2019 MotoGP Discussion (No links)

Winales_2017

Winales_2017

Well-known member
Well, I guess we have a new forum and I can't be bothered to revive the old one, so I decided to make another.

Just watched Quali, missed most practice sessions this weekend, and I'm starting to think that Mav finally got his way at Yamaha and if he gets those starts down we will finally be able to see that Marc vs Mav fight we all wanted to see when he made his move from Suzuki in 2017. Ducati's look strong, as they normally do here, but did anyone see that active ride height device they have on launches? BT sports showed it after Q2 discussion and it seems like an anti-wheely device.

Marc's cheeky final run with Petrux shows why he will likely still be in the title fight; he knows he's not 100% and realizes damage limitation on a GP weekend when you're not able to go flat out is how you win titles. HRC bosses probably instilled this into him as well.

But, I just want to see Mav making him have to bring back the Marquez-style riding to be competitive in this year's season, after his shoulder is better, even if it means he doesn't win this year. The 2020 Marc will be insane coming from that.

Rossi not leaving Q1 doesn't seem like a good place to be when Quatararo went P4, and Morb coasted into Q2 on an old spec bike. I still want to see what JLO could do on that Yamaha with works backing.

JLO looked ******, it was windy for everyone, but I think the moisture for his smooth and sensitive riding style just doesn't mesh well with an aggressive HRC power delivery. He looked amazing on it during the day though and I thought he looked like contender for the front row.

Overall, I'm glad things are back and seeing Hamilton in the Petrona's garage makes me think this guy is going to pull a Schumacher and try his hand at road racing on bikes when he leaves F1.
 
F1 guys can't ride bikes...not MOTOGP ones anyways...it's a 1 way check valve
 
sid_for_speed said:
F1 guys can't ride bikes...not MOTOGP ones anyways...it's a 1 way check valve
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Competitively? I agree, the talent pool is just too high right now, but I can see HAM in Moto3/2 and maybe even as a pay rider (Abraham style) for a few races as a PR stunt, but he'd be better off in WSBK or BSB, AMA spec series. Whether he lights the World on fire is another matter entirely, but just being on the grid? Yeah, Petronas has deep pockets.

Here is Schumacher with some familiar faces after he came back to F1 and he was old an uncompetetive as he was before he was still fighting with Alonso:

 
I believe Shumi fell flat on his butt riding it, didn't he?...happens to the best of the lot for sure!
 
sid_for_speed said:
I believe Shumi fell flat on his butt riding it, didn't he?...happens to the best of the lot for sure!
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Pretty much, he was in the hospital a few times on the Fireblade he raced in a German Superbike championship. I still cannot believe what took him out was skiing of all things... but yeah, I'm just saying that if Mercedes/Petronas wanted to they could put Hamilton on the grid. It'd be a farce, but I can see it happening.

So, in other news, Silverstone will repave (parts?) the track before MotoGP races this year to get clearence from FIM to race there:

www.motorsport.com

Silverstone to be resurfaced again before F1 and MotoGP races

British Grand Prix venue Silverstone will be resurfaced again this year, following the cancellation of its 2018 MotoGP contest.
www.motorsport.com www.motorsport.com

I feel that with such a short period of time they'll be under some serious pressure to get it done, they're juggling other races on the calendar in order to get it done.

I wonder if the guys that attended last year ever got a refund and will they before the next race is held?
 
Winales_2017 said:
JLO looked **, it was windy for everyone, but I think the moisture for his smooth and sensitive riding style just doesn't mesh well with an aggressive HRC power delivery. He looked amazing on it during the day though and I thought he looked like contender for the front row.
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I thought he was surprisingly competitive on it in warmer temps, considering his lack of seat time and endless injuries. He sure is crusty about the lower temps and humidity in the evening, it is playing hell with something in his setup/style.

Am I the only one disappointed with the Moto2 sound on track? I was expecting a sweet triple howl, but they mostly sounded low revving with a heavy drone. I expect it sounds glorious in the pits with the bikes warming up in semi-confined spaces but I thought it fell flat out in the open on track. Maybe things will improve on the European tracks.

Lots of hype about the Ducati holeshot device, but the one good look we got showed it certainly didn't lock the fork down solid like the motocross versions do. It was hard to tell that it was having any effect on front suspension action from what I could see.


Mark
 
The Ducati holeshot device pre squats the rear suspension. Completely the opposite of what the dirt bike ones do. The bike almost looks like a cruiser until the back end pops up when it releases.

I have no idea how that helps it...
 
mmattockx said:
I thought he was surprisingly competitive on it in warmer temps, considering his lack of seat time and endless injuries. He sure is crusty about the lower temps and humidity in the evening, it is playing hell with something in his setup/style.

Am I the only one disappointed with the Moto2 sound on track? I was expecting a sweet triple howl, but they mostly sounded low revving with a heavy drone. I expect it sounds glorious in the pits with the bikes warming up in semi-confined spaces but I thought it fell flat out in the open on track. Maybe things will improve on the European tracks.

Lots of hype about the Ducati holeshot device, but the one good look we got showed it certainly didn't lock the fork down solid like the motocross versions do. It was hard to tell that it was having any effect on front suspension action from what I could see.


