Jorge Martin ran away with the Sprint race on Saturday. The main event on Sunday was taken by Bezzecchi, who went through on Jack Miller on Lap 11 and wasn’t challenged thereafter, increasingly looking like the man to beat in 2023. Earlier, Maverick Vinales and Pecco Bagnaia took each other out on Lap 5 and went to Fist City in the gravel trap, but kissed and made up later on. Shortly thereafter, Luca Marini and Alex Marquez went down together. Joan Mir had his usual crash on Lap 14 today, followed by Alex Rins on Lap 15, as the Honda can only be ridden by Marquez. #93 was in contention for a podium all day until he folded under pressure from Jorge Martin on Lap 26, right after Jack Miller lost the front of his KTM on Lap 25. 21 riders started the race and 13 finished, meaning Jonas Folger now has more points for the season than Mir, who, it says right here, will be spoken of in the past tense at HRC come season’s end.
It sounds like Gresini is planning to replace FDG with Tony Arbolino for next season. Frankie Morbidelli is toast. If Ai Ogura ever gets his wrist sorted out, he may very well take Takaa Nakagami’s seat as the Designated Japanese Rider in the premier class. Likewise, Raul Fernandez is unlikely to remain in MotoGP after this season, with all the young guns making noise in Moto2.
I really don’t have time to do a proper job on the French Grand Prix today, as life is once again intruding on my incessant libeling. Demolition derbies as took place today tend to obscure the fact that some pretty sorry riders end up scoring points. So while someone is bound to point out that Nakagami finished in P11 today, it was due to the fact that six or seven riders who would normally leave him in their wake were missing at the finish. And yes, I know that in order to finish first one must first finish blah blah blah. It’s not just Marquez who is riding on the ragged edge all day. I think the technology has gotten ahead of the riders, that no one is in full control of their machine, and that we are likely to see more heavy crashes–paging Pol Espargaro–yet this season. Still, when you have three riders running abreast in a turn at 100 mph there is nothing else quite like it.
Premier class qualifying took place in the middle of the night, Eastern Daylight Time, and, accordingly, our erstwhile reporter missed it entirely. Apparently the schedule had been massaged to allow the big bikes to run in the dry which, of course, failed. A few early showers gave way to sunny and dry conditions for the rest of the day. Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder made it through Q1, abandoning Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Rins to the great unwashed. Q2 was great fun, riders on rain tires at the beginning recording Moto3 times, gradually switching to slicks late in the session and threatening the ATTR.
Grizzled veteran Aleix Espargaro left it to way late before sticking his Aprilia on pole, joined on the front row by KTM NKIT (New Kid in Town) Jack Miller and Fast on Saturday Jorge Martin on his Ducati. Row 2 featured Brad Binder, whose name will come up again in a minute, Pecco Bagnaia and one Dani Pedrosa, guesting on the shiny new KTM at age 37. Farther down on the qualifying food chain were Bezzecchi, the woebegone Fabio Quartararo (P16) and flash in the pan Alex Rins (P18). Enea Bastiannini, the hard luck second bike on the factory Ducati team, tried to race with his knitting right shoulder blade, but withdrew from the festivities after the third practice session.
The Saturday Sprint was great fun for the first 30 seconds until Frankie Morbidelli lost the front in Turn 2, collected Alex Marquez and skittled Marco Bezzecchi. The action completely spooked rookie Augusto Fernandez, who pooped his pants and fell off his satellite KTM. The red flag waved as Bezzecchi’s Desmo went up in flames. A few minutes later the restart found KTMs crowding the front, Binder and Miller leading the way with Mighty Mouse included in the lead group. Round and round they went, with Pecco Bagnaia liotering in the top three. Aleix crashed out on his own on Lap 6, joining Marquez, Nakagami and, a few moments later, the downtrodden Joan Mir in the Have Nots. Miller, Binder and Bagnaia jousted over the last few laps for podium steps, with Martin, Miguel Oliveira and Pedrosa lurking. In the end, it was the surprising Brad Binder claiming the title of Sprint Maven, joined by Bagnaia and Miller on the podium.
KTM has arrived. Binder has won two of the four Sprints. Miller has added something to the overall team effort. It was interesting to note that the top 10 qualifiers and top 11 finishers all rode European bikes. These are, indeed, lean times for Honda and Yamaha. There are bound to be some high profile riders defecting from the Japanese teams–Fabio and #93 at the top of the list–which will put huge pressure on the lower-ranked Aprilia, Ducati and KTM riders wishing to hold on to their seats in 2024. Ten years ago one wouldn’t have been able to give away a Ducati, and neither KTM nor Aprilia were even involved in the premier class. What a difference a decade makes.
Sunday
The changing of the guard amongst the manufacturers continued in full force today. It was not that many years ago that the KTMs were only competitive at the Red Bull Ring, MotoGP’s equivalent of Daytona, with eight turns instead of three. The bikes were fast in a straight line, but impossible to turn. Today, they showed that they are both quick and nimble, at a track where riders spend a third of their time on the brakes and only hit sixth gear once, perhaps twice at the max. In a replay of the Saturday Sprint, the main event was red-flagged after about 30 seconds, during which time, Fully Frustrated Fabio dumped the hideous Yamaha and, in the process, sent Miguel “The Victim” Oliveira tumbling into the gravel, where he dislocated his left shoulder and had to sit out yet another round due to no fault of his own. All this while the factory KTMs were flying at the start, with Pecco fending off Austrians on the left and more Austrians on the right.
The restart was a replay of the first, with Miller and Binder hauling Bagnaia around the circuit, the three of them taking turns in the lead. Bagnaia settled into P2 for the bulk of the day behind Binder, finally going through on Lap 21 for the lead and, ultimately, the win. Binder and Miller took steps 2 and 3 on the podium, followed by Jorge Martin and Aleix. Dani Pedrosa finished a very respectable P7 in between the satellite Ducatis of Marini and Marquez. Takaa Nakagami was the top finisher for Honda in P9 followed by Quartararo, who survived not one but two long lap penalties–the second assessed for his having screwed up the first–for a gritty P10. Crashers for the day included Alex Rins and Joan Mir, both of whom are coming to terms with the Honda RC213V in gravel traps, Zarco, and Bezzecchi, with your boy Cole Trickle retiring with a mechanical on Lap 24, for God’s sake. He helped my fantasy team get hammered today.
The Moto3 tilt was a fire drill, as usual, with Ivan Ortola, rookie David Alonso and my boy Jaume Masia ending the day on the podium. In Moto2, Sam Lowes avoided his usual brain fart to win easily in a procession, followed in due course by a stunned Pedro Acosta and Alonzo Lopez. Tony Arbolino, Aron Canet and Jake Dixon took P4 – P6.
I thought the Aprilia contingent would have a better day today, but it was not to be. Sure, Aleix took pole, but spent the day pedaling hard in P5. Ducati claimed P1, P4, P6 and P8, to no one’s surprise. But the factory KTM effort is starting to resemble their dominating little brothers in the lightweight and intermediate classes. If history is a teacher, we can expect better things in the not-too-distant future from both Honda and Yamaha, at which point Dorna will need to start measuring times to four decimal places.
Look who made a cameo this weekend.Aleix avoids a cat on SaturdayMoto3 rider David Salvador (?) doing it wrong on Saturday.
2023 has become another clusterf*ck in Marc Marquez’s late career. Honda has taken the greatest rider since Valentino Rossi and reduced him to a stumbling, fumbling shadow of his former self.
Since it’s a given he will crash several times upon his return–notice the word “possibly” in front of Le Mans–he had better heal completely. Maybe just take the rest of the year off, get prepared for the Ducati in 2024. He can take Alex’s seat.
HRC needs to go away. Take Yamaha with them. Turn MotoGP into a completely European parlor game. Let the Japanese manufacturers concentrate on Moto3 and manufacturing little 80cc and 125cc urban runabouts. They can no longer cut it in the big displacement competition.
Oh, and the Kazakh round has, predictably, been cancelled. Waiting on word of the cancellation of India.
Good thing Pecco keeps falling off his bike. Otherwise, interest in this sport would be zero.
The second of two throwbacks in honor of this weekend’s Jerez round.
Lorenzo enjoys a late lunch at Jerez
Filet of Rossi on Lap 21; roasted Pedrosa on Lap27
The Gran Premio bwin de Espana at Jerez de la Frontera on Sunday was a hash of the worst and the best that MotoGP has to offer. The first 22 laps were an absolute parade with virtually no lead changes and little drama, aside from guys pushing 200 mph on two wheels. The last five laps were a masterpiece by Jorge Lorenzo, who moved from fourth place to first for his first win of 2010. In the process, he again demonstrated the patience and strategic thinking he has lacked until now. It appears that his development as the heir apparent to Valentino Rossi may now be in its final stages.
Sunday was a perfect day on the dazzling Spanish Riviera. The usual suspects had qualified well on Saturday, led, somewhat surprisingly, by homeboy Dani Pedrosa, who apparently solved the suspension problems that had plagued him all year. Pedrosa was on the pole, followed by Lorenzo, Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi. Nicky Hayden, Randy de Puniet and Colin Edwards completed Tranche One on this round, and it looked as if the long-suffering Pedrosa might enjoy his first day in the sun since his win last year at Valencia.
Recall that Round 1 in Qatar had left Casey Stoner gasping for air, Valentino Rossi looking impregnable, and Jorge Lorenzo sporting the long-awaited maturity he had lacked as recently as last season. Lorenzo’s balls-to-the-wall racing style had secured second place in the world in 2009, but the three DNFs he recorded in his reckless (not wreckless) style had probably cost him the championship. At Qatar, Nicky Hayden looked rejuvenated, Andrea Dovizioso looked threatening, and rookie Ben Spies looked ready for prime time.
As they say here in Spain, “Bienvenido a Espana.”
For the bulk of the first 20 laps today, it was Pedrosa, Rossi, Hayden, Lorenzo, Stoner and Dovizioso going round and round. There was some action in the seven-to-eleven spots, but I’m generally too busy to pay much attention to that stuff. Several riders went walkabout early on, including the soon-to-be-late Loris Capirossi and Aleix Espargaro. Pramac Racing’s Espargaro recovered and re-entered the race, only to spend most of his day working feverishly trying not to get lapped by Pedrosa. Ben Spies retired on Lap 7 with mechanical issues. By Lap 20, the guys in the row front of us started passing big joints around, noticeably bypassing us. One of the gorgeous brunettes (a dime a dozen in these parts) in the stand next to us was fiddling with her split ends. “Off in the distance, a dog howled.”
Suddenly, it became obvious that Jorge Lorenzo had found something.
On Lap 10 he had passed Hayden without breaking a sweat, and began patiently lining up Rossi. By Lap 21 he was on top of Rossi, and then past him. Pedrosa, who led all day by more than a second—plenty in MotoGP time—led Lorenzo by .8 at that point. I was thinking it would end up Pedrosa/Lorenzo/Rossi, a nice day for the hometown crowd, when Lorenzo left Rossi in his wake and drew a bead on Pedrosa.
Everyone knows the depth of enjoyment Jorge Lorenzo experiences passing teammate and arch rival Valentino Rossi. Judging from how Lorenzo handled himself on the last three laps of this race, it’s possible he enjoys taking down Dani Pedrosa equally well. Teammate or countryman? Countryman or teammate? Who really knows what’s going on in Jorge Lorenzo’s head?
Not that it matters. Both Lorenzo and Pedrosa performed as expected in the last five laps of the race. Lorenzo exerted his will on his bike and his countryman. Pedrosa rode well in the lead and folded when it mattered, running wide in a late right-hander and allowing Lorenzo through, conceding the path to the win. Talking a brave game all week long and then lacking los cojones at the moment of truth to hold his ground and force Lorenzo on to the brakes. The book on Dani is “doesn’t like to mix it up in the corners.” The book had it dead right today.
