2020 MotoGP Discussion (NO LINKS)

WOW what a race!
So when is KTM coming out with a SS again? I'll be first in line ;)
What a load of crap that penalty was with Zarco... what was he supposed to do?
I couldn't help but notice the Yamaha's seemed a little slower. Do you think they dialed them back to preserve further engine failure embarrassment?
 
Sebi said:
What a load of crap that penalty was with Zarco... what was he supposed to do?
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That was my first reaction too. My initial opinion was that Pol went wide and Zarco just held the racing line.

But the replay from Zarco's tail-mounted camera showed he had a full view the entire time of Pol coming back in, and the rules are that if you are not ahead of the other rider when they come back to the racing line, then you have to back off. It was pretty clear Zarco would still be behind Espargaro when he came back in, and because of that, Pol had no idea there would be another motorcycle there waiting to kick his wheels out from under him.

Zarco was at fault.
 
yup
from an armchair perceptive I saw Zarco do nothing wrong
it's not like he threw a Rossi elbow
but according to the rules it was his fault

great race
but was missing something (someone)
that would have made it even better

Honda is nowhere
 
That KTM was a beast today. Impressive pace. If there was any doubt about KTM taking Binder over Oliveira, it can't get anymore proven than a win in your third race. PEspargaro was making strides before getting knocked out.

This year is the new world order. Satellite bikes and young riders all making great impressions. KTM has now joined the party.

Personally, I would have prefered Morbidelli take the win, but a 2nd place a good result for him.

Rossi had a solid 5th, but he wasn't a factor, and generally speaking it was a tough day for the big three factory teams - Honda, Yamaha and Ducati

You really really see Honda's reliance on MM when he's not there - they become a ghost.
 
Chaos said:
You really really see Honda's reliance on MM when he's not there - they become a ghost.
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It's hard to come to terms when your favorite rider is out, but you actually engage more with the sport when he's out of it as I actually stayed up Live for MotoGP instead of just falling asleep after moto3 and watch GP on replay as I normally do. When Zarco did that long lap I was thoroughly impressed and got nervous he was going to be beaten by Rins for P3 which normally I never really care about.

I still want to see Marc back (ideally next year when he's fully fit), but I'm relishing seeing the younger riders mix it up in the front in his absence, and I actually had hope Mir would have been up there where Rins was before was taken out by Iker as I think he could have fought with Franco for a podium if he qualified better as the Suzuki did have the pace this weekend.

I've been praising Binder and Mir since they were in Moto3 and was wanting them to be fast-tracked into GP class, whereas Rins and Qutararo were a big surprise to me as I ignore Moto2 for the most part, but I think these are the guys who are going to give Marc the most headaches in the coming seasons. Mav and potentially Zarco could be in there, but they need to be on better machinery to get close; I honestly think a Mav and Zarco/Miller lineup at Ducati would be very interesting. I'm still unsure about Pol and want to see what he does at HRC next year because he fought closely with Marc for most of his career before getting to GP class.
 
Both Binder and Mir were impressive in Moto3, but I think Binder's time in Moto2 did a lot for him. Mir is still young, but it's now been 2 years in GP and he has yet to score a podium - on a factory team with a bike capable of winning. Maybe we'll see him break out, but I don't think he was ready - his moto2 season on arguably the best moto2 team (MarcVDS) was not outstanding.

I will concede though that winning in moto2 doesn't guarantee success in GP either - Rabat has been invisible, and Zarco has been hot and cold, PEspargaro has been a solid but unspectacular GP rider. But no success in Moto2 (i.e. no race wins) does not bode well for you, on average.

Honestly though, i am just a guy sitting on a couch, so take it for what it's worth!


I've been enjoying Moto2 lately. The quality of the field, despite the losses to GP, keeps getting stronger year over year. This year Enea Bastianini is breaking through - he now has 2 wins in 3 races. Can he keep it up? we will see, but no one really saw that coming.
 
Mir was injured most of last year, as was Rins his first year, and so far he's still seems to be coming to terms with qualifying in such a deeply talented grid. His race pace is incredibly good and he can carve up the field the way we saw Marc can during his moto3 season. His sector times in Jerez were actually really strong, and is often setting a fastest lap in races at least once, but since he is in the lower end of the grid it hardly translates to amazing results.

Franco was Moto2 Champ, got to GP with VR46 sweetheart deals from his Rossi affiliation and then did absolutely nothing on the VDS machine, then got a factoryYamaha lat Petronas last year and did nothing and was outshined by Fabio so badly he had his factory bike privildges essentially pulled from him as a result where they gave Fabio Factory support by mid-season. I think Mir may need most of this season this year to get back into his true form but I'm confident he will be not far from Rins in getting a victory for Suzuki soon. Will he be a title contender this soon, that remains to be seen, he likes the Suzuki and by the sound of things he wants to stay at Suzuki for the long term but I always thought he was more of a Yamaha rider as his style is way more Rossi-like than any other rider. He has the same colour scheme and an AVG/Dianese with Yellow accented combo so last year when the Suzuki was its typical blue I often confused the two during the race.

I try to care about Moto2, Nagashima moving to KTM and winning as he did was interesting, but the racing is usually so boring by comparison to Moto3 or GP that I often fall asleep at that those hours. And given how many races there are in MotoGP and WSBK (BAZ!) now I can hardly bring myself to pay full attention to it. I'll give it a shot later this week but I'm more likely to catch up on all the Formula E races then I am Moto2 tbh.
 
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For anyone interested, I created a League on MotoGP Fantasy. League name is GTAMotoGP and code is 5D5H2RYH.
 
TK4 said:
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These aren't the droids you're looking for...

These aren't the droids you're looking for...
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Wow... now this would really be the craziest season if Marc decides to come back after Austrian GPs and still win it because of Yamaha's engine problems making Fabio and Mav fall out of contention after these back to back 3 race weekends. If Dovi/Ducati make the most out of this weekend and he comes back into the 2nd or higher I honestly think Marc will try everything imaginable to get back in.

I honestly hope Marc sits this season out.
 
Interesting couple of days. For those that didn't catch FP1 & 2 yesterday, there was a moment when a note popped up on the screen (I think it was a social media post?) that Ducati would wait for the next 2 GPs before deciding on Dovi's future. In that moment, camera showed Tardozzi looking at the screen - probably reading the same note we were, but no reaction, then to Dovi, also looking at the screen - who then turned straight to the camera and laughed as if this whole situation was getting ridiculous. Then today, the big news that he won't continue with Ducati next season. Ducati seem to be notorious for mismanaging good riders - Stoner, Lorenzo, now Dovi...

Petrucci absolutely lost it at A.Espargaro in Q1 today. I've never seen him so ****** off but he had every right to be IMO. Wtf was Esp thinking trying to squeeze in between him and Rossi like that as Petrucci was entering the corner? That was a real dick move.
 
*Spoiler Alert*

Absolutely terrifying crashes today. So far seems like all involved are ok, but really heavy ones. Relieved that VR46 is still here to race another day - and he's still consistently up there. Happy for Dovi, Miller and Mir. Shame about Rins - would have made for a nice tussle to the end. Not sure what happened to Viñales - mechanical problem? Another great showing from Binder. All makes for an interesting championship.

Pol Espargaro shaking his head and visibly upset after the horror crash red flag - because he was in 1st place at the time. I never really gave him or his brother much thought before - just that they crash a lot. But they both seem like real pricks after this weekend.
 
*Spoiler Alert*


Absolutely Rossi will never be so lucky in his life.

I think MVs head just wasn't in it at the restart, got to give VR kudos for pulling it together after the way he looked when he got back to the pits.
 
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