Excellent to see the four Dukes take to the lead on the first lap of the first round at Qatar, and keep it that way for a good while. But maybe the Yams had been doing a bit of hustling in pre-race 'cos they shot out later to stick with the Dukes down the straight, which was a bit surprising. Maybe they've been working on engine reliability and had Vignales switch to some outrageous engine mode. They (the Yams) and the Suzis also displayed really quick handling compared to the cruise missile Dukes.
Great race and it was very nice to see a Yam get up! Bit of a pity for Mir to miss second on the Suzie, but the Zarco and Bagnaia Dukes had been pretty consistent and had worked hard for their second and third spots.
Mir, who missed second spot by running a bit wide on the last corner and having Zarco and Bagnaia fly past for second and third, may well turn on the firework for the next round as may just about everyone else!
I reckon last season was one of the best ever and this one seem to be very much in the same class so far.
Tires and fuel. Everyone chose the same tires, soft front and rear and have the same amount of fuel on board. The Ducs were punishing their rear tires early as they tried to break away then they had to cut power to have enough fuel to finish the race. Now everyone gets to try again on Sunday. Free practice starts in a few hours.
Sensational racing in round two!!! The Dukes played a great strategy (well, and made the best of a mixed start) - but the Yams had the force with them! How good was Martin, eh!?!? Excellent! Cool customer that fella!
The Duke managed to control the pace really well, which can easily be seen from the bunching of the first 10 riders over the line.
Pity Jack got stroppy. Otherwise I reckon he would have done much better. But good to see the two collisions attracted no repercussions. Lucky (for Jack) decision that one lolololol.
Watching all that was almost as good as a hard ride!
Jack does not like being pushed around, not even by last year's champion. Happy to see no fines involved. I did see a report that he will be having the anti arm-pump surgery before Portugal.
Round three and there were six manufacturers represented in the first seven to come over the line. Sensational! Can't help thinking that this might have been a pretty good warm-up for Marquez. Might be a few sparks flying in round four!!!
Just finished watching round four. As an Aussie I'm stoked! Well done Jack!
Will roll the video again to see why Quarteraro fell back from the lead so quickly.
Great to see the Dukes get 1st AND 2nd!
Looking forward to watching what can only be a very encouraged Ducati team in the next round.
I had a feeling a while ago that Marc would have a bit of trouble in coming to terms with mere-mortality. He still put in a pretty good effort though (any effort at this level is great) - especially after a couple of reasonably big crashes leading up to the race.
And how good was Taka-san??? He showed some pretty big kahoonies!!!!!
I'm not by nature a gambling man, but any bets (prior to round 5) as to which brand will win the season?
Quartararo got severe arm pump and had surgery on Monday. As a further note, Jack has already had the surgery this season. Le Mans is this weekend.
MOTOGP in Germany! Marc Marquez is BACK! Very good showing for KTM, and Aprillia showing that they have arrived for sure. Keep eyes on the "lesser" classes, as there are some very promising riders moving up the "mountain".
Ye, it was a good race for Marc. But I can't help thinking he is long shot from his former self. That could change.
"Keep eyes on the "lesser" classes, as there are some very promising riders moving up the "mountain". " Yeah, Wayne Gardner's son is definitely one for the Aussies amongst us to keep an eye on! He's doing really well.
Remy Gardner has signed with Tech3/Herve Poncheral, which are KTM satellite team. This is a very good step for him as Tech3 have a history of being at the sharp end of the pack, and 'training' riders' for the factory teams. KTM is on the move. Just keep an eye on Miguel Olivera and Brad Binder as they looked very good in this last race.
Wonder who will get Pedro Acosta? He currently has a big lead in Moto3 points, has won a race from a pit road start and won in Germany in a last lap scrum.
If you want something you have to make move for it. At least ask for it. The secret 'negotiations' going on are not seen by us mere mortals, but with a resume like Pedro's we can be sure there is some scrambling going on behind the scenes. Tech3/KTM would be a good start for a step up to Moto2 and beyond. Looking forward to he MotoGP 'silly season' when there is a lot of shuffling of riders/teams.
The silly season is here. Vinales is leaving Yamaha at the end of this season. Rossi's team VR46 will be fielding 2 Ducatis, making 8 on the grid. Rossi could be on one and his brother Luca Marini on the other. That leaves 2 Yamaha seats. Morbidelli who just had knee surgery is under contract with Petronas through next year. It would be a nice gesture if he got Rossi's 2021 M1 when he returns.
Since this is the spoiler thread, don't read the next post unless you want to know the result.
I did warn you. the race started on a dry track with a rain threat. The Ducatis took the lead with Mir in the mix, Vinales and Quartararo were scrapping for 5-6 when Pedrosa crashed and was run into by Savadori, fiery crash and red flag. Pedroso ok, Savadori possible broken ankle. Restart from original grid positions minus Savatori. Ducatis again in front but this time Jack Miller and Jorge Martin. Vinales stalled his bike and had to start from pit road. Marquez had another run in with Aliex Espargaro, unlikely to exchange cards this Christmas. Quartararo is around 4th. Martin, who was on pole got around Miller for the lead then Mir got Miller. Next came Quartararo but Miller was not done and he came back on Quartararo. But he forgot that a Ducati cannot corner with a Yamaha and he crashed with 7 laps to go. Zarco probably felt happy with 4th but got passed by Binder and Nakagami on the last lap. Vinales finished last. He said they changed his clutch between starts and that's why he stalled. Yamaha aren't messing with him, are they? Also Rossi is retiring at the end of the season. Anyone want to ride a YZR-M1? Petronas has 2 open seats for 2022. Same track next weekend.