All in all, it was a great day to be a Spanish racing fan. Early in the morning, it was 18-year old Spaniard Daniel Ruiz starting the day by winning the first Rookie’s Cup race of the season. Pol Espargaro took the 125cc race while many of the fans were still finding their way to their seats. Toni Elias, fresh off his crash in Qatar and nursing a bad wrist, battled Thomas Luthi and Shoya Tomizawa all day and finally prevailed for his first Moto2 win before his home fans, most of whom were delirious with joy at the end of the race. Lorenzo and Pedrosa took the top two spots on the premier class podium. And although the fans claim to prefer Pedrosa to Lorenzo, as Jorge hails all the way from Barcelona, for God’s sake, it appears they’ve grown a little weary of Pedrosa’s mad Chihuahua routine, his underdog-singing-the-blues rap. There was no shortage of Lorenzo fans in today’s crowd.
Elsewhere on the grid, Pramac’s Mika Kallio had a great day, starting dead last and finishing 7th. Marco Melandri recovered from a dreadful outing in Qatar to finish 8th today. LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet qualified 6th and finished 9th, making him two for two this year qualifying better on Saturday than he raced on Sunday. Alvaro Bautista recovered from a last lap fall in Qatar to finish 10th and claim the Top Rookie of the Week award from Hiroshi Aoyama, who won it at Losail but struggled today, finishing 14th.
The top five finishers in a great 17 lap Moto2 race today included Elias, Shoya Tomizawa, Thomas Luthi, Yuki “Crash” Takahashi and Simone Corsi. The race was red-flagged early due to a pile-up involving some nine bikes, the first of what promises to be many such collisions in the overcrowded Moto2 field.
The crowd seemed as interested in the 125s today as they were the big bikes. Espargaro claimed the top spot on the podium, flanked by two other Spaniards, Nicolas Terol and Esteve Rabat.
I attended the Jerez round in 2010, wrote a couple of my favorite articles while there under the influence of vino tinto. This is the first of those pieces.
Getting to the Spanish Grand Prix is half the fun
For a couple of gringos, the road to MotoGP Jerez is a blast
Last January, four of us decided to take a family vacation to southern Spain in early May. I worked out a deal with my editor at Motorcycle.com to pay me handsomely to cover the Gran Premio bwin de Espana, subject to my securing press credentials, providing some extra copy and photos, and giving them way more than my usual vapid kitchen table rant. In mid-April, after reserving and paying for airfare, hotels, rental cars, etc., it became fully clear that Dorna, the Spanish company that owns the rights to MotoGP, was not going to sully their pressroom by credentialing the likes of me. What had started out as a slam dunk junket had become a longshot.
Four of us left for Spain from O’Hare on Friday afternoon. I/we were lacking several of the necessities for most respectable journalists: press credentials, tickets for the race, journalistic skills, and/or a clear idea of where the track was actually located. When I say “we”, I’m including my intrepid son-in-law and budding photojournalist, Ryan Collins, who had the good sense several years ago to marry my youngest daughter Cate. Ryan, who knows even less about motorcycle racing than I do, told me he was pretty much up for anything, up to and including trying to find the track, trying to get into the facility, and trying to provide some semblance of “covering” the race, as opposed to just missing a day on the beach, and instead sitting around with 130,000 drunk Spanish racing fans under a hot sun for eight hours.
Ryan and I set out from Cadiz, a jewel of a town that sits on the southern coast of Spain where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, on Sunday morning. [By this time we had missed Friday practice and Saturday’s qualifications. We had also survived a monstrous case of jetlag and the drive from Madrid to Cadiz in which I came uncomfortably close to getting us included in Spanish highway fatality statistics not once, but twice. And although we missed the action at the track on Saturday, we caught the action on the strip in Cadiz on Saturday night, eating tapas amongst a bunch of riders and listening to the music of big bikes turning high RPMs on the seaside street in front of the restaurant all evening.]
Cadiz sits about 25 miles south of Jerez, and we had passed several Jerez exits on the drive down from Madrid on Saturday. Once we cleared Cadiz on Sunday, the task of actually finding the track became pretty simple: stay with the hundreds of bikes on their way to the race that morning. Which sounds easier than it actually is, in that these bikes were mostly traveling in excess of 100 mph while the Guardia Civil politely turned a blind eye. Finally, we were one of a handful of cars in a veritable sea of motorcycles, and getting to the parking lot was a breeze. The way getting from point A to point B in a mosh pit is a breeze: make no sudden movements, don’t resist, and go with the flow.
Problem #1 solved.
Problems #2 and #3—no press credentials, few journalistic skills—weren’t going to get solved this day. This left Problem #4—no tickets to a sold out race. On the walk from the parking lot to the track itself, I kept an eye out for ticket “vendors” on the street, and was finding none. Plenty of guys and ladies selling a lot of other junk—Spanish flags, food, water, trinkets, belts (?), etc., from little improvised roadside stands. No guys holding tickets in the air yelling “Got Four!” in Spanish and looking furtively over their shoulders for the aforementioned Guardia Civil who, one suspects, take a less generous view of ticket scalpers than they do speeders they’re unable to catch anyway. A mile in and it was looking bleak, when we noticed a trailer set off on a little side “street” with a big sign on it reading “Taquillas”. Ryan, my interpreter, said he had no idea what a taquilla is. I, by this time, was hoping it was Spanish for “tequilas”, as I was ready to give in and spend the day drinking shots and eating limes. It occurred to me that “tequilas” is already a Spanish word, and one very rarely used in the plural, but I shook off this notion.
We approached the trailer, and people were, indeed, stepping up to a window and purchasing SOMETHING, but we couldn’t really tell what. Apparently, by this time Ryan and I were looking fairly furtive ourselves, for it was at this moment that a guy in a Lakers shirt approached me and asked, in pretty good English, if we needed tickets. He, it turned out, was getting comped by Repsol (a friend of a friend of a friend…) and was going to stand with the great unwashed in the Pelousse, the fans’ and riders’ favorite section of the Jerez track, between Turns 10 and 11, where the crowd gets right on top of the riders. We negotiated a mutually satisfactory price for his tickets and, suddenly, Problem #4 was solved.
We still don’t know what folks were buying at that trailer; I’ll try to report back on that later tonight. We do know that we sat high in the stands between Turns 12 and 13 with a great view of the race. We spent plenty of time wandering around the facility mingling and taking pictures of a few of the gorgeous women you find in quantity at these events. We watched one helluva Moto2 tilt and a premier class event that was a procession for the first 22 laps and a heart-stopping thriller for the last three. We made it back to the parking lot and thence our hotel in one piece without dying of dehydration or getting T-boned by any of the nutjobs they issue drivers licenses to in Spain. And we captured the story; a beautiful day spent 4500 miles from home in a second language, with a manual transmission, on the road to Jerez.
Before I forget, I want to salute Jack Miller, waxing euphoric about the KTM during one of the incessant time-filling videos, then going out and crashing five times before the Sprint race.
Friday was indicative of the New World Order in MotoGP, in which the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Pecco Bagnaia finishing first in Portimao and 16th in Argentina. Alex Marquez being unable to find his ass with both hands and a flashlight for three full seasons on the Honda suddenly becoming A Force to be Reckoned With in year four on a used Ducati. Marco Bezzecchi winning in the rain at Rio Hondo before having to go through QP1 (which he did) in Texas. At the end of the day the results looked like this:
Here’s a couple of dispatches from our trackside reporter Buzz:
Update #1.
The wife and I decided to walk around a bit and Shazam! Two vans pulled up to our hotel and a bunch of Mooney VR46 team members were checking in to our hotel! I didn’t see Luca or Bez (not that I would have recognized them immediately) and certainly the legend himself isn’t staying here or even in Austin with a pregnant woman at home.
I’ll keep my eyes open. Gonna spend the rest of the evening digesting my mound of meat from Terry Black’s BBQ.
Day 1. I’ll let you read the inter webs for a report on how today’s action unfolded. My behind the scenes look at the action was pretty incredible today.
Update #2
We met a British couple at the hotel bar last night and they are here for the race as well; first time in Austin. I told them I would show them around the track since I’m a vet and they offered a ride in their rental car. In addition, they happened to meet a man on the flight over who handles all the awesome camera technology like the bike cams, shoulder cams, etc. He offered a behind the scenes tour.
After marching them all over the track and walking 8 miles according to our Apple watches, they were contacted by camera guy, and he invited us all back. We were given security credentials and walked through the paddock back to the tech area. He showed us how they use all the camera technology and how most critically, they managed bandwidth. With all the cell technology and other demands for wireless, it is a huge part of the job.
We returned to the stands to finish watching practice and walked back to the paddock once it was over to return our credentials. At that point all the riders started moving from the garage to the paddock offices. It’s a gauntlet of fans with paddock access and was pretty fun watching people run back and forth seeking autographs when a rider would appear. Personally, I got a fist bump with Pecco, a high-five with Jack Miller and helped others get photos with Fabio and Cole Trickle. I also said hello to Brad Binder. Total fun! Wife was overwhelmed.
Saturday
Bezzecchi and Zarco made it through Q1. Jorge Martin, he of the new all-time track record at COTA, crashed twice in Q2, leading to the first four rows of the grid, as follows:
The Sprint was pretty much of a snooze. Bagnaia got his mojo back, took the lead on the first lap and was never challenged. Alex Rins, making the LCR Honda look, well, competitive, chased the Italian for 10 laps but was never a threat; his nine points were a sigh of relief for HRC, as nobody else went anywhere. Poor Fabio over-rode his Yamaha into the gravel on Lap 5; it’s going to be a long year for the former world champion, Martin moved his Desmo from P12 to P3 to capture the final step on the podium. Aleix dogged him after getting passed on Lap 7 but couldn’t track him down. Alex Marquez came back down to Earth, sliding out on Lap 7 after throwing up in his helmet OMG. The Mooney boys finished sixth and seventh behind Brad Binder. And that was that.
Sunday
This was one of those race days when I should have been covering Moto3 or Moto2 instead of MotoGP. Moto3 was incredible, four young riders battling on the absolute limit over the entire race. The eventual winner, Ivan Ortola, somehow avoided an excruciating high side at Turn 2 of the first lap, dropped back to around P23, then sliced his way through the field to engage with Jaume Masia, Xavi Artigas and Diogo Moreira before taking the checkered flag in P1, as good a win as you’ll ever see in racing, two wheels or four. Even horses. The ultimate order of finish was kind of random, as each rider performed well enough to have won on any day. Ortola, it seems, is the Next Next Next Great Spanish Rider, behind Pedro Acosta and Izan Guevara.
Moto2 provided another nailbiter, as Tony Arbolino and Pedro Acosta put on a terrific show, with Acosta eventually prevailing, and Arbolino declaring in Parc Fermé that “this ain’t over.” Both riders are slated for MotoGP next season, where they will pay dues for a season or two before raising the level of competition yet again.
MotoGP on Sunday was, in a word, terrible. Eight riders crashed out, leaving 14 on the track to see the chekered flag. Here’s how bad it was: Jonas Folger scored three (3) championship points subbing for Pol Espargaro. Rookie Augusto Fernandez scored five (5) points. Pecco Bagnaia, putting the screws to everyone who had him on their fantasy team, crashed out of the lead on Lap 8 under relentless pressure from LCR Honda pilot Alex Rins, who went on to win on the only Honda to finish the race. Luca Marini found the podium on his Ducati, as did Fabio Quartararo, who was giving up amazing yardage on the long back straight, then gaining some of it back on the twisty parts of the track. Rather than summarizing the results, let’s just look at the dunnage:
Lap 1: Jorge Martin shits his pants and takes Alex Marquez out with him in Turn 1, while Aleix slides off and out at Turn 12.
On Lap 4 my notes read, “When will Jack Miller crash?” Answer: Lap 7.
Pecco threw it at the scenery on Lap 8. Raul Fernandez retired with a mechanical around the same time
Joan Mir crashed, again, on Lap 9.
Brad Binder crashed on Lap 11 and remounted, ultimately gathering two championship points, which is an editorial statement in itself.
Takaa Nakagami crashed on Lap 12, as if anyone cares.
Stefan Bradl, subbing for #93, crashed on Lap 19 in order to get mentioned in this article.
