MotoGP Discussion (SPOILERS!)

[Paul_E_D]

Maverick showing some potential in FP1!

[MUZ720]

Mavericks lighting fast when the stars aline but there has never been more of a true head case in the paddock. Especially if he gets a bad start on race day..

[OreoGaborio]

Was Mav ever known to be a headcase before the spectacular deterioration of his relationship w/ Yamaha? How consistent were his results before then? I don't remember him being all that mentally fragile but then again I haven't been following that closely long enough to remember what he was like before his relationship with Yamaha began to crumble.

I said it when I heard the news that he was going to be reunited with Aleix... now that he's getting out of that toxic Yamaha relationship, now that he's grown and matured a bit and become a father, I think his headspace will be much more clear and the consistency will follow so long as the bike is there... I don't know that he'll be a FRONT runner, but I do think last week was a preview of what's to come and he's going to benefit from all the work that Aprilia & Aleix have been putting in for the past few years.

[MUZ720]

Great question. Not sure about his Suzuki days or before he was in motogp. Just his all to public breakdown with Yamaha.

[MUZ720]

Maybe he just needed to be back with his Spanish compodray? Or away form the Frenchman?

[OreoGaborio]

Well the impression I got was that Mav expected to be treated as an equal to F Quat... And what happened seemed to be the opposite of that. It was as if they used him as a test bitch.

At least at Aprilia, he knows his role and SEEMS to be enjoying himself.

[Philkinson]

I did NOT realize that rider values change after each session...

[OreoGaborio]

after each SESSION?!

Naw, those are the value changes after last ROUND.

EDIT: Side note, I like that I'm in 3rd place in the NESR league with the lowest value team and 4th place in the NEMRR league with the second lowest value team

[Philkinson]

I stand corrected

[MUZ720]

Ducati rules the day. Aprilia? Ktms are lost. Suzuki big disappointment. Yamaha one man show along with Honda. Hard to get an understanding of who has a better race setup. No one did any long runs. Should be interesting race day. Feel like a surprise winner will emerge.

[Paul_E_D]

Ducati rules the day. Aprilia? Ktms are lost. Suzuki big disappointment. Yamaha one man show along with Honda. Hard to get an understanding of who has a better race setup. No one did any long runs. Should be interesting race day. Feel like a surprise winner will emerge.

I think ribs is a dark horse to win. Marc too.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[Philkinson]

LET'S GO CAM!!

[gixxer72]

Great race. Incredible ride by MM.

EB23 on course to take Miller’s factory ride next year (hopefully)? The Suzuki’s looked great, pumped Rins kept it on two wheels and beat Miller.

[TheIglu]

We get any word on what happened to MM on the start? Something was WAY wrong there.

[OreoGaborio]

FFFFFFFFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHK!!! I went "all in" and doubled up Marquez... The start lights go out & I was already cryin before they even made it to T1. That was one HELLUVA race from Marc but I only got 18 bonus points out of it and slipped from 4th to 7th in the NEMRR league.

As for his start, the commentators were saying it could've been the Pit Lane speed limiter was activated but after watching/listening to his on-board a couple of times it sounded almost as if his clutch was all knackered...

[TheIglu]

I wonder if it was electronics (surely they all have launch control?) or it was a mechanical clutch issue.

[Philkinson]

Great race. Incredible ride by MM.

EB23 on course to take Miller’s factory ride next year (hopefully)? The Suzuki’s looked great, pumped Rins kept it on two wheels and beat Miller.

I hope Miller keeps his seat. He'll probably lose is due to popularity/not an Italian on an Italian bike, but the results so far show Miller would be the one two retain his seat.
Miller Ret ,4,14,3
Bagnia Ret,15,5,5

Not exactly jaw dropping performances from Pecco either.

What the FUCK with Morbidelli? Any news on him?

[MUZ720]

What the FUCK with Morbidelli? Any news on him?

Had high hopes for him this year?? Made the call to drop him from my Fantasy team.. Not sure its all his fault the team and bike has issues...

[JettaJayGLS]

The pieces are starting to come together for me now regarding Yamaha: including Vinales, Franky, and Fabio

1) The Yamaha kind of sucks. Fabio is a special talent that can make it work sometimes, and is a fighter that fights for every position. But he only has 1 podium this year and is seemingly shopping around for a new team. I think the writing is on the wall for Yamaha.
2) The Yamaha doesn't work in traffic. It needs its own lines. Fabio's special talent let him weather the storm long enough until the track cleared out, but Maverick didn't possess this ability and got eaten up. With clear track Maverick was just as good.
3) I don't think Maverick is as much of a headcase as we all made him out to be. Fabio is the 1 in a million rider that can ride around Yamaha's problems and is (was?) happy doing so. On the other hand, Maverick was pissed that they weren't able to fix the problems, which started a downward spiral with the team. Instead of listening to feedback, they just said, "well Fabio can win." This isn't right. This is the Honda story: one rider making people think the bike is good until that rider stops getting results or gets injured and now everyone finally sees the truth. If Fabio leaves, everyone will say the Yamaha sucks.
4) Franky made it look even worse for Maverick by getting results on a 2019 bike in 2020. However, that 2019 bike was seemingly better. Franky hasn't done anything on the 2021 or 2022 bike and people are starting to "get mad at him" for not getting results like everyone shit on Maverick.
5) Why the hell did they give Dovi a seat? He has the worst possible riding style for that bike. Is he paying them or bringing sponsors?

