2023 MotoGP Discussion (No Links - Contains Spoilers!) | Page 10 | GTAMotorcycle.com

2023 MotoGP Discussion (No Links - Contains Spoilers!)

Apparently Paolo ciabatti has stated that morbidelli will be on a Ducati next year.

Pernat apparently (arbolinos manager) stated there is no room for arbolino in motogp next year
 
Chaos said:
Apparently Paolo ciabatti has stated that morbidelli will be on a Ducati next year.

Pernat apparently (arbolinos manager) stated there is no room for arbolino in motogp next year
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All depend if Lecuona goes to LCR if he doesn't go there maybe there's a spot for Arbolino with LCR
 
The GP race was amazing. Lots of action and a long deserved victory for the winner!
Haven't seen the other 2 races as of yet.
 
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All of the races were good. Moto3 and Silverstone are made for each other.
 
BigEvilDoer said:
The GP race was amazing. Lots of action and a long deserved victory for the winner!
Haven't seen the other 2 races as of yet.
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Apes did really well at Silverstone. Oliviera from way back was impressive, but so was Aleix's confidence in his bike. I got the feeling he could've passed Pecco anytime he wanted but stayed back to watch how he handled the wet track ahead of both of them.
 
Lightcycle said:
Apes did really well at Silverstone. Oliviera from way back was impressive, but so was Aleix's confidence in his bike. I got the feeling he could've passed Pecco anytime he wanted but stayed back to watch how he handled the wet track ahead of both of them.
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Blindly racing into the wet wouldn’t be a wise idea. Follow the leader and see how they react first.
Makes sense to Me!
 
sempre1 said:
All depend if Lecuona goes to LCR if he doesn't go there maybe there's a spot for Arbolino with LCR
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The rumour at the moment is Zarco to LCR.

So:

Bezzechi: VR46 -> Pramac
Morbidelli: Yamaha -> VR46
Rins: LCR -> Yamaha
Zarco: Pramac -> LCR

IMO, Zarco is the biggest loser in this game of musical chairs. He's going from a strong factory supported bike to a struggling and poorly supported quasi-factory bike.
 
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Lightcycle said:
A bit of a parade weekend up front at Austria.

Pecco looks untouchable.

Zarco to LCR, and Bez looks to stay put at VR46.

Any bets who's going to the open Pramac seat? Frankie? MM93?
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Pecco was perfect both races. It looked like Ducati has vastly improved their launch control too. He was untouchable even on the starts.

I wonder how impactful Zarco leaving Ducati will be. He was the test mule for Ducati - all new parts were tested on his bike even before the factory team (this was mentioned on the broadcast this weekend).

So, I originally thought Bezecchi would be nuts not to take the Pramac ride, but I was listening to the Race MotoGP podcast that had an interesting take - Bezzechi re-signs with VR46 on a one-year deal. He rides the GP23 next year (which, with Bagnaia and Martin, is a race winning bike) - gets good results in the first half of the season (in the first 1/2 of the season the year-old Ducati is a competitive bike), and starts negotiating for a factory team. Consequently, Morbidelli goes to Pramac or Gresini.

Noteworthy: both Dixon and Arbolino re-signed into Moto2 for 2024. That leaves a seat open in this game of musical chairs. KTM have 5 contracted riders for 4 seats. I wonder if KTM will lease a seat from another team, or if they have to demote someone to test/injury replacement rider. They were just denied a 5th bike (i.e. an extra dorna un-subsidized satellite team seat).
 
My tier list updated with 1/2 season updates

Tier 1 - Proven Championship Level
  • (No Change) - Bagnaia - winning races; leading the championship. What more to say?
  • (No Change) - Quartararo - Fast rider on a slower bike, and the bike is even more slow this year.

Tier 2 - Potential Championship Level
  • (No Change) - Martin - Enigmatic rider but he is fast. He definitely be a championship contender.
  • (No Change) - Marquez - He's showing bits and pieces of talent on that bike - i think he still has it.
  • (Promoted) - Binder - Hard to articulate why. He's a smooth rider that always ends up on the top end of races and he's clearly the best on the KTM/GasGas bike.