A brutal day in the premier class. Alex Rins, it says here, will not factor into the 2023 championship on his execrable Honda. Nor will Fabio on his equally bad Yamaha. At the end of the day–who doesn’t hate that phrase?–the championship top ten looks like this. Bagnaia has thrown away 45 points in the last two rounds, making the chase look more competitive than it really is. Vinales had another terrible start before climbing back into P4 at the finish. And anyone who doesn’t have Ducati as their choice for the constructor in Fantasy MotoGP is dreaming.
Two weeks until the flying circus arrives in Europe, at Jerez, when things start to get real. Let’s hope that today’s MotoGP spectacle doesn’t get repeated. Personally, I may shift my attention to the undercards where there is real competition and not every rider scores points.
After getting all the helpful advice from you lot on how to save my trades, and still being unable to do so, I decided to open the game on Microsoft’s Edge browser. Voila, there appeared a box allowing me to save my trades. Dorna, it seems, doesn’t have the tech skills to optimize their crappy site across all browsers, so I got hammered in Argentina. I suspect that those of you who were unable to make your trades stick for Round 2 were also using Firefox.
If you’ve been using Chrome or Edge, you may have built up a lead in this fakakta competition. Be advised that Mr BruAl will now get back in the hunt. Honeymoon’s over.
Ducati pilot Enea Bastiannini and Repsol Honda legend Marc Marquez will both miss Round 3 at COTA this weekend. Their inclusion on our list of Helplessly Hoping Pilots is looking better and better. Joan Mir’s recent travails have made him the 12th rider purported to have no chance of winning the 2023 title.
Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will take Bastiannini’s place in Texas, while the erstwhile Stefan Bradl will suit up for the pitiful Repsol Honda team.
Saturday qualifying was fascinating, as the risk/reward ratios changed along with track conditions. Alex Marquez and Fabio Quartararo passed through a wet Q1, but the rain quit at the end of the session. Q2 took place under the most difficult conditions possible, a cool track drying on the racing line. The session opened with all 12 riders on rain tires, and Frankie Morbidelli, defining “anomoly,” set the benchmark time, sitting briefly on pole.
The riders entered the pits after their first pass. Nine re-emerged on wets, but three brave souls–Marquez, Bagnaia and Bezzecchi–came out on slicks with their hearts in their throats, slipping and sliding. As the session drew to a close and the track continued to dry, their bravery (which is virtually indistinguishable from stupidity) paid off. All three made it to the front row, with Little Brother claiming his first premier class pole and a shiny new Tissot watch. Bezzecchi claimed P2 and Bagnaia P3. The Ducati lockout of the front row produced dancing in the streets in Borgo Paginale. The entire grid was as nervous as Mike Tyson in a spelling bee waiting to see what the weather would be like on Sunday. There would be, however, the matter of a Sprint race before any of that.
The 12-lap Sprint was, for a little while, somewhat biblical, as the last were briefly first. Early on, it was Morbidelli in P1 for the first time since the Truman administration. The two Mooney VR46 youngsters, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, had good starts, swapping paint on the first lap, looking very comfortable on their year-old Ducatis. The big surprise early, mid-race and at the flag was KTM veteran Brad Binder. Starting from P15, he made his way to P3 by Lap 2 and took the lead from Morbidelli on Lap 3. He held off the best that Ducati Corse has to offer to take the win by an eyelash from Bezzecchi, who would have won a 13-lap race, and Marini. Morbidelli managed to salvage P4 in front of polesitter Marquez and series leader Pecco Bagnaia.
Joan Mir, it says here, is already ruing his decision to join Repsol Honda after last season. He barely qualified at all, at the bottom of the last row, and crashed out on Lap 1 before heading for the medical center. He re-injured the ankle he broke last year; if he is unavailable on Sunday, he will join 11 other riders with no chance of winning the 2023 championship. Last year’s Argentine winner, Aleix Espargaro, went walkabout on Lap 8. He was not hurt physically, but the same cannot be said for his championship aspirations. He’s still in the hunt, but appears to have ceded the #1 seat on the factory Aprilia team to #12, our boy Cole Trickle.
Sidebar: I agreed to watch my daughter’s dog for six days, starting Friday. On Saturday, and again on Sunday morning, he evidenced his displeasure at the situation by defecating all over my white sofa and two chairs in the living room. I was up until midnight Saturday night putting a full load of cushion covers through the wash, and had to repeat the process again on Sunday WHILE THE RACE WAS BEING RUN. Accordingly, I had to scramble to catch the news about the race and watch the video. This week’s race report is, unhappily, terrible. As my Jewish forebears say about The Holocaust, “NEVER AGAIN!”
The race took place on a drenched track. Marco Bezzecchi got away early and was never challenged. Franco Morbidelli spent the entire weekend in P4. The two Frenchmen on the grid, Pramac Ducati pilot Johann Zarco and former world champion Fabio Quartararo, rallied furiously late in the race after lackluster starts. Zarco, running in P8 at the end of Lap 7, ended his day on the second step of the podium and was gaining on Bezzecchi at the close of festivities. Quartararo, tagged by Takaa Nakagami early in the race, completed Lap 1 in P16. By the time he saw the checkered flag, he sat in P7. Hats off to both riders, and to Bezz on his first premier class win; he also leads the 2023 title chase after Pecco Bagnaia lowsided out of P2 and into P16 late in the race.
All in all, a forgettable weekend for yours truly. Let’s hope COTA has more excitement and less excrement.
One more thing. Unsurprisingly, the MotoGP Fantasy game is user un-friendly to the max. I spent 15 minutes on Friday changing my picks for the weekend. Last night, I checked in to discover none of the changes had stuck. I’m going to try this one more time, but, seriously, why can’t these guys get it right the first time?
Well FP1 & FP2 for the Argentina MotoGP is done. The “Italian Mob” has secured the first 7 positions. A nice wrinkle though, as the “The Grand Ole Man” of MotoGP Aleix Espargaro put’s in the fastest time just over a tenth quicker than his teammate “Top Gun” Maverick Vinales who was 2nd. Obviously, a great venue for the small Italian manufacturer Aprilia. Aleix’s only win a year ago came here, could he do it again? When Maverick is happy, he’s a threat to win. I think he’s happy, a first win on his Aprilia here looks like a possibility, backing up a strong 5/2 tally last week.. The “Rossi Boys”, Marco Bezzecchi 3rd fastest, coming off a podium finish a week ago at Portimao looking for another. His teammate Luca Marini 4th, trying to right the ship after a abysmal start to his season last week with 2 DNF’s. 5th, the new “Flying Frenchman” Johann Zarco, once again a great qualifying run, coming of a well deserved 4th place last week at Portimao. Could he finally win one of these things? I’m hoping so, he’s come so close on a number of occasions. 6th, defending Champ Franco Bagnaia, coming off a perfect weekend and once again in a great position to challenge for podiums in Argentina. 7th, “Mighty Mouse” Jorge Martin, another solid qualifying effort, after a strong second last week in the Sprint race, only to be collected by an overzealous Marc Marquez in Sunday’s feature, knocking him out of a another potential podium. 8th, from “The Land of the Rising Sun”, Takaaki Nakagami, on the first non Italian machine and first Honda. His up and down career has been filled with many crashes, flashes of brilliance and more crashes. Maybe he can have some luck this weekend. 9th and first Yamaha, not who you’d expect, but great to see back in the top ten, former Moto2 champ, Franco Mordibelli. After almost winning the title in 2020, frankly he should have, nothing but injury and poor finishes the past 2 seasons. Hopefully, the likeable Italian can find his 2020 form and get some much needed results. 10th “Mr. Smooth”, Alex Rins on the second Honda. I’ve always liked him, reminds me so much of Jorge Lorenzo, hoping he can come to grips with the Honda and maybe help them make it more rideable.
Tomorrow will be Q1 and only 2 will advance to Q2. Some fast guys that really need to get to Q2 to help their chances this weekend. Alex Marquez 11th, just missing the cut today. Brad “The Grinder” Binder, 12th after a good run in last Sunday’s long race. Joan Mir 13th, still struggling with the Honda and needing something to build on. 14th Fabio Quartararo, the former champ in desperate need of some good news. Today, for the first time in a couple of years, being out qualified by his teammate. 15th FDG, a name to long to type, still looking for some speed on his Ducati. 16th, “The Thriller” Jack Miller, looking to pull a “rabbit out of his hat” tomorrow, as it appears the KTM’s are having issues in Argentina. Augusto and Raul Fernandez rounding out the slightly deleted field 17th and 18th.
Qualifying has become a “premium” this season as your grid is set both days by your final Q1/Q2 tally. With the top 15 being separated by less than a second, the days of the come from behind rides are almost over. Looks good for Aprilia and Ducati this weekend. They’ve qualified well and if their FP3 race set up pace is solid, it’ll be a long weekend for any brand not made in Italy. I’m hoping Honda, KTM or Yamaha can come up with something to be more competitive to liven up the series. Finally, Q2 qualifying will once again play a major role in both of this weekend’s races for the reasons mentioned above. Also, I’m thinking we’ll have a couple of different winners this weekend, to be continued…
2023 may prove to be the year when the MotoGP title was decided earlier than ever before. Rather than being the most competitive year in history, as was widely anticipated during the off-season, we may find ourselves twiddling our thumbs by early October.
It is fair to say that after the first of 21 rounds of racing the number of plausible contenders for the championship has been cut from 22 to 11. Let’s discuss.
First, there never were 22 actual contenders, as at least seven riders never had a snowball’s chance in hell of capturing the title:
Augusto Fernandez
Raul Fernandez
Franco Morbidelli
Fabio Quartararo
Alex Rins
Takaa Nakagami
Fabio di Giannantonio
Making this little list involves some combination of a lack of riding talent and lousy machinery. There is also the fact that I’m looking to stir the pot a little by including the 2021 champion herein. So sue me.
Events in Portugal added another four names to this miserable list, as follows:
Pol Espargaro–Dude is going to take a long time to get back to racing. He was a long shot before getting crushed on Friday. We wish him all the best, but he needs to be thinking 2024. Or just walking away from racing while he can still walk.
Enea Bastiannini–Things looked great for EBas during winter testing, having joined Pecco Bagnaia on the factory Ducati team. He was having arm pump issues before getting collected by Luca Marini during the Sprint on Saturday and fracturing his right shoulder blade. His people report he will not need surgery, which is a surprise. Missing the first two rounds of 2023 and rushing back at way less than 100% spells trouble.
Miguel Oliveira–The victim of Marc Marquez’s reckless aggression early this past Sunday, Oliveira will not return to action until Round 3 at COTA. Before getting skittled on Sunday, he looked capable of a top six finish for 2023, but that would have necessitated absolutely everything going right, which it never does in this sport.
Marc Marquez–Dude is his own worst enemy, which is saying something, as he is roundly loathed by a number of other riders and millions of MotoGP fans. His bike is terrible. He recorded a DNF in Portugal and will record a DNS in Argentina. When he returns at COTA (his second-favorite track on the calendar next to The Sachsenring) he will be wounded and saddled with a double long lap penalty, putting him squarely behind the eight-ball before the season is fully underway. His slim prospects heading into the season have been reduced to none.
It may be fun to keep track of the hashtag #MotoGPContenders this year if I can ever figure out how to format the hashtag. Heading into Round 2 it stands at 11. It is likely to decline steadily as we move through the calendar. There will be occasions when the current favorites–Bagnaia, Vinales, Aleix, maybe Jack Miller–crash, which might see the number go up. But if events unfold as expected here, that number will fall to “1” before October, at which point we can all get together and whistle “Dixie.” Practice in Argentina starts in a few minutes. I’ll be back with some stuff on Saturday. Ride on.
Round One of the 2023 MotoGP season produced a dominant performance by defending world champion Pecco Bagnaia, who took the inaugural Sprint race on Saturday followed by a wire-to-wire win on Sunday. He has confirmed the predictions of many followers who pegged him to successfully defend his 2022 title. But Marc Marquez, once again, will be the main topic of conversation this week after a mistake on Lap 3 clobbered Miguel Oliveira and ruined the day for Portuguese racing fans.
