economy (which is actually really important when they limit how much fuel you can use). It also means better tire life, and less load on the brakes. If a lighter racer can't run as fast as a heavier racer with a combined minimum weight he just isn't as good as the heavier racer and was only relying on his advantages from being lighter.

[GuzziMoto]

19 minutes ago, p6x said:

I feel the same. Since VR46 exited, I can't garner much interest. Maybe the Ducati made the expected outcome too predictable.

This year, with Mark Marquez able to fight "à armes égales", there should be some more suspense. 

It is also going to be interesting to follow Pedro Acosta's progression. Although, it takes now one year to completely master the current MotoGP bikes; I am talking about what riders have to operate during the race, especially the suspensions. It is like in F1 now. They continuously need to fiddle with the settings. It takes a lot of practice to not fumble with it.

 

The last few seasons have been pretty exciting in MotoGP. Ever since the fall of Marc Marquez it has been good exciting racing in MotoGP. The only downside is here in the US we have reduced TV coverage of MotoGP.

I would like to see aero restrictions and the adjustable ride height devices banned. They have hurt the racing a little.

I suspect with the concessions made for Yamaha and Honda they will be back in the mix before this season is over. They really bent over backwards for Yamaha and Honda.

[p6x]

The Sepang tests have ended.

The track lap record was beaten by several pilots.

The real surprise was Pedro Acosta. There's a saying in French that goes:

-"Aux âmes bien nées, la valeur n'attend point le nombre des années", from Pierre Corneille (link to Wiki).

The two 2023 protagonists were pitted again on each other. Bagnaia versus Martin for a repeat of 2023 with a different outcome?

They are saying the 2024 Ducati is very much different from the 2023 model, than the 2023 from the 2022. Especially the engine.

I did not get a good idea of where the Japanese are now. Improved seems to be the consensus.

All teams were testing their new aero packages since they have to freeze one before the season starts.

No feel for how well or how bad Mark Marquez is doing. He admitted that after 11 years of riding a Honda, he needed to return to school.

See you next month!

[GuzziMoto]

Yeah, I think it was four guys (all Ducati's) under the lap record. I think AP on the Ape was fifth, but I could be mis-remembering.

Testing often doesn't mean too much, that is the point of testing. Teams with more ground to make up tend to spend more time during testing actually testing different things, so their times can be misleading. But I do expect with the massive concessions given to Honda and Yamaha they will be there by the end of this season. Marc Marquez showed he was certainly close enough to the front on the Ducati. But he also showed that he is not likely to be the dominant force he has been in the past on the Honda. Even if he is winning, it will likely be a closer race as he will be on basically the same machine as half the other front runners where as in the past he was on a different bike with different characteristics. Also, times have changed, and the competition is super tight in lap times. Be 4 or 5 tenths off and you may not be in Q2.

[p6x]

The Qatar two days testing ended yesterday;

What have we learned?

The Ducati are still the top machinery to beat. Even if Jorge Martin said he experienced rear shattering. Marc Marquez hid his real potential, or so think some of the specialized media. He tested the limits of his GP23 by going down yesterday.

The KTM are not far behind the Ducati, and Pedro Acosta appears to be as good as what was expected from him. His chief mechanic said he has already mastered all the button pushes that are required to make the most of the ride height system.

The Aprilia look to be fast when needed, but is it just for the one lap?

Honda and Yamaha are still far from the top. It will be interesting to see how quickly they recover, if they recover this year.

[GuzziMoto]

Yeah, as they say "The more things change the more they stay the same".

From what I hear from Marc, he is struggling to adapt. But even "struggling" he is still fast and not far off the top. He was what, under 4 tenths from the top? Not sure that is sandbagging. But time will tell.

Raul Fernandez seemed to be the standout kid in this round of testing. He was 5th fastest. And second fastest Ape. Interesting, the top 6 were 3 Ducs and 3 Apes. Of course, the top 10 were 6 Ducatis, 3 Apes, and a KTM. So Ducati still has the advantage of numbers and likely the best bike.

I did see a top speed chart and it seemed to show that the Yamaha was only a click or two down from the fastest top speeds and better then many. So it seems Yamaha has resolved their speed deficit but are still slow. Maybe Fabio was wrong to focus so much on top speed. But time will tell (again).

[p6x]

On 2/21/2024 at 10:19 AM, GuzziMoto said:

So it seems Yamaha has resolved their speed deficit but are still slow. Maybe Fabio was wrong to focus so much on top speed. But time will tell (again).

From the latest interviews with Fabio and Yamaha team manager, the long time recurring issue of rear grip prevents Fabio from getting a good time with the soft tire. According to his latest declaration, he only managed a few tens' improvement between a used medium tire and a new soft. While he is relatively comfortable with the race pace, he says that starting from the back of the grid automatically excludes him from competing for the top positions.

