2023 MotoGP Discussion (No Links - Contains Spoilers!)

Also, despite the feature length race turning into a bit of a snooze-fest, can we all acknowledge Pecco's sweet Lap 4 Turn 4 pass on Martin *ON THE OUTSIDE*?!?!

The entire time, I was yelling, "WHAAAAAAAA?!?!?! SHUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!!"

That was The Demoralizer. I think the gap consistently got wider every single lap after that pass.
 
Hero to zero in 24hrs! JM#89 was mesmerising in the sprint and just awful in the main race.
Mathematically he's still in with a shout but it's Pecco's championship to lose now.
FD#49 rode a great race and deserved the win.
Anyone for a good conspiracy theory?
 
Lightcycle said:
Count me in!

Bum rear tire in a title contention race?

Doesn't pass the sniff test for me...

My money's on one of the white-haired Eye-talian Godfather types in the factory garage making the Michelin rep an offer they couldn't refuse.
Click to expand...
I totally agree something wasn't right for MARTIN yesterday race!!
 
Except for the sprint, Martin was not looking happy for most of the weekend. I think it was in the pre-qualifying Practice session that he was visibly annoyed in the pits and switched to his #2 bike for a couple of runs.

The commentators have mentioned that Martin found a setup that he likes and hasn't made any major changes to it in the last half of the season. But Losail is allegedly a fair bit different than other tracks on the calendar in terms of character and setup, and it's also been resurfaced since they were last there, so I wonder if maybe they were just relying too much on that favoured setup and were reluctant to make changes.

The tire allocation rules are interesting. Each rider gets 10 fronts and 12 rears, plus an extra front & rear if you go through Q1. But they're restricted to how many of each compound they can take:
The front tyre allocations can be made up from selecting a maximum of five tyres from each specification: Soft, Medium, Hard.
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The rears allocations are:
Seven soft + five medium, or
Seven medium + five hard, or
Seven soft + five hard
Click to expand...

Guessing at the number of tires that they use for each session through a weekend:
  • FP1 (45min): usually 2 sets?
  • P (45min): this is the one that counts to get into Q1/Q2 so they're using at least 2 sets, probably 3
  • FP2 (30min): usually 2? Probably re-use some from FP1
  • Q2 (15 min): at least 2 sets of the softest/best
  • Sprint: 1
  • Warm Up: either lightly scrub in a set to be used for the race, or use a used set from earlier in the weekend
  • Race: 1
In particular they'd be using every single front tire that they have available, but they only get a maximum of 5 of their preferred compound. Michelin recommends that teams scrub in all tires with 2 easy laps and one hard lap (presumably so that teams know whether that particular tire is good or not), but are all teams really going to burn a lap or two of life off a tire when it could make the difference in lasting the whole race or not? And if teams do determine that they've got a dud tire or two, what are they going to do given that they've potentially only got 5 of their preferred compound to start with? Maybe increasing the tire allocation per weekend would help.

www.motogp.com

MotoGP™ rear tyre compounds reduced to only two from 2023

From next season, Michelin will only bring two rear tyre compounds meaning teams must choose between a softer and a harder option tyre
www.motogp.com www.motogp.com
www.intentsgp.com

MotoGP Tyres - All You Need to Know About Them for 2023

Slicks, Wets, Hard, Medium, Soft, Dual Compound, Tyre Pressures. Our guide will help you understand the main aspects of MotoGP Tyres.
www.intentsgp.com www.intentsgp.com
 
Winales_2017 said:
After how many seasons in GP of utter mediocrity? And whose team does he rider for again? So, yes... it is because of his brother that he has a ride.
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I was looking back through this thread now that we have 2-3 months to kill before the next race... Some predictions were spot on, some not so much.

And then there were two posts ranting about Luca Marini not being deserving of a MotoGP seat... It didn't make sense to me then, it makes even less sense to me now. The guy finished 8th, only missing 6th by a few points. He finished second-best of the four 2022 Ducati riders on the grid, and he got signed to the factory team of the biggest engine manufacturer in the world...

I don't know if he'll still be able to finish top 10 next year with Marc on a Ducati, hopefully a healthy Enea, Rins on a bike that isn't actively trying to kill him, etc. but the guy definitely proved that he's worthy and doesn't deserve to just be looked at as Valentino's little brother, much in the same light Alex M shouldn't only be looked at as Marc's younger sibling either.
 