Pretty much everyone knows that Marquez, the most talented rider of the last decade, has an albatross of a bike in the 2023 Honda RC213V, described by the knowledgeable Simon Crafar as having no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In order to be remotely competitive on a grid teeming with fast, agile Italian bikes, he must over-ride for every moment of every race. He must take risks most other riders would eschew. His temperament doesn’t allow him to back down; “go hard or go home” is in his DNA. On Saturday, we witnessed what happens when his luck holds–an all-time track record in qualifying followed by a podium finish in the Sprint. On Sunday, we saw what happens when it runs out–he makes contact with another rider (in this case Jorge Martin, whose day was also ruined) which leads to a dangerous crash and collateral damage for an innocent bystander, in this case Aprilia pilot Miguel Oliveira. If Oliveira is not seriously hurt, it is only because of his leathers, his airbag, his helmet, and his superb musculature.
We will not pile on Marquez here, leaving that for others more inclined to journalistic histrionics. Marquez will receive a major penalty next week in Argentina which he will serve on behalf of his employers. Little brother Alex is demonstrating what happens when a Honda rider climbs aboard a Ducati Desmosedici and goes from utter irrelevance to podium contention. Today may be the day on which Marc Marquez decided to cut the cord with Honda moving forward and defect to Borgo Paginale. Put him on a (new or used) Ducati, and he could easily win a dozen races per season. He could also avoid the regret and embarrassment resulting from crashes such as occurred today.
What About the Race, You Nimrod?
Right. Oliveira took the hole shot and led after the first lap, followed closely by Bagnaia, Martin and Marquez. Bagnaia went through on Lap 2 for the duration. It was on Lap 3 that Marquez attempted to go through on Martin, misjudged the angle, and made contact with the Pramac pilot. His Honda lost contact with the tarmac and plowed into the hapless Oliveira, with both riders going ragdoll and both bikes left in tatters. Martin recovered in, like, P15 while Pecco left the chaos well behind him. The crash opened the door for Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller, Marco Bezzecchi and Brad Binder.
The rest of the day saw the resurrected Vinales furiously dogging Bagnaia on his way to 20 points. Bezzecchi went through on Miller’s KTM on Lap 5 and finished the day on the third step of the podium. Behind this trio was some great racing, as Miller, Alex Marquez, Brad Binder and, late in the proceedings, Johann Zarco mixed it up. Zarco had been riding in P9 early in the race and was still in P8 at the end of Lap 21 before mounting a huge charge over the last four laps on his way to 13 points. I seem to have underestimated his prospects for the season. He seems to be shaving more frequently than in years past. And how nice was it to see young Alex Marquez fighting near the front and enjoying life on a 2022 Ducati. Miller and Binder seem capable of winning somewhere other than Red Bull Ring. And Bezzecchi, heir apparent to Marco Simoncelli, at least in his coiffure, may prove to be the best of the young Italian riders making their way up from Moto2.
Along with the shredding of track records came attrition unseen since the gruesome days of Paul Bird and CRTs. With Pol Espargaro and Enea Bastiannini (fractured shoulder blade) recording DNSs, there were only 20 bikes on the starting grid. Exit Marquez and Oliveira; a thoroughly miserable FDG retired on Lap 11; Martin crashed out on Lap 20 trying like hell to get back in the points; Luca Marini threw it at the scenery on Lap 22, followed by Raul Fernandez on Lap 24, leaving 14 bikes to take the checkered flag. This was great news for the suppurating Franco Morbidelli, who is now assured of scoring at least two (2) points in 2023. No wonder Lin Jarvis looks like he swallowed a fish hook, with Fabio Quartararo having become a second division afterthought and Morbidelli turning green.
The Undercards
Moto3 is back to its usual frenetic self. Today’s race was wicked awesome, with more lead changes than you can count, and seven or eight riders jousting for the win. Sensational sophomores Daniel Holgado, my boy David Munoz and Brazilian teenager Diogo Moreira landed on the podium, celebrating with non-alcoholic magna of the obligatory prosecco.
Moto2 offered, unfortunately, a preview of what could very well be one of the dullest seasons in recent memory, in which Pedro Acosta, KTM’s Next Great Spanish Rider, led Aron Canet on a lonely, fruitless chase all day on his way to the first of what promise to be numerous wins and the 2023 title in advance of his inevitable promotion to MotoGP in 2024. Canet has become the poster child of a racing bridesmaid, with ten second-place finishes and no wins in his career. With Canet, it’s always something, or someone, or two KTM guys, standing between him and success. I can’t help being put off by the extravagant ink on his neck. Call me old-fashioned.
On to Argentina
Back-to-back weekends start the season as the flying circus heads to South America for Round Two. Michele Pirro will undoubtedly fill in for Bastiannini on the factory Ducati. With any luck, we’ll get to see Jonas Folger or Mika Kallio or–be still my heart–Dani Pedrosa subbing for Little Brother on the GasGas entry. We will return on Saturday with Sprint coverage and the usual slanderous blah blah blah.
The first Saturday of the 2023 MotoGP season left me shaking my head in wonder. All-time track records fell like tenpins. Ducati Desmos were casually flexing their muscles all day. HRC has reduced Marc Marquez from the dominant force in the sport to playing the role of the wily veteran, having to rely on tows and wizardry to stay in the chase. Jack Miller appears to have found a home with KTM. And the first ever MotoGP Sprint was frantic, and breathtaking, while sowing seeds of doubt upon its ultimate effect on Sunday racing. In short, there was something for every taste and budget.
Premier class qualifying was as exciting as ever, with four manufacturers ending up on the first two rows. Marquez and homeboy Miguel Oliveira made it out of Q1, with #93 laying down a vapor trail early in his first run, allowing him to ignore the last seven minutes of the session, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He then spent most of Q2 lollygagging in P12 until a last lap tow from EBas slingshotted him into a new track record and onto pole for the 64th time in his premier class career. Even on the atrocious RC213V, you still don’t want him on your tail late in the game, as we would see again later in the day.
Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin (for whom the Sprints seem to have been specifically designed) filled out the first row. Oliveira, an ecstatic Jack Miller and disgruntled Bastiannini ended up in Row 2. Cole Trickle captured P7 followed by the dangerous VR46 kids. Row four contained a suicidal Fabio Quartararo and two senior citizens, Johann Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. (Pol Espargaro would miss the weekend after getting folded, spindled and mutilated in a bad crash on Friday.) The stage was set for the debut of The Sprint.
Marquez took the hole shot from pole, but was soon swallowed up by Pecco, and Martin, and Oliveira, and Miller, who held the lead for a few seconds on Lap 7. Otherwise, it was mostly Bagnaia and Martin, with the Pramac pilot appearing to hold the upper hand. A five bike lead group became seven around Lap 8 when both Vinales and Espargaro appeared on the scene. Earlier in the race, rookie Augusto Fernandez threw it at the scenery, and Joan Mir Honda-ed himself for not the last time this year, causing Fabio to fall to around P19 on a humbling day for the 2021 world champion. Luca Marini skittled EBas and Marco Bezzecchi took some soil samples, making my fantasy pick of the Mooney team look ridiculous. The plot would thicken for the last three laps.
Bagnaia went through first on Miller, then, on the last lap, on Martin, who had run wide. In between the action, on Lap 11, Oliveira and Miller were enjoying a close encounter when Marquez, who had been keeping his powder dry in P5, ordered up a double, going through on both riders on the way to the podium and seven points, clearly the best overtake of the day. Oliveira got over-excited on the last lap, dropping from P3 to P7, and taking the air out of the crowd. In the end, it was Pecco, Martin and, yup, Marquez on the podium.
The sprint format allows riders the luxury of not having to conserve either fuel or tires, allowing young fast movers like Martin to go balls out and rendering the skills of more experienced rides moot. It places even more emphasis on qualifying than was already the case. It opens up the opportunity for, say, an Enea Bastiannini to get nicked up, harming his prospects for Sunday’s main event. But it IS cool, and bolsters the arguments of some fans who strongly disapprove of the pace-reducing effects of tire and fuel conservation and the always dreadful processions that can occur on Sundays.
Allow me to crow for a moment over the fact that the first four rows this weekend include 12 of my 14 top picks for the season. I’m probably wrong about Miller, Alex Marquez, FDG and Binder; we’ll find out more as the season progresses. Today gave credibility to Simon Crafar’s observation that Italian bikes are likely to dominate 2023. See y’all tomorrow.
Well if you haven’t heard, the MotoGP 1st day fight to determine who’s in Q1 and Q2 tomorrow was a “Thriller”. Jack Miller took fast time in FP2 on his KTM, which frankly is shocking. “The Thriller” has been known to do some amazing things in qualifying and today was no exception. Whether this is a “one lap wonder” or the real deal won’t be determined until the Checkered flag falls tomorrow on the first ever MotoGP Sprint race and the regular race on Sunday. My guess is Jack won’t be in the top 5 in either, but hopefully I’m wrong, because it will add enormous interest to the series.
Second, another surprise, “Top Gun” Maverick Vinales served notice that the Aprilia’s are alive and well to start the 2023 season. He’s always had the speed, we’ll have to see where his head is when the green flag drops. The Aprilia’s proved last year they have the speed to be quick in qualifying AND race distance environments.
Third, defending champ and looking good early to possibly defend, Franco Bagnaia on the first Ducati.
Next, the first of the “Rossi Boys” Luca Marini, I mentioned him multiple times last year and think he’s a title contender in 2023.
Fifth, the always fast Jorge Martin, another Ducati and always a threat to win any MotoGP race. If he keeps the rubber side down an outside chance for a title run.
Sixth, the super talented Fabio Quartuaro on a Yamaha, the lone Japanese bike in the top ten. This weekend should give some serious insight into Yamaha’s “One Man Army’s” chance to possible challenge in 2023. I for one, hope the bike is capable because the rider surely is.
Seventh, Johann Zarco, always good in qualifying should be good in the sprints and hoping he wins his first GP this season.
Eighth, the other “Rossi Boy” Marco Bezzecchi, one pole position a year ago and ready to make some waves in 2023.
Ninth, Aleix Espargaro, putting the second factory Aprilia into Q2. A year ago, a serious title contender until late in the season. If he can have that consistency again, the oldest rider in the field could make a title run, but I think he will need some luck to achieve it.
Tenth, one of my favorites to steal this years title, “The Beast” Enea Bastiannini. With four wins a year ago and constantly hounding Franco Bagnaia late in the season, he certainly has the talent to win the title. However, he will need to be far better in qualifying with the new format because the short sprint races I believe will a have huge impact on the final title standings. Enea is know for his late race charges, but in the Saturday sprint race the charge will have to be immediate and you’ll need a good grid position to collect points.
The whole qualifying scenario takes on a much bigger burden this year because your final qualifying position will determine your grid for the Saturday sprint and full distance Sunday races.
Some other notes Alex Marquez 11th on his first Ducati run. Rough day for the Honda’s 12th, 13th and 14th, Mir, Rins and Marquez in that order with both Mir and Marquez taking soil samples not a good sign. Somebody has to step up in Q1 and try to get a Honda into Q2. Keep an eye on Alex Rins. Sadly, he’s on last years Honda, which we know wasn’t very competitive, but maybe his smooth as glass riding style will help tame that beast as the season unfolds. Sadly, “The Grinder”, Brad Binder way down the time sheets riding with some sort of injury. At any rate, it’s far to early for too much speculation. What we do know is the surprise’s have already started and I think they’ll be more story lines and incredible races this year than any other. Can’t wait until the green flag drops, as you all know that is when the BS stops.
Hey guys, and Allison. This is the code to get you in to our fantasy league for 2023. Put your money where your mouth is and play with us. There is a limit of 40 players. First come, first serve.
Any questions, contact spiff–find him in the comments section of the season preview.
I have no idea how to play, but will figure it out. Kind of like my race coverage.
Grand prix motorcycle racing—MotoGP to aficionados—is a Eurocentric parlor game for the rich and not-so-famous. It involves undersized riders holding on for dear life to 1000cc bikes with astonishing power-to-weight ratios on road courses at venues on four continents, several of which are in countries one is not anxious to visit. It is almost impossible to find on American television. Riders receive trophies for finishing third. It is the little brother of F1. It is NASCAR’s mentally challenged foreign cousin.