As for Marc Marquez, I am not worried at all about him being competitive. He may not race for the podium initially, but he will get there. Also, because Enea Bastianini's continuation inside the Ducati factory team is not guaranteed, unlike that of Bagnaia who's going to be signed in early this season. It is no secret that Jorge Martin wants that spot, but I am wondering if Marc Marquez could also be a candidate. After all, we know the money is not what drives him. He wants that ninth and possibly tenth championship.

Another possibility is Fabio Quartararo, who clearly said he was not going to wait for Yamaha to sort their M1 longer than the first quarter. Hopefully, Ducati is not going to poach every best rider of the MotoGP.

[GuzziMoto]

23 hours ago, p6x said:

From the latest interviews with Fabio and Yamaha team manager, the long time recurring issue of rear grip prevents Fabio from getting a good time with the soft tire. According to his latest declaration, he only managed a few tens' improvement between a used medium tire and a new soft. While he is relatively comfortable with the race pace, he says that starting from the back of the grid automatically excludes him from competing for the top positions.

As for Marc Marquez, I am not worried at all about him being competitive. He may not race for the podium initially, but he will get there. Also, because Enea Bastianini's continuation inside the Ducati factory team is not guaranteed, unlike that of Bagnaia who's going to be signed in early this season. It is no secret that Jorge Martin wants that spot, but I am wondering if Marc Marquez could also be a candidate. After all, we know the money is not what drives him. He wants that ninth and possibly tenth championship.

Another possibility is Fabio Quartararo, who clearly said he was not going to wait for Yamaha to sort their M1 longer than the first quarter. Hopefully, Ducati is not going to poach every best rider of the MotoGP.

Yeah, Fabio was demanding more power while Cal Crutchlow (their test rider) was saying they have enough power but they can't get their power to the ground. It seems Cal was at least partially right, adding even more power didn't help their pace. They just have more grip issues then before while having higher speeds down the straights. That might work at some tracks, but mostly not. They lack both in electronics to manage their grip and physical chassis to get that grip. Adding more power to a chassis that already has more power then it can use is usually a waste of time.

I would give Marc time to adapt to the Ducati before worrying about his next seat. He might end up back at Honda for all we know. 

[p6x]

11 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

He might end up back at Honda for all we know. 

I don't believe he will go back to Honda, beyond the promise that he may. That page has been turned, and doing back and forth is probably not the best path forward. Once he masters his current ride, he will most likely want to capitalize on it, rather than starting again from scratch with a bike which is now growing apart from him.

I may be proven wrong, but it seems logical to me that now that he has committed to Ducati, he should persevere. Even if Ducati keep saying that Marc Marquez is a bonus, but not an option as they have their "own" riders, and they don't really need him.

I was following on Phillp Island WSBK, and Iannone did pretty well for someone who was inactive for a long time. Bautista and Rea, not so well... I am seeing some analogy between Rea and Marquez. Once you have won multiple times, it may be too much of a challenge to motivate yourself to do it again. But in the case of Marc, I think it is obvious that he has the motivation to at least equal VR46 in the number of the championships won.

I always thought that he did what he did in 2015 to prevent VR46 to get one more, furthering away the goal post.

[GuzziMoto]

I don't think it is very likely that Marc goes back to Honda, only pointing out that it is possible. I did not come up with that idea, I am only repeating what others have speculated. Him leaving Honda might have been the kick required to get Honda to develop their bike. It really isn't that far off, Unfortunately, the field is so close that a bike that is half a second to a second off is no where.

He may stay where he is at Ducati, either on the same team or move to another Ducati team. But it is important to remember that he chose to only sign for one year. While perhaps he had an eye towards the factory Ducati team at the end of that one year, it seems unlikely they would sign him. Maybe he could get a seat at a different Ducati team, maybe even a seat at Pramac running a current spec Ducati. But a seat on the factory Ducati team seems unlikely. That said, you never know. He could also go somewhere else, like KTM or Aprilia. I would love to see him on either of those. Frankly, Ducati needs Marc at another team to give them some credibility when they win.

I think the deal with Rea demonstrates the risks of going to a different brand bike. Much as Marc is struggling somewhat to adapt to the Ducati from the Honda, Rea is struggling to adapt to the Yamaha after years on the Kawasaki. Rea didn't forget how to go fast, but going fast is a combination of rider and bike. If the rider and the bike don't find that happy point the speed isn't there. Rea is struggling more then Marc is, but neither has found that happy point yet. I would think both will find it, but it is possible that one or both of them never do.

I won't say I disagree with your take on what Marc did in 2015, but I suspect there was more to it then that. Those two don't like each other.

It was great to see Crazy Joe Iannone do well his first race in WSBK. I was pretty sure he would. He is talented, more talented then Bautista in my opinion. That said, Bautista did not do bad. He had a bad race 1, but on Sunday he did better. If he would stop whining about carrying a little extra weight (he still has a noticeable weight advantage over most everyone else) and just focus on his riding it might help. That said, I don't rate him nearly as high as I rate Iannone.