Not my favourite year, but it was okay. I still absolutely hate the sprint races, as instead of adding, they just take away from the Sunday race. After the initial craziness, it settled into just half length races, nothing special. In fact, all the most memorable races were still the Sunday full-length event. Interesting also that Honda and Yamaha have extracted concessions that Aprilia and KTM could only dream about when they sucked, but I do see why Dorna is desperate for them to be competitive again.

They still need to fix the aero rules before someone gets killed. The way bikes can get sucked into the draft in the braking zone on the straights is terrifying, and there were a bunch of very close calls this year. I do like aero in general, as it's one of the few ways the bikes can get faster, but they need to develop an aero committee that can set some rules that keep the laminar flow clean coming off the back of the bikes. Then again, this is a series that has totally failed to allow their sole tire supplier to develop tires to keep up with the bike developments, so I won't hold my breath that Dorna and the MSMA will get their sh*t together. The fact that there's a pressure rule that can take a rider off the podium after the podium ceremony has happened is ridiculous.

The first test was an interesting glimpse into 2024. Marc was very fast out of the gate, and I'll be stunned if he's not in the title fight by the end of the year. Bad news for those of us who think he's a Grade A tw*t, but I guess the faction who thinks the sport needs bad guys will be happy. Honda showed promise with yet another all-new bike, which has gotten longer and lower to match the Euro factories. Yamaha less so, though they promised a new engine for the Sepang test developed by an Italian F1 boffin. Acosta did well for someone on a big bike for the first time, and KTM was so proud of their new aero that they slapped on some zebra camouflage to hide it from prying eyes.

Then again, Miguel Oliviera was top 5 in last years test in his first day on an Aprilia while Marini was fastest, so it's not a clear predictor for future results...
 
Priller said:
Not my favourite year, but it was okay. I still absolutely hate the sprint races, as instead of adding, they just take away from the Sunday race. After the initial craziness, it settled into just half length races, nothing special. In fact, all the most memorable races were still the Sunday full-length event. Interesting also that Honda and Yamaha have extracted concessions that Aprilia and KTM could only dream about when they sucked, but I do see why Dorna is desperate for them to be competitive again.
Click to expand...
From the outside it looks like Dorna is in survival mode, making brash decisions left and right without caring much for concerns or consequences. They're changing formats without consulting riders, changing the system willy nilly in hopes of avoiding another Suzuki-tuation, and even dropping teams mid-way through their contracts to because of issues from one race...

Sprint races are giving the press, forums, social media, etc. more content, which draws more eyes on the product (probably), so even though I'm not sure they add much for those of us who are fans of the sport, they'll probably keep them for as long as they help their performance metrics they're trying to hit.

Personally I hate them. Way more risk to the riders, way more chaos, way more injuries. I don't want these guys going through that for my entertainment.

But I'm also not gonna stand on a high horse and say I hate eeevvvvverrrryyttthhiinnnggg about them. The missus and I catch every race, so now we also catch every sprint race together too. It gives us one more thing to get excited about together... but again, while I enjoy having one more thing for us to share, the added risk to these guys' health (especially with the way Marc was ramming through everyone in the first half of the season), just isn't worth it to me.

I'd rather they have long and healthy careers and I get a little less racing... But Dorna doesn't care about the racers, let alone the fans, so they'll just do what's best for business. I wouldn't hit an old person, but I'd make exception for Carmelo...
 
GBTRTKKXEAAMhei


Saw this "WHO IS YOUR RIDER OF THE YEAR 2023" on twitter. I'll give it my two cents:

Bagnaia:
- Won 7 races (more than anyone)
- Won 4 sprints (2nd most)
- Lead 229 laps (more than anyone)
- First rider to grand slam in 2023 (pole, fastest lap, lead every lap, win the race). Did it 2x in '23
- Became 3rd most winning Italian rider
- Won a race after Qlfy 13th
- Wins back to back championships like it ain't no thang

Martin:
- Won more sprints than anyone
- Took the fight to the last race
- Managed to stay healthy and consistent most of the season
- May have won the second most races (dunno?)
- Wore cool sunglasses and posed for pictures a lot

Bez:
- Consistently beats expectations on year old hardware
- Has lovely hair

Binder:
- Excelled at being his own worst enemy
- Undisputed champion of goofing up in a final lap

When the going gets tough, Pecco finds a whole other gear. The kind of cool cucumber clutch performer you want for your playoff fantasty league. Martin is good, but Pecco is gooder.
 
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