However, for the few of you still reading, at its best, MotoGP is the best racing on the planet, a series of hair-raising encounters between riders and machines traveling at well over 100 mph in unbanked turns, separated by inches, with the difference between winning and not winning often measured in a few thousandths of a second. (By comparison, the autonomic blink of an eye takes around 100 milliseconds.)
These guys are fast. Ridiculously fast. Incomprehensibly fast. The engines on the big bikes retail for around a million dollars per, rotate at, like, 17,000 rpm, and are built to tolerances that defy description, at least with the few words in my vocabulary. The noise they make is equally difficult to describe, resembling, in my mind, the sound a nuclear-powered pencil sharpener might make.
Round One of 2023 lifts off this weekend in Portimao, Portugal. Let the games begin.
A Look Back at 2022
2022 was the year Italy completed a hostile takeover of the premier class. Italian manufacturer Ducati Corse won its first world championship since 2007. An Italian rider, Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia, won it all for the first time since the legendary Valentino Rossi in 2009. Ducati won the constructor’s title for the third consecutive year, in part because they had more bikes on the grid—eight out of 24—than any other builder, placing five of them in the top nine. Bagnaia, left for dead in mid-season, trailing defending champion Fabio Quartararo by 91 points, mounted the largest comeback in history for the title, sealed at the season finale in Valencia. It was the most competitive, most compelling season in recent memory.
Moto2 is, in layman’s terms, the junior varsity in MotoGP. All the bikes are powered by 765cc Triumph triples, with teams providing the rest of the components from various manufacturers. Spaniard Augusto Fernandez took the 2022 championship in Austrian monolith KTM colors, ahead of Japanese rider Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Asia team) and Spaniard Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40 team). Fernandez was exceptionally strong in mid-season, at one point winning four races out of six. Ogura, his main challenger during the final two months, choked at season’s end, scoring five (5) points over the final three rounds. Fernandez was the only Moto2 rider rewarded with a promotion to MotoGP for 2023. He will ride for the #2 KTM (GasGas) team, ensuring a second division finish.
I forgot to mention Pedro Acosta, the young Spanish fast mover who will, according to my forthcoming prediction, take the Moto2 title in 2023 and graduate to MotoGP in 2024 where he will soon become A Force to be Reckoned With.
Torturing the analogy, Moto3 is, like, the MotoGP freshman team, although the 250cc bikes are fast and loud. Lap times are a few seconds slower than Moto2, which are, in turn, a few seconds slower than the premier class MotoGP bikes. Moto3 is annually populated by a cadre of upwardly mobile teenagers and a roughly equal number of grizzled veterans who have embraced The Peter Principle and who will never see the saddle of a MotoGP machine. The 2022 title was won by Spanish teenager and rising KTM star Izan Guevara, who will turn 19 this coming June. The Next Great Spanish Rider soundly beat teenaged teammate and countryman Sergio Garcia and Italian Dennis Foggia (Honda) for the title. All three were promoted to Moto2 at season’s end.
2022 Moto3 rookies who had notable seasons include Daniel Holgado, who turns 18 in April, and my personal favorite, David Muñoz, who will turn 17 this year and may be the Next Next Great Spanish Rider.
Premier Class Teams and Riders
For 2023, moto-social Darwinism and economic constraints reduced the number of teams from 12 to 11 and, accordingly, the number of riders from 24 to 22. The riders and teams play musical chairs every year in MotoGP. A few get promoted from the underclasses, others change teams, seeking greener pastures, and the dregs get consigned to the rubbish heap. This year, mixing metaphors, the deck was re-shuffled more than usual due to the demise of the factory Suzuki team. And while only one rider, Augusto Fernandez, had his ticket punched from Moto2 into MotoGP, a larger number than usual headed for the other side of the hill, as follows:
Yamaha shut down their hopeless satellite team and Aprilia added a hopeful one. Yamahan Darryn Binder was shown the door, while Andrea Dovizioso retired. Aprilia recruited former KTM pilots Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira, to rep their new #2 team. The two riders’ prospects appear to have improved with the switch. Aprilia, having recovered from the loss of Gigi Dall’Igna to Ducati ten years ago, is an ascendant program of late.
Rookie Augusto Fernandez will team up with veteran Pol Espargaro, late of the factory Repsol Honda team, on the #2 (KTM) Tech 3 GasGas team, under the careful supervision of jovial French guy (pronounced ghee) Herve Poncharal. Aussie Remy Gardner was advised he was “insufficiently professional” (read: insufficiently Spanish or Italian) and made his way, with a pocketful of sour grapes, to the tacitly less professional World Superbike championship series.
Joan Mir, 2020 World Champion with a couple of asterisks, was left without a seat when Suzuki folded their tent and chose to join the Repsol Honda team alongside Marc Marquez. Exhibiting questionable decision-making skills, this compares to an infant leaving a comfortable bassinet, complete with mother’s milk, to ride alongside Mad Max in the Thunderdome. Former teammate Alex Rins, also revealing impaired judgment, moved on from the comfort of the smooth-riding Suzuki to LCR Honda, whose version of the RC213V is as difficult to ride as the Repsol bikes but slower. His teammate there will be Mr. Cellophane, Takaa Nakagami. It promises to be a long year for Mir and Rins. It is always a long year for Nakagami.
Australian veteran Jack Miller, realizing his own pedigree was insufficiently Italian, chose to leave the factory Ducati team on his terms rather than theirs, and landed squarely on the factory KTM team, joining skeletal South African mercenary Brad Binder on the only entirely Anglo team on the grid. Miller’s initial bubbly optimism about the move lasted until the first test in Sepang. Such is life.
In a classic MotoGP three-way, once Miller vacated the factory Ducati crew, Enea Bastiannini got promoted from Gresini Ducati to replace him alongside world champion Pecco Bagnaia, and Alex Marquez escaped from LCR to Gresini, where it is thought, at least here, he will scout the Ducati ecosystem as an advance man for his brother Marc, who has only so many years left to await Honda’s return to respectability. Alex will be welcomed by returning Gresini up-and-comer Fabio de Giannantonio, who is singlehandedly causing a shortage of lower-case Ns amongst the journalists covering the sport. (We decided last season to refer to him as FDG to conserve consonants.)
The remaining four teams made no changes in their rider lineup this season. Aprilia #1 with a resurgent Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro. The hobbled Yamaha team of Fabulous Quartararo and an enigmatic Frankie Morbidelli. Rossi’s Mooney VR46 Ducati team with Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, and Pramac Ducati with whiz kid Jorge Martin and aging Frenchman Johann Zarco. If I had to make a prediction for 2024, I would expect Morbidelli and Zarco to exit the premier class stage after this year, followed soon thereafter by Aleix.
Sprint Races? C’mon, Man
In the face of declining fan interest in the sport, The Powers That Be decided to put on flattering imitations of the sprint races found in World Superbike and, on occasion, F1. Essentially, these will be half-length tilts run on Saturdays in the place of the execrable FP4 sessions. In the past, cumulative fast times in the first three practice sessions determined which 10 riders would pass automatically into the QP2 pole shootout, with the remnant having to slug it out in QP1 for the top two slots which would then pass GO into QP2. As of 2023, these determinations will occur after FP2, throwing a real sense of urgency into Fridays. That’s the good news. The results from QP1 and 2 will determine starting positions for both the sprints and the full distance races on Sundays.
This year, the last event on Saturdays will be premier class sprint races. The top eight finishers will score points–9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1—while the other 14 will put hours on their engines and chew up a set of tires. No changes have been made in engine allocations, despite the fact that the number of race laps the engines will have to complete will increase by half. Look for penalties to be assessed late in the season as teams run out of operational engines.
While the fans, at least those still sober at 3 pm, will get to see riders competing in anger on Saturdays, the pilots and crews will pay the price, especially in the autoclaves of Thailand, Malaysia, India and Indonesia. (I’m torn between using “autoclave” and “blast furnace” to depict the hellish conditions in these places.) The older riders—notably the Espargaro brothers and Zarco—will suffer more, despite the chilling effect of 200 mph headwinds. And nobody gives a hoot about the brolly girls and what they will have to endure, in full pancake makeup and leather trousers.
Personally, I get the feeling that the sprint races, as currently configured, will be a full-blown cluster, most notably in October, with three races in three weeks, including Indonesia and Thailand. I also get the feeling, for the record, that the Indian Grand Prix will not make it onto the final calendar due to construction issues, that the 21- round season will eventually be reduced to 20. Just sayin’.
The Big Questions: Will Borat Attend the Kazakhstan Grand Prix? And Where Can We Find His Sister?
Tranches
One has to be a moron to try to predict the eventual 2023 MotoGP standings when there’s still snow on the ground. Undeterred, and using my proprietary and well-worn SWAG (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess) predictive software, here goes:
Pecco Bagnaia. A formidable combination—the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo on the best bike on Earth, the 2023 title is his to lose.
Enea Bastiannini. Young, smooth, easy on tires and fearless. The teammates appear ready to dominate the season the way Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello did F1 in 2002.
Marc Marquez. #93 is, for the moment, 100% healthy. Despite being stuck with the crappy Honda RC213V, he will finish the year on the podium. At age 30, his days of dominance are numbered. But, as Nick Harris used to say about Valentino Rossi, “Ignore him at your peril.”
Maverick Vinales. Going out on a limb here, Pop Gun showed a few flashes of his old form last year, and the Aprilia has become a credible contender. He will finish ahead of aging, arm-pumping teammate Aleix Espargaro.
Fabio Quartararo. As gifted as Fabulous is, the Yamaha doesn’t appear yet to provide him with enough grunt to compete for a championship. This is his final contract with the Iwata factory. As for the rest of the field, I’ll just let the software do the predicting:
Jorge Martin
Aleix Espargaro
Marco Bezzecchi
Brad Binder
Luca Marini
Fabio di Giannantonio
Joan Mir
Jack Miller
Miguel Oliveira
Johann Zarco
Alex Rins
Pol Espargaro
Raul Fernandez
Alex Marquez
Franco Morbidelli
Takaa Nakagami
Augusto Fernandez
And the 2023 Winner Is…
Moto3: Jaume Masia
Moto2: Pedro Acosta
MotoGP: Pecco Bagnaia
For Those of You Who Think I Don’t Know What I’m Talking About
No argument here. You will find more informative articles on any number of other sites. We’re willing to settle for cheap laughs, mostly at the expense of the authority figures in a sport that seems to take itself way too seriously. Most of you reading this drivel are riders who view the statement, “I want to grow up and be a motorcycle rider” as a choice. The punchline is you can’t do both.
Having made your decisions, I’m here to give you the opportunity to express yourself. Reader engagement is the currency of life on the web. We hope you will take the time to share your opinions without dropping a lot of F-bombs, as we jealously protect our PG-13 rating.
I will post results from each of the 21 rounds this year.
So much for 2022. It was a year that restored some normalcy to the MotoGP calendar after two years of Covid-related disruption. It was the year of The Comeback, Pecco Bagnaia’s resurrection from the ashes of spring. It was the year Aprilia stepped up to credibility and Suzuki retreated to incredibility. It was the year Marc Marquez convinced a lot of people his winning ways with Honda were behind him. It was the year Andrea Dovizioso left the fray and David Muñoz entered.
Valencia in a Nutshell
Today’s Moto3 championship was over before it started. Meet Izan Guevara, 2022 Moto3 champion and Alien-in-Waiting, on his way to Moto2 on Wednesday. Guevara, teammate Sergio Garcia and the rugged Dennis Foggia have been promoted to Moto2 beginning this week, making it even more daunting, joining names like Acosta, Oncu, Ogura and Lopez in the fast lane starting next year.
The Moto2 title was decided on Lap 8 today when Ai Ogura completed a late season gagfest by crashing out after having crashed at Sepang two weeks earlier. Meet Augusto Fernandez, 2022 Moto2 champion and premier class arriviste, alongside Pol Espargaro. He had the easiest day of any of the champions on Sunday.
The MotoGP championship was not formally decided until today, when Pecco Bagnaia did enough to sustain his grip on the 2022 championship in a race which was won, incidentally, by Alex Rins, adding an ironic footnote to Suzuki’s tenure in the premier class. Marco Bezzecchi won Rookie of the Year. Ducati won everything else.