Does Yamaha have to abandon the inline 4? In the Michelin era, they gotta do something different. It sounds like the factory just doesn't really care anymore.

Caveat: we aren't in Europe yet - that could change everything

[JettaJayGLS]

While I'm at it...a couple of thoughts on Ducati.

1) I think Pecco is a phenomenal rider in good conditions - maybe even the best in MotoGP. However, he can't hold it together when anything isn't as it should be. At COTA, I don't think he could handle the bumps.
2) I think Jack is the polar opposite. He is a champ at taking whatever is thrown at him with a smile. That's why I like Jack so much. I don't think he's as good technically as Pecco, Enea, or Martin, but he's still my favorite. No excuses. Straight shooter. Funny. Talented in a scrappy sort of way.
3) Enea is a special talent. I LOVED him in moto 3 and moto 2. We forgot about him a little bit last year on sub par machinery, which was a mistake. I think he can win the championship this year.
4) Martin is another special rider, I'd say equal with Enea. He just had better machinery last year. I think he can also win the championship this year.
5) Zarco has been outclassed in almost every race by other Ducati riders. I don't think its bad luck he hasn't won a race yet, he is just a step down on everyone of them. Might be #2 or #3 in everything, which makes him a great all rounder, but that also means he won't win a race unless his teammates crash out.

If either Jack or Pecco lose their seat, Ducati would be silly to not put them on Pramac. I think Jack has gotta stay with Ducati - in any sort of adverse conditions, he becomes the favorite and is a good shot at Ducati having someone on the podium no matter the conditions.

Same Caveat: everything could change in Europe.

[Philkinson]

Had high hopes for him this year?? Made the call to drop him from my Fantasy team.. Not sure its all his fault the team and bike has issues...

Jay summed it up pretty well. I know the bike is shit, but a he's such a talented rider.. Runner up in 2020, Moto2 champ.. So much potential. Never thought I would drop him for Maverick on an Aprilia and not regret it

[MUZ720]

Yamaha used to have the best alaround bike now not so much. But it's not the only MFG that is struggling KTM and Honda are in the same boat with Aprilia a hit or miss on any Givin Sunday. Now that the circus is back in Europe will see if hone cooking changes things. Still alot of racing left. So far it's be awesome.

[JettaJayGLS]

Yamaha used to have the best alaround bike now not so much. But it's not the only MFG that is struggling KTM and Honda are in the same boat with Aprilia a hit or miss on any Givin Sunday. Now that the circus is back in Europe will see if hone cooking changes things. Still alot of racing left. So far it's be awesome.

Aprilia is seemingly pretty consistent.
KTM is interesting - they seem to only work in a very specific set of tarmac/tire combinations. I thought they would have figured it out by now
Honda just did a MAJOR revamp. Marc and Pol are pretty competitive with it. I don't think Nakagami or Alex have the talent to get the most of that bike, but give it a couple years after such a major rehaul and maybe that will change.

Yamaha is nowhere, other than Fabio. Now that everyone else (but Suzuki) is on V4s, and the rear slick is so good, there is little they can do about it without clear track in a flowing layout. Apparently Michelin is working on making the front slick better, but I think it would be better for Yamaha if they just made the rear worse. But that isn't the game. I think they should make the front better and see what happens.

Suzuki has seemingly done well with an inline 4. They suffer similar problems as Yamaha, but not nearly as bad. Its a pretty fast bike, and I think its as simple as that.

[MUZ720]

No doubt a fast bike is key. But that has not helped KTM.. The Honda is fast but MM makes it work. Pol had one good race after that????

[loudbeard]

I hear a lot of chatter about the KTM not performing…but both of their factory riders are in the top 10 in points, Binder only 19 back from the lead, Miguel won a race. They are second in the constructors standings with 2 bikes as back markers and we’re about to head to Europe. I think they weathered the “funny part” of the schedule pretty damn well.

Amazing ride by Marc, not forgetting that Marc likely put himself in that position. Go Marc anyway!

I’ve been hoping Zarco would take the next step but I think Jay’s right, he’s just a step behind. That’s ok though, he’s still the coolest guy in the paddock.

Let’s see if Rins can put together a whole season?

The Yamaha sucks.