Tier 3 - Race Win Level
  • (Demoted) - Mir - I know he's won a championship, but he's only really had one win, and he's been just awful this year, even when factoring the bike. Great riders have to shine against their factory peers, and he is not.
  • (Demoted) Bastianini - He was a contender last year and could still be one in his future, but for whatever reason (most plausibly injury hangover), he has not gotten a good handle of a factory bike, especially with others winning on it. Maybe this is a harsh demotion - let's see in the second half
  • (No Change) Rins - Fast rider that has wins. Has a surprise win this year.
  • (No Change) Miller - I will keep him here, but he has a too-frequent habit of being upfront early, cooking his tires, and falling back.
  • (No Change) Oliveira - Injured early, but he's showing signs of speed this year. Probably won't win on a year old Aprilia but he could on factory equipment.
  • (No Change) A. Espargaro - Another win. Solid contender.
  • (Promoted) Bezzechi - He's fast, and he's won. This is a no-brainer.
  • (Promoted) A.Marquez - A sprint is a race, and he won a sprint. He has the speed.

Tier 4 - Potential Race Win and Podium Level
  • (No Change) Zarco - Still hasn't won a race. Solid rider though good for podiums.
  • (No Change) Marini - He is a podium contender every week, but he goes not have that killer instinct. I am not sure he will ever win a race in his career
  • (No Change) Vinales - He's showing flashes of speed, but I am firmly in the "I will believe it when i see it" with him now.
  • (No Change) Morbidelli - I am still biased here - his current form is Tier 5, but he has still won races in his career and is a Moto2 champion. If he finds himself on a Ducati next year, we'll know 100% what he is.
  • (No Change) R.Fernandez - Still basing this primarily on his Moto2 form. He should be faster - Oliveira is wiping him out.

Tier 5 - Potential Podium Level
  • (No Change) Nakagami - you know what you get with him
  • (No Change) A.Fernandez - he's better than I expected but, assuming the gasgas is the same spec as the KTM, he is not fast enough yet.
  • (No Change) P.Espargaro - no reason to move him from here. his serious injury did not do him any favours
  • (No Change) DiGiannantonio - very little to show for on arguably the 2nd best bike on the grid.
 
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Is the new Michelin front tire going to show up in 2024 or 2025? That will throw all predictions out the window once it arrives. If they're using the same front tire in 2024, then I'd bet that next year will be a repeat of this year with Rossi's boys on Ducatis at the front. Barring injuries, of course.

I tend to root for the underdogs with a chance, so for next year that means Martin, Binder and perhaps Aleix. Martin needs to stay on the bike and not get caught up in incidents. Ducati's new launch device just took away one of KTM's advantages, so KTM and Aprilia need to continue to match or beat Ducati on the technical aspects.

The guys on Hondas and Yamahas are out of the running next year unless something miraculous happens with their bike development the second half of this year. The guys coming back from major injuries (Mir, Rins) could unfortunately be looking at the irreversible downslope of their MotoGP careers if they're stuck on those bikes.
 
Good writeup of the current politicking for the 2024 grid and concessions:

www.motorsportmagazine.com

The battle for the 2024 MotoGP grid

How big will it be? Will KTM gets its extra team? Will Marc Marquez stay at Honda or go? There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing going on in the MotoGP paddock right now
www.motorsportmagazine.com www.motorsportmagazine.com
 
Chaos said:
I was listening to the Race MotoGP podcast that had an interesting take - Bezzechi re-signs with VR46 on a one-year deal. He rides the GP23 next year (which, with Bagnaia and Martin, is a race winning bike) - gets good results in the first half of the season (in the first 1/2 of the season the year-old Ducati is a competitive bike), and starts negotiating for a factory team.
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An interesting gamble, but highly dependent on Bestia not coming back from his injuries. Pramac's still a factory bike, and that door might be closed for quite a few seasons with the way back in being out of his control.

Still, a VR46 seat with a GP23 bike is not an unenviable position to be in next season.
 
It looked a lot worse than it turned out.
Pecco is a lucky laddie, and if it wasn't for bad luck Enea wouldn't have any at all.
Looks like he needs surgery on both his wrist and ankle.
 
KTM desperate to find Pedro a seat, or risk losing him to another manufacturer:

motorcyclesports.net

KTM considering offering Jack Miller double salary and wildcards in 2024 to make room for Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta will move up to MotoGP in 2024, but after many attempts by KTM to find another team in the category with two more bikes available, the truth is that negotiations haven’t gone as well as desired and the «solution» could be… a somewhat alternative proposal and the «bad luck» of Jack...
motorcyclesports.net motorcyclesports.net

They seem impatient for results. Miller's only had a half-season on the bike and they're already looking to boot him off.

I'm still curious who's going to get that Pramac seat?!?! I read that it's not up to Pramac to decide, it's Ducati's decision, and the factory is leaning towards grooming a rookie instead of poaching a veteran.
 
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