Looking back over the season’s results, Bagnaia turned the corner on Quartararo beginning at Round 11 in Assen, when he reeled off four straight wins, cutting the Frenchman’s lead from 91 to 30. He finished the job during the Pacific flyaway rounds, when he left Europe with a 10-point deficit and returned with a 23-point lead.
Before proceeding, a word to those who recall my pre-season preview and the big hairy deal I made about one statistic in particular. My keen insight this past winter was that, with so many competitive riders, the one who managed to stay onboard the most would likely win the championship. I’m pretty sure no one has noticed that the top three finishers for the year—Pecco, Fabio and EBas—had, respectively, 5, 3 and 4 offs. Aleix, with only one DNF all year (a mechanical today) finished in P4. Awesome.
Premier class changes for 2023
Suzuki gone. Mir to Repsol, Rins to LCR
Aprilia satellite team with Raul Fernandez and M Oliveira
Bastiannini replaces Miller on factory Ducati
Alex Marquez teams with FDG at Gresini Ducati
Brad Binder and Jack Miller on factory KTM
Augusto Fernandez (the only rider up from Moto2 for 2023) and Pol Espargaro on satellite Tech3 GASGAS team
Frankie Morbidelli, somehow, remains on the factory Yamaha team. There will no longer be a satellite Yamaha team.
Darryn Binder gone. Remy Gardner gone. Purging Anglos. Eleven teams, 22 riders, and the competition is, and will continue to be, fierce. Our crack research staff is checking to see how many all-time track records were set this year, both by Jorge Martin and everyone else. This despite the control ECU and the crappy Michelins and so on and so forth. The new wings on Marquez’ bike look like they are in the retracted position. On long straights, they what? Extend to their full length, relieving #93 of having to make contact with that pesky asphalt that keeps jumping up and hitting him in the head? I sound like I have made it to Codger level in my Old & In the Way video game.
Jorge Martin, with his third consecutive pole and fifth of the year, is on his way to becoming another Fast on Saturday rider. In golf, the expression is that you drive for show and putt for dough. In MotoGP, take pole then DNF. I did keep track of Randy de Puniet one entire season in which he never did finish higher than he qualified.
Wait! There’s More!
Martin on pole was joined by a jubilant Marquez and Jack Miller on the front row, Fabio in P4, Pecco in P8. Good to see Miller pushing right through to the end; I imagine he’s anxious to get his shiny new KTM RC16 up to speed as soon as possible in 2023. Matt Birt alluded to how stiff the engineers at KTM are to get input from Miller, who is likely to help them Ducatify the KTM. Likewise, the budding collaboration between Raul Fernandez, Miguel Oliveira and the Aprilia engineers appears promising for next year, perhaps 2024. And Augusto Fernandez, up from Moto2 to team up with Pol Espargaro at the Tech3 GASGAS team, can look forward to Pol’s instructions on how to talk about winning. Not actually winning, but talking about it.
In addition to capturing Ducati’s first rider’s trophy since 2007, Bagnaia overcame perhaps the biggest lead (-91 points after Sachsenring) of any rider since the TV announcers started screaming into their microphones. He became the fourth different MotoGP champion in the last four years. He is the first Italian since Rossi to hoist the trophy. And he did it on an Italian bike. At age 20-something. He brings his girlfriend with him every weekend as part of a deal he has with her. He is welcome to leave her home, however he must also hang his testicles in the hall closet before leaving.
Pre-Tranching 2023
Interesting to consider who the contenders are likely to be in 2023. These are in my own rough order.
Pecco Ducati
Marquez Honda
Fabio Yamaha
Bastiannini Ducati
Aleix Aprilia
Martin Ducati
Bezzecchi Ducati
No Suzuki. No KTM. One Aprilia, one Honda, one Yamaha. Four Ducatis. The rich get richer. Frankie Morbidelli better hope his ship comes back in, as his factory Yamaha contract expires at the end of next year and he is starting to stink. Presumably, the new and improved 2023 iteration (?) of the M1 will help not only #20 but #21 as well. His ankle is probably as good as it’s going to get.
Zarco, Marquez and Martin are the non-Italians in the 2023 Ducati rider stable. As such, all other things being equal, they would be most vulnerable in the event of a downturn in the fortunes of the Bologna bunch. Nationalism is alive and well in MotoGP. I know it is a dream held in the heart of the executives at Ducati Corse that all eight of their MotoGP riders speak Italian as their first language, that the dominant, ascendant language of MotoGP be Italian. The Aprilia suits in Noale second that emotion and fancy themselves deserving of a top three manufacturer trophy. The pendulum has swung away from the Japanese factories in favor of the Europeans; in the case of Suzuki, it has come entirely unattached. What a shame. And KTM appears ready to exert some influence on the title chase.
Too Many Teenagers
The decision by the Formidable Fromages of Dorna, FIM et al to raise the minimum age in Moto3 to 18 means more than just the obvious. For the riders who have it going on, who are capable of winning grand prix races at age 16, it will have the effect of truncating their careers by up to two years. Since riders generally peak in their twenties, it’s kind of a bummer. The riders who graduate into MotoGP typically spend 3-5 years in the lightweight classes; most of them start around age 16. The new reg means the wannabe Aliens will get their first MotoGP ride at, say, age 23 rather than age 21. Plus, it is easy to argue that the grid, top to bottom, is truly faster and younger than it was a decade ago, that premier class opportunities are hard to come by and harder to capture. Perhaps the entire pre-premier class stage will get compressed, from 3-5 years down to 2-3.
One Last Word
It has been said we are in the golden age of MotoGP, that the sport has never been healthier, the equipment more sophisticated, the riders more athletic, better trained, better fed, better everything’d. I have no reason to argue with this observation. Look at the way all-time track records have fallen in the past two years and you can see it’s true. Plus, the difference in speed between the top ten or fifteen riders has never been smaller. We’ve gone from measuring in hundredths to measuring in thousandths. It’s a hard knock life.
In the recent past, we have spoken about various eras in MotoGP and have always discussed them in terms of riders. The Rossi Era. The Lorenzo Era. The Marquez Era. That seems to have changed. What we were actually observing were different iterations of the Era of Japanese Manufacturers, which now appears to have given way to the Era of European Manufacturers, with names like Ducati, Aprilia and KTM waxing and names like Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha on the wane. Lenovo Ducati appears to be the first of a wave of European teams in line to capture the title, with several other Ducati teams already in the hunt and the Aprilia and KTM programs getting noticeably better every year. Yeah, OK, KTM lost a step this year, but they’ll get it back with Jack Miller. Meanwhile, Suzuki can’t make it work with just two bikes, while Yamaha and Honda face major engineering projects to get their bikes competitive again.
Once again it has been a pleasure libeling the contestants in my favorite sport. I do this work just for the applause, so please keep those cards and letters coming. Best wishes for 2023. And congratulations to Messrs. Guevara, Fernandez and Bagnaia for showing championship form in 2022.
The muffled, rhythmic, pneumatic sound you hear in the background comes from the equipment keeping Fabio Quartararo’s 2022 MotoGP title hopes alive. Mathematically speaking. People with a dog in this fight will tell you the championship is now down to an exciting shootout in Valencia, despite Quartararo’s indisposition. As if. Young Pecco must now endure another two weeks of nightmares, in which, being dogged by Quartararo, he crashes late in Valencia, and lies there in the gravel watching the Italian punk him and win the title. Whereas Fabio has had to endure a long late-season decline, Bagnaia’s deep set fear must be choking in his One Shining Moment.
Saturday
I was working my grandson like a field hand in the yard most of Saturday–paid him handsomely and fixed his lunch, gave him a few free secrets of life etc.–and so missed most of the action from the track. I’m now ignoring Moto3 and can’t stand the suspense of Moto2, so I’ll focus on the big bikes this week. This is, after all, where Fabio Quartararo’s dream of repeating as MotoGP world champion was going to go up in smoke, courtesy of a miserable second half of the season, a hand injury at exactly the wrong time, and the blinding dominance of the bikes manufactured by Ducati Corse. Marquez said after qualifying he is losing 3/10ths to the Ducatis in the main straight. The Yamaha is losing 3/10ths to Marquez. The writing has been on the wall for some time in the premier class. Fabio will not repeat as MotoGP champion in 2022.
Qualifying was another master class by two riders clearly at the top of their respective games, Marc Marquez once again, Pecco Bagnaia at last. My favorite interviewer, Simon Crafar, was in the booth today, observing that the Honda RC213V does not have a single winning characteristic, yet there goes Marquez, putting it in places no other rider can even conceive of, ending up in P3 for the start of the race. In Q1 with double zeroes on the clock, he steals a ticket into Q2. Afterwards, he is surrounded by the resurgent Alex Rins avec his soon-to-be-extinct Suzuki GSX-RR and another quartet of the damned Italian engineering marvels, starting in P1 where Jorge Martin calmly set an all-time track record (by 6/10ths!) in Q2. EBas sits in P2 looking frisky, with Rossi’s wild boys, Bezzecchi and Marini, sitting pretty on Row 2. Marquez gives the impression of being close to 100% again. His bike gives the impression it needs to be taken back behind the garage and shot.
For those of you keeping score at home, the top three contenders for the 2022 MotoGP title–Pecco Bagnaia, Fabio Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro–would be starting Sunday’s race in P9, P12 and P10 respectively. Disrespectively. How this happened would take a while to explain, but my theory of untimely crashes is coming into clear focus. I’m looking forward to writing the season recap, as events seem to be unfolding as expected, other than Aleix is probably doomed. Oh, and the fact that the north star of my predictions, and worldview, is on its way to being proven exactly wrong.
Sunday
There were moments in the middle of the race in which the tension was absolutely superb, moments which offered us a glimpse of the immediate future–Bagnaia and Bastiannini dominating the 2023 championship season–as well as my own vision of the future, in which Ducati Corse makes the decision to stop supporting all these random teams and simply becomes the engine supplier for the premier class, the rest of the OEMs reduced to Moto2 status, building their brand entries around a single engine. The superiority of the Italian machines is occasionally blinding and was on full display at Sepang after taking six of the top eight spots in Australia a week ago (minus the top two, for whatever reason.) Today a podium closeout was shaping up until Jorge Martin, who had destroyed a longstanding track record during QP2, casually crashed out of a comfortable lead on Lap 7, doing a reasonable impression of Warren Zevon’s “Excitable Boy.”
For me, the most interesting part of the race occurred during laps 9 through 14 when Bagnaia and EBas were arguing over the lead and young Marco Bezzecchi, spawn of the Valentino Rossi clan, suddenly appeared on Quartararo’s tail. The sitch at the time was if Bezzecchi could overtake Quartararo and Pecco hold on to win, the championship would be over. The announcers theorized that MB’s tires were going off. My own thought was that he was thinking, “Step three on the podium, or make the factory bitch win it on his own in Spain?” To me, it looked like he backed off, but that’s just me. Same way I looked at Martin’s off–my notes read ‘team player,’ promoting Bagnaia to the lead. Silly.
My new favorite metaphor for crashing out of the race came courtesy of Louis Suddaby, describing Bastiannini’s decision “not to throw it at the scenery,” a phrase which is bound to show up in future articles…By Lap 2 it looked as if we were going to see an electric face-off between Quartararo in P5 and Marquez in P4, but it never took place. Quartararo went through early while Marquez faded, as expected, ending his day in P7. It was a set-up ripe for controversy, had the two mixed it up while the Ducati contingent was busy getting away. Maybe next year.
Thinking about how Ducati has seemingly found a way to solve the economics of MotoGP, compared to the quandary endured by Suzuki, having experienced recent success but unable to make the numbers work for even a single team…Brad Binder, with his skeletal air, his shaved head and beard looks like one of the South African mercenaries so often found in modern action films. Don’t mess with him on the track… I had to post the photo of Carmelo Ezpeleta and Sultan Somethingorother, Carmelo, the Big Cheese of MotoGP, doing an excellent job of not sweating through his trousers, while the Sultan, Grand Gouda of the locals, looks cool as a cucumber in the equatorial steam bath…The rain expected by the announcers never materialized, to the dismay of fans like myself who love the entropy of flag-to-flag tilts…
On to Valencia
Before Round 18 at Phillip Island, there were five combatants–Pecco, Fabio, Aleix, Miller and EBas.