Mark
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No, you're not the only one. They sound like Indy Cars and are a step down from previous years 600 Honda. Seems like every form of racing whether 2 wheels or 4 wheels keep sounding quieter and quieter and revving lower. Disappointing. What I would do to hear an 800cc Ducati GP7/8 or a Ferrari 412 T2.
 
paparazzo said:
No, you're not the only one. They sound like Indy Cars and are a step down from previous years 600 Honda. Seems like every form of racing whether 2 wheels or 4 wheels keep sounding quieter and quieter and revving lower. Disappointing. What I would do to hear an 800cc Ducati GP7/8 or a Ferrari 412 T2.
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I barely watched moto2 in the past, so I'm not the best judge, but I do recall them revving much higher (as 600RR engine needs to be) in the races during the Honda era. Its still a boring category compared to Moto 3 or GP, but the last lap was close. I had it on the audio system and it didn't have a unique note, barely sounds any different than a moto3 note, to be honest.
 
Lightcycle said:
MMs gonna have to come up with a new bag of tricks. Dovi's got that last corner lunge up the inside covered down pat.
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Marquez style... even with destroyed rears he's going to go for it. This is exactly why he's my favorite rider. Dovi goes into what exactly that is during the press conference, too.

But honestly when I saw that Marc decided to go Medium fronts I knew he was not going to be pushing as hard as he normally does as his riding style isn't suited for anything but a hard front, as we saw for like 75% of the pace was slow, which made the Suzukis the all-stars of the race for me. Mir was pushing harder than any other rookie out there despite not being in the top charts during testing and practice and qualy. Mir is seriously going to need to be on that HRC soon than later.

Poor Fabio... completely gutted for him, but hopefully he comes back stronger for Argentina.
 
the pull-away speed on the Ducs should be dealt with
not saying with rules, but within the manus
that advantage has been apparent long enough
you'd think there would be answer to it by now

can you imagine 93 on a factory Duc?
I know he's married to Honda
but that would really be something to see
his aggression, balls-out riding style,
race strategy and then all coupled with pull away speed?
get outta here

great day for Crutchlow
was looking great for Suzuki
and an honorable mention for the old man

how many races you figure until JLO publicly blames the bike?

and don't mean to take anything away from Dovi
this could be his year
 
There is a lot that's right about the design of the Ducati V4. They nailed it. The way the other manufacturers have to deal with the Ducati's speed is to do something to their own bikes to catch up!
 
Brian P said:
There is a lot that's right about the design of the Ducati V4. They nailed it. The way the other manufacturers have to deal with the Ducati's speed is to do something to their own bikes to catch up!
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Exactly. Also Losail is the only circuit with a more than 1km straight, maybe 3-4 other tracks have nearly as long straights so no big advantage for most of the races. Ducati has always had the edge in terms of horsepower in truth though, it was Marquez who had the top speed @ 352kph, Dovi wasn't even in the top 10 @ 346.3kph so there you go.

39651
 
paparazzo said:
Ducati has always had the edge in terms of horsepower in truth though, it was Marquez who had the top speed @ 352kph, Dovi wasn't even in the top 10 @ 346.3kph so there you go.
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I remember the lap that MM hit 352 km/h, he was drafting Dovi and almost passed him at the end of the straightaway.

The reason why Dovi wasn't in the top 10 was because he was leading the entire race and drafted nobody. Well, maybe Rins a couple of times out of the last corner, but that Suzuki was lacking hp, so it didn't count for much...
 
Looks like it's going to be another Ducati vs Honda season. Seems Yamaha do not yet have their gremlins sorted out. Suzuki is showing promise but I don't think they're there yet with Honda and Ducati. KTM and Aprilia are gridfillers.
 
Chaos said:
Looks like it's going to be another Ducati vs Honda season. Seems Yamaha do not yet have their gremlins sorted out. Suzuki is showing promise but I don't think they're there yet with Honda and Ducati. KTM and Aprilia are gridfillers.
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Yep. It was a pretty ho hum race, despite the field being bunched up due to the tire issues. Maverick is still unable to ride a bike with a full fuel tank and new rubber, Rossi can't get qualifying sorted and the only question about the race was if Marquez could figure out how to make a move on Dovi stick in the last turn. No one else was really in it and that was obvious when Dovi dropped into low 53's and him and Marquez pulled away from the rest with ease.

You would think with all of Mark's MX experience he would know how to make a block pass and really mean it. Last year he could have won the race if he had simply stayed beside Dovi and ran him wide instead of shooting through the turn and allowing Dovi room to cut back under him. This year he had no chance with the move he made, Dovi had it dialed completely.


Mark
 
Lightcycle said:
MMs gonna have to come up with a new bag of tricks. Dovi's got that last corner lunge up the inside covered down pat.
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MM is finally also adding strategy to this race portfolio. The position he came in is proof of this! Honda sports psychological department has done its job!

Our Champ has gotten even better. Championship is already in the bag. Rejoice!?
 
Looks like Suzuki came to the party this year. If they did this well at a fast Qatar I wonder how they'll do at tighter tracks since the Zuke's have been known to handle well. I'm pulling for Suzuki and KTM.
 
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