Very good summary, Walt. I was rather surprised by Martin, a rookie. I think he has a future in MotoGP, and he will have some competition from some Moto2 graduates. There seems to be lots of clever and talented riders coming up through the classes, and some maybe not so clever riders fading and making room for the new guys.
Six weeks was a long time to wait but over now and Styria was an exciting race. We get another next week too!
Walt and Fret Not have summed the race up well.
But also of interest was to see "Peddles" Pedrosa in there as a wild-card, and he did pretty well for a fella who hasn't really raced for quite some time.
Very off-topic now but we went into a lockdown thingo here a few day ago. Can't really go bike riding so I was glad to pick up an order of neck bearings and fork seals to go on an XF650 Suzi 'Freewind' I use to play around with (read; learn what goes wrong and how to stop it going wrong) for multi-angle camera-work. The bike was OK when I got it but had been ridden its 60,000K's on dead-straight roads over in Western Australia before being shipped here to the East Coast. Needless to say, the steering was centre-notchy as blazes. I finished fitting the new bits today and fixed both of its broken plastic headlight adjusters using that super-useful epoxy putty stuff. I'll bolt everything back together tomorrow.
It's a bit of an oddball bike, being Suzuki's quick response to the first BMW 650 GS. Has a DR650 mill but with a twin 32mm carb head. Goes well, but not really the ideal bike for camerawork because of the HUGE engine vibrations from the big single motor. Those (the vibrations) have been the biggest problem but by mounting cams on nothing but the frame I'm managing to get decent footage now - which is kinda contrary to what I had expected. Have also tried a single-axis gyro (like some of the the MotoGP cams) and that kinda works, but it gets a bit confused sometimes.
I'll try to find a way (other than 3rd party providers) to serve some footage up for you folks soon.
And on another off-topc topic;
The authorititties here include alcoholic drinks as 'essentials' - things you can go out and buy in a 'lockdown'. So I bought a few 'essential' boxes of beer yesterday and am enjoying some 'essential' drinking as I write this. Now all I have to do is convince them that riding motorcycles is also 'essential'!
What a great race! Exciting from start to finish with a HUGE surprise at the end!
When God pisses on a race it sure makes for fun!
Well, this one was kind of boring. Kept waiting for the predicted crash fest. My only prediction was the winner.
It is a wonder that there were no more crashes than there were, considering how squirrly some of those bikes got as they crested hills. I watched for the views from the cameras on the bikes to see the picture bounce and shake. It looked to me that there were bumps on entering some turns, and cresting hills. That combined with 300 horsepower is frighteningly imaginable. Seeing some bikes wiggle and shake from the forces involved I might have bad dreams after thinking about that. It is much safer from my computer chair.
For those who did not watch or care who won at the season finale in Valencia, it was Bagnaia, Jorge Martin and Miller then Mir and Quartararo. Rossi, in his final MotoGp finale got a respectable 10th. M. Marquez missed the last round due to his previous injury and double vision.
I wonder how soon we will see more power from other than Ducati. Since Ducati now is able to turn they have become the "best" bike on the track as they have a bit more raw power than any other bike. The tests that happen between now and the first race will be where we see if anyone has made progress in that area.
KTM seem to have hit a pause in their march to the top, but I look for more improvement from them. They are very serious about getting to the top, so I look forward to their efforts in the coming season. I think 'the Indian' is more important than the arrow, but it really helps to have a good arrow.
Will Yamaha bring more power? Will Suzuki? And what about Aprillia? And Honda?
They're testing at Jerez tomorrow and Friday so we may learn something. What is interesting to me is how the Ducatis are able to make all that power for the whole race on the same amount of fuel. I seem to remember last year they had to dial back the power in order to finish and late in the races the Yamahas and Suzukis were as fast as the Ducatis. Don't know if Videopass is covering the test but Crashnet should have updates.
Thanks, Walt.
Walt SAID; "...dial back the power in order to finish and late in the races the Yamahas and Suzukis were as fast as the Ducatis..."
Engine output is simply dialed-in BUT a number of factors influence when it may be appropriate to do so; Engine reliability, tire wear, marketing considerations, rideability, fuel consumption etc. And all of these can be overidden on a case-by-case basis.
Walt and Fret undoubtedly know all this but it is still worth mentioning for folks who might not, and hopefully to stimulate further discussion and learn more.
The first day is over and nothing earth-shattering. Honda had a new bike and Nakagami was fastest on it, followed by 3 Ducatis. Don't know how Marquez will like it. Conditions were not ideal, windy but tomorrow may be different.