Before Round 19 today, there were four–Pecco, Fabio, Aleix and EBas.
Heading to Round 20 in Valencia, there remain but two contestants. The Italian holds every card in the deck; the Frenchman, with a broken finger on his left hand, can’t even hold the few cards he has. The Italian, with his fellow Ducati teams, will have, in effect, up to seven wingmen watching his six should the need arise. The Frenchman is all on his own, his teammate mired in the muck all year, the satellite guys ready and willing but unable to help fend off the swarm of Desmos. On paper, it looks to be no contest, Pecco riding the last two laps with one hand on the handlebars and the other blowing kisses to the irritated fans, who want, above all, to see a Spaniard on the top step and hear their beloved anthem one more time in 2022. This November, the contest writ large will not involve a Spaniard, not that the fans care that much. The rumor expected to be circulating in the stands at the finale will assure all those in attendance that, like the swallows to Capistrano, #93 will be back next year, and the anthem is likely to get a good workout once again.
See you in two weeks.
Brolly #1Brolly #2SepangThese Frenchmen are incorrigible. Don’t do it, Johann.Big Cheese and Grand Gouda.Then there were two…
Fabio’s downfall continues; Bagnaia seizes series lead
MotoGP fans around the world enjoyed a feast of two-wheeled drama in Australia today as the 2022 championships–Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP–approach the last dance in Valencia next month.
Moto3 crowned its latest Spanish racing savant as 18-year-old Izan Guevara sealed his first grand prix championship in fine style, battling Garcia, Sasaki and Dennis Oncu the entire way. Guevara showed the world what he’s made of by riding his ass off for the win when he didn’t need the win to seal the championship.
In doing so, Guevara was able to avoid the awkward podium scene we saw back in 20?? involving your boy Jorge Lorenzo and one Marc Marquez. In the race, won by Lorenzo, Marquez had clinched the championship. During the podium celebration, Lorenzo was blowing celebratory gaskets, flexing and yelling about his nice win. Marquez, on step two, stood by, quietly watching The Lorenzo Show. After the anthem, Marquez and his team celebrated their most recent world championship. This was not a scene young Izan wanted to see repeated.
The reborn Alonso Lopez won Sunday’s Moto2 tilt by laying down a vapor trail around Turn 6 of Lap 1 and was never challenged, despite having to serve an Australian long lap penalty–similar to just going wide at a number of tracks–on Lap 3. The real action, involving the last two riders standing in 2022–Augusto Fernandez and Ai Ogura–showcased the volatility inherent in motorsports. Late in the day, Fernandez was cruising in P2, looking to put Ogura away while the Japanese rider was stuck in the mud in Single Digit Point Land. Suddenly, without warning or need, Fernandez lost the front and slid out of nirvana, while Ogura, limping home in P11, took over the series lead. For Fernandez, what should have been a 16+ point lead heading to Sepang is a four point deficit. Let Valencia decide.
MotoGP
The main event at Phillip Island in 2022 was exhausting, exhilarating, enervating and enduring and will likely be mentioned in conversations about the best races ever for years to come. My notes look like a process map for a Rube Goldberg device, arrows pointing up, down, and right, square boxes around crashers, deltas where standings were changing. When the smoke cleared and the cheering died down, Fabio Quartararo had surrendered his series lead to the increasingly inevitable Pecco Bagnaia (P3), who kept his composure while those around him were losing theirs. Let’s discuss. PS–Suzuki, with Alex Rins riding like a banshee, won the race today. One more turn of the screw piercing our sense of right and wrong, that such an ascendant program as Suzuki’s would be unable to continue their participation.
While the riders waited for the red lights to go out, Fabio led Bagnaia by two points; the Frenchman possibly distressed over the memory of leading Pecco by 66 points after Catalunya. The second half of the season has seen a steady erosion of El Diablo’s dominance; he has failed to score points in half of the last eight races. We are happy to speak of, and unhappy to observe, young Fabio’s descent into mortality, as we (and others) have seen it coming all year, #20 trying to milk all he can from an under-powered Yamaha M-1. He has been over-riding all year, holding on for dear life, trying to manufacture a winning recipe of his riding style with the bike’s strengths, but it has appeared to be a losing battle since mid-season. One fears that during the next two seasons, Fabio Quartararo will learn the lessons learned by all those who married for money.
Once again, for the third round in succession, Marc Marquez appeared ready and able but unwilling to challenge seriously for the win. In Motegi it was a mostly relaxed P5. In Buriram it was a rather leisurely P4. Today, he was firmly ensconced in the lead group all day, yet it appeared he was hovering or hesitating, resisting opportunities to go through on opponents he would have gleefully seized three years ago. Today, with a credible P2 he achieved his 100th grand prix podium. He tells us the new aero package in development for the RC213V is the way to salvation, intimating he will be back in full fighting trim next season. I, for one, would be glad to see it.
Alex Rins had one of those days riders dream about, in which he had the best bike on a fast track with the sun shining and the wind blowing and it all just worked out and he fought his way from mid-pack at the start into the lead group and finally into the lead and the win with a remarkable performance. It was one of those days riders might think of as easy, as if anything is really easy on two wheels at 200 mph. My friend Don tells me that 60 mph equates to 90 feet per second. Ergo 180 mph equates to 270 fps. So the guys can travel the length of a football field in a second, give or take. For me, simply breathing at 180 mph would be a serious challenge. We are glad to see Rins enjoying himself during a year in which his house came down around his ears.
Elsewhere in the top five, Bastianini struggled all day before finishing an uninspiring P5, still alive mathematically but dead in every other respect. His future, however, remains so bright he’ll need shades. Frightening to consider how good the factory Ducati team could be next year… Aleix’s late season fade continues, his seven points today not feeding the beast… Jack Miller got hammered by Alex Marquez on Lap 9, putting an end to his faint championship hopes, but allowing him an opportunity to jump the fence and party with his friends at the brand new Jack Miller Corner…Valentino Rossi’s two young guns, Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini, continue to impress during the second half of the season. Bezzecchi claimed P4 and Marini P6 today. This was Bezzecchi’s first visit to Phillip Island on a MotoGP bike and he was mostly sensational during the last half of the race, wearing his big boy pants, grinning at the veterans as he went by.
A lot of other stuff went on and you can read about it almost anywhere. Here at Late-Braking MotoGP we are looking for meaning, trying to find our place in the universe, seeing things through our little out-of-round lens. For us, Fabio is a one-man passion play, a champion and an underdog at the same time whose obvious virtue and competitive spirit are not enough to overcome the voracious appetites of the suits at Ducati Corse. Pecco is handicapped by his inability to recognize life-threatening situations, the result being that he either wins or gets helped to his feet by the marshals. When he retires, he should go into advertising. Aleix should be sprawled on the floor in a corner of his garage with a guitar, singing, “Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up To Me.” After years of struggle, he once again allowed his heart to get the better of him, believing in mid-season that he had a legit look at the championship. ‘Tis better to have loved, and lost…
So, we’re down to it now. One championship decided, two to go. Moto2 is anyone’s guess, but I’m staying with my mid-season pick of Fernandez to finish on top. I was jocking Aleix during the summer break, just as my own sentimental favorite. Today, you have to believe Bagnaia will be the 2022 champion. He is likely to eat Sepang for lunch (while Quartararo struggles) and render Valencia meaningless once again.
We look forward to your comments and constructive criticisms. lol
We here at Late-Braking MotoGP have admittedly become something of a clanging gong on the subject of Fabio Quartararo and the likelihood of his repeating as world champion in 2022. Such concerns arrived in full force today in the steam bath that is Buriram, in a part of the world that offers one a choice of climatic conditions. Not a range, mind you, but a choice–heat found only on hell’s front porch or torrential downpours that raise the humidity above 100%. These come and go with reckless abandon, causing events such as we saw today in Round 17.
Doesn’t the editorial We above sound better than some mope sitting at his kitchen table clattering away about stuff he doesn’t really understand?
I suppose I should mention somewhere that Miguel Oliveira won the race.
I have our crack research staff examining 2022 records for help answering the following question: Is a rider’s fate on Sunday largely decided by the events in FP3 and Q1, or are you stupid? Of course it’s decided on Saturday, from top to bottom. I’ve decided I love the current qualifying format in that it is progressively Darwinian. You have to make the top 10 in the combined FP1 – FP3 sessions. If you fail to do so, it is imperative that you battle through Q1 to make it to Q2. [When was the last time a rider won in MotoGP starting outside the top 12? The nerds are looking into that, as well. No they’re not.] Once in Q2, it is ultra-helpful if the rider can finish the session above the 50th percentile, i.e., in the first two rows. Only then does one get a credible chance for the win.
One example of this (not a very good one) was Johann Zarco today, who got pistol-whipped at the start from P5 and spent his day trying to get his wipers to work in traffic, with a notable lack of success. Until Lap 15, when he laid down the first of five consecutive fastest race laps and put himself up with the big dogs for the last half dozen. He would overtake Marquez, who appeared to develop grip issues late in the day, but was unable to penetrate Bagnaia for a place on the podium. Likewise, Marquez missed a decent chance to capture his 100th career podium, but he looked fit doing it. He barged into a couple of riders along the way today, but escaped penalty, unless he’s the rider given three extra seconds for bashing directly into Marco Bezzecchi without so much as a by your leave on Lap 8. Just sayin’.
I guess what I’m suggesting is that my idea back in 2008 when the Indianapolis round was busy failing due to Hurricane Ike that new venues, like the IMS at the time, offer free admission on the first Saturday of racing. Give the uninitiated a dozen or so sessions during the day, saving the best for last. In the absence of a tropical depression, such a promotion could have brought 150,000 paid admissions on Sunday; it would have instantly become the best-attended race on the calendar. A full day of MotoGP, all three classes, is enough to get any 4 wheel gearhead interested in two-wheeled racing. Although the thought of offering free admission on Saturday during the dubious India round could result in six or seven million people crashing the gates. Not a great idea after all, I suppose.
Today’s race was highlighted by the fact that the riders had virtually no practice time whatsoever, at all, no how no way. None. A couple of extra sighting laps before the race. The notable mudders on the grid–Miller, Oliveira, Marquez, Alex (!) Marquez, Zarco–were going to have a good day, being veterans comfortable on rain tires. Oddly, rookie and Valentino Rossi protégé Marco Bezzecchi took pole on Saturday, joined by Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia for an all Ducati front row. Duc Duc Duc. Young Marco took the hole shot and proceeded to get mauled by pretty much everyone, ending his day in P16.
By Lap 4, Jack Miller had established a clear but unconvincing lead, with KTM wet weather ace Miguel Oliveira sniffing around his tailpipe. Oliveira took P2 from Bezzecchi on Lap 7 and seized the lead from Miller on Lap 8 as Aleix Espargaro was being assessed a long lap penalty for, as I understand it, “being kind of an asshole all day,” as it said in the FIM press release. I overheard the announcers say that someone had been assessed a three-second penalty for conduct unbecoming, but missed the rider’s name. One of you, I’m sure, will inform me. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was #93.
Quartararo’s day was awful in several ways. He gave up 16 of his 18 point lead and now is in a dogfight with Bagnaia for the title. Aleix sits in third, any momentum he enjoyed early in the season largely gone. EBas had a quiet P6 today, his ten points taking him to within 18 of Bagnaia. And along comes Jack, suddenly, having secured 45 points in the last eight days, sitting in a somewhat menacing P5. Conceding the win to Oliveira late in the race, Miller appeared somewhat circumspect about the prospect of trading paint with the rider he will replace on the KTM factory team next season.
For me, the highlight of the day occurred after the conclusion, when Simon Crafar, World’s Worst Interviewer, was sufficiently at sea, all deer in headlights, such that he could only manage to ask Pecco, “How happy are you?” I suspect Simon is moonlighting for some magazine, maybe Us or Forever21, and that he bootlegs these clips into articles about relationships and feelings and leather.
OK. I heard Matt Birt allude to the possibility the 2022 title could be decided in Valencia. So, we Dummies, we Morons, can look forward to that prospect today, when six weeks ago it seemed unlikely. Reality, it seems, has caught up with your boy Fabio and I’m afraid it’s downhill from here. Phillip Island and Sepang are happy hunting grounds for the Ducati phalanx. As usual, the primary question remains, “Who is composed enough to stay out of the gravel during the last four rounds?” Which is why we watch this stuff. I wish I had it in me to share my thoughts on Moto3 and Moto2 today. All I can say at this time is that the Moto2 race was shredded by the weather and, accordingly, for the first time in my memory, awarded half points to the riders of the truncated fiasco. The main beneficiaries of this decision, it would appear, are the bookmakers who can now avoid pushes using full point spread increments. There’s a sentence in there somewhere.
A week off before heading out to Australia and Malaysia. It appears plausible to believe 2022 will be one of those years when two riders head to Valencia within three points of one another, perhaps with a third another ten points back. A race in which the three riders will push all of their chips into the middle of the table, look each other in the eye, and say, “All in.” The guys who are making the videos recapping each MotoGP season will get their teeth into the jangling nerves and rampant obsessive compulsive disorders on display behind the scenes in Valencia on Friday night. One guy on the team stress-refreshing the Accuweather forecast. Fabio getting his roots done. Vinales on the phone for two hours with his infant daughter discussing race strategy. Jack Miller getting well into the beer before arm-wrestling members of his team. The young VR46 guns, Marini and Bezzecchi and Bastiannini, sitting with The Great Rossi listening to stories about 2008, barely able to keep their eyes open other than the breathtaking number of, um, encounters with, ahem, female admirers.
The hits just keep coming in MotoGP. Stay tuned for more up-to-date expressions of wild speculation.
Jack Miller dominates; Quartararo extends series lead
The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, after getting skipped by The Powers That Be for the last two years, gave the fans an odd little race. The kind of race it was today: Series leader Fabio Quartararo, stuck in the mid-pack mud all day, finished in P8 and extended his series lead. Everyone’s favorite underdog, Aleix Espargaro, got undone on the sighting lap, something terminal with the electronics on his Aprilia, forcing him to pit, drop his bike, jump on his #2 bike, and start from pit lane in a distant P25. Aleix rode his ass off all day only to finish in P16, pointless.
Factory Ducati pilot Pecco Bagnaia, he of the gi-normous expectations heading into the season, found himself slugging it out in the aforementioned mud with his rival, series leader Quartararo, on the final lap. Young Pecco choked on the lowside, trudging through the gravel, clapping his hands in mock appreciation for what he later implied was an error by someone on his crew. Oh, and factory Ducati #2 pilot Jack Miller owned the place all weekend, seized the lead in today’s race on Lap 3 when he went through on Pramac brother-in-arms Jorge Martin and proceeded to lay down a Marquez-esque vapor trail on his way to his fourth win in the premier class.
Ducati did well, as expected, today. Placed five machines in the top ten and two on the podium. Gigi–gotta love this guy–sitting in the garage during the race, looking relaxed, wondering whether he should order more tiramasu. There was a point in the race when Matt Birt stopped to observe that he had just seen a Ducati turn inside a Yamaha for the first time ever. Having seen the results before watching the tape, on Lap 23 I wrote, “KITTENS COMING,” in anticipation of the meltdown Matt and Louis would suffer watching Pecco coming unglued on the last lap. Sure enough, right on cue, here they came. I could only be thankful that Steve Day is no longer in the booth, as he was always the one having kittens.
Fabio may be The Blessed Rider again this year; if so, it would represent a truly great season-long body of work on a sadly inferior machine. But really, he struggled all day to manage P8 which would have been P9 had Pecco not surrendered to the laws of physics. Aleix had the best qualifying of the four contenders in P6 prior to the debacle at the start. EBas started from P15 before finishing in P9. And Bagnaia hamstrung himself today by slogging to a P12 during Qualifying #2. It appears that most of our fearless leaders are feeling the pressure of having a premier class championship within their reach. The answer, in all likelihood, will lie, as we have been saying all year, in the number of crashes/DNFs the riders accumulate, as follows:
Rider Points DNF
Fabio Quartararo 219 2
Pecco Bagnaia 201 5
Aleix Espargaro 194 1*
Enea Bastianini 170 4
*mechanical failure at the start
Looking at things this way, it’s entirely possible to project Espargaro winning the title. Fabio spending his entire days on the limit is a blueprint for disaster. Bagnaia has people wondering why he doesn’t get it, that if he would only keep the shiny side up a little more often he would be leading the championship. That he doesn’t should great hope to the Espargaro family. Here’s what the season would look like if Quartararo and Bagnaia were to crash out in Thailand, allowing Aleix to win and EBas to place second:
Quartararo 219
Espargaro 219
Bagnaia 201
Bastianini 190
With four rounds left, I’m confident both Fabio and Pecco will slide out of one of them. The question is whether Aleix can keep his nose clean for an entire season. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy seeing him take the title after so many years of fruitless toil.
Marc Marquez seized pole on Saturday, just to remind folks how extraordinarily successful he has been here in the past. He took the hole shot and held the lead for three or four turns before getting swallowed up by a gaggle of riders not riding with one arm. He sat in P5 pretty much all day before taking Miguel Oliveira’s lunch money on the final lap for P4.
The factory KTM operation had things going their way today, placing Binder on the podium and Oliveira in the top five, too. Another guy I’ve been ignoring, but who is getting harder and harder to ignore, is Luca Marini. The sophomore has scored points in 13 of the 16 rounds to date. He worked his way up front and was tagging along with the lead group by the end of the day. The grid these days seems absolutely packed with fast young Italian riders, another node of The Rossi Effect. Another example–Marco Bezzecchi, late of the VR46 Academy, will be the runaway winner of the 2022 ROY award aboard his Desmosedici. The future is bright for Ducati pilots in the years to come. Ecstar Suzuki, on the other hand, had one rider out injured, a second retired with a mechanical issue, and their test rider/wild card had to make a hasty exit from his GSX-RR which was, at that moment, engulfed in flames. Doing a Zarco is what we call that around here.
So it’s off to Thailand to see how riders under extreme pressure perform in an autoclave. I think such conditions favor the younger riders who are physically more able to withstand the heat. But the veterans have been here before and to Sepang and know how to hold up over race distance. For Fabio, Pecco and Aleix, the season is now. Young Bastianini is going to have to ignore the championship, keep his head down, and score as many points as possiblle each time out. Oh, and remember not to crash.
Events at Aragon this past weekend have re-ignited the firestorm that has surrounded Marc Marquez since he rode in the 125cc class back in 2008 (the year I started covering MotoGP). The eight-time world champion, his boyish good looks having been displaced by a steely persona, has as many fans as detractors. Let’s see what’s at the root of this split.
First, whenever we see a rider win his first grand prix or his first championship, there is almost always an outpouring of emotion, often tears; such celebrations have obviously come at a cost to the rider and his family. The winnowing process in motorcycle racing is as brutal as it is in pretty much everything that calls itself a sport. For every first-time winner, at any age, there are hundreds of boys and young men who’ve had their hearts broken. The thought crossed my mind at one time that these dramatic, emotional reactions were put on for the cameras. But, in truth, these riders would probably prefer their fans not to see them in tears. So the emotions and the drive to win we see in every rider, including Marquez, is to be expected. (By the way, the process also occurs in golf, which calls itself a sport despite the fact that you can smoke and drink while playing.)
A number of Kool-Aid drinkers, who have the number 46 tattooed on their asses, hate Marquez for having allegedly cost Rossi the title in 2015. It seems to be an unwritten law of the universe that haters are going to hate. There have always been fans who despised Rossi for one reason or another; the same is true for Marquez. And, to be fair, pretty much all the great riders going back to 1949. Along with the emotion and drive to win, the great riders learned that to win in grand prix racing a rider will have to be, on occasion, ruthless. There will be charged moments in races in which it becomes him or me. One of us is going down, and it’s not going to be me. Is such thinking less than charitable? Undoubtedly. Is it necessary if one aspires to champion status? Absolutely. The same people who call Marquez a bully were the ones cheering Rossi as he put Stoner’s dick in the dirt at Laguna Seca in 2008, cutting a corner through a sand trap in the process, not bothering to rake afterwards.
One thing Marquez supporters can always say to his critics: Scoreboard. See below.
All that yellow. His first seven seasons in the premier class were incomparable. Of course, the eye is drawn to the single disqualification at Phillip Island in 2013 which came his way because, having clinched the title by then, it didn’t matter and he therefore didn’t care. (Like skipping high school classes after being accepted to college: Who wouldn’t?) People also need to recall 2014, when he won the first ten races of the season, then loafed to an inexplicable P4 at Brno before winning again at Silverstone.
One last point from me before you guys get your teeth into this. Let’s assemble a list of MotoGP riders one would be well-advised to give wide berth, in addition to Marquez who, at age 30, is witnessing a deterioration in his reflexes and, one suspects, a heightened sense of self-preservation, having entertained the prospect, now several times, of becoming blind in at least one eye. Here’s ten off the top of my head:
Barry Sheene Kenny Roberts
Freddie Spencer Eddie Lawson
Mick Doohan Kenny Roberts Jr.
Wayne Rainey Kevin Schwantz
Valentino Rossi Casey Stoner
The fact is all these guys won MotoGP titles, most of them more than one. Given the fact that a collision on track provides both riders an opportunity to get seriously injured, or worse, and is, under normal circumstances, to be avoided if possible, none of these guys went out to deliberately cause a crash. Shit happens at 250 kph. Unless the intended victim were a teammate, none of these guys would back down from a fight, if only to keep their reputations. Marquez, with his massive presence, is another of these tough guys who welcomes contact and who has initiated it in the past. What occurred on Sunday last was not Marquez initiating either contact, but Marquez trying to bully his way through the pack–all the way through the pack from P15–on the first lap. His comportment on Lap 1 at Aragon was not his finest moment. If, as is possible, he comes back to chalk up a few wins at season’s end, I think most of the moto racing world will welcome him back.
Marquez makes the riders around him better at taking evasive action. That’s the most charitable thing I can think of to say at this moment. It’s like hating the sin, loving the sinner. It’s like hating what a fellow citizen says but defending his right to speak freely. Marquez, despite his movie star good looks, with never a whisker out of place, has been bred to race this way. He has experienced unmatched levels of accomplishment. He has been disqualified exactly once and that was arguably intentional. As Kevin Hart says, “It’s what I do.”
Love him or hate him, Marc Marquez has been an incandescent talent in this sport, just the guy to make people stop mourning the loss of Valentino. Will one of the young guns at Ducati take the reins of the premier class in the next season or two and peel off 10 wins to start a season, maybe collect six or eight titles?
Fabio crashes, the championship tightens up, and Marc Marquez is getting flamed
Looking back over the season this coming winter, (I know, right?) one may conclude that Round 15 was the decisive race in a terrific season in which, with five rounds to go, there are still four riders with a genuine chance to title. My original thesis this season–that consistency (not crashing) would be the determining factor–is proving true. Almost. Somehow, somewhere, the law of averages is beavering away, tagging each rider with the “likely to crash again” label, others with the “hasn’t crashed enough, is long overdue” tag. Yes, that means that the law of averages is of absolutely no help in predicting the 2022 champion.
The race itself, in a nutshell, went something like this. Aleix, a few of the Ducatis, and rugged KTM pilot Brad Binder got off to quick starts. Marc Marquez, in his latest return to racing, failed to make it out of Q1, starting in P15. When the lights went out, #93 decided to damn the torpedoes and head for the front, carving up the field, elbows out, narcissistically unconcerned about the fortunes of the riders actually competing for the championship. (This is early on Lap 1, friends, with a full tank and cold tires.) In the thick of things (P7) surrounded by contenders, Marquez had a moment which resulted in championship leader Fabio Quartararo piling into the rear of his bike, parting company with his YZR-M1, going boom on the asphalt, down and out.
Poetic justice saw to it that the collision would render the #93 bike unrideable by Lap 2. Marquez discovered an issue involving his rear tire and a crumpled fairing by clattering Takaa Nakagami out of the race later in Lap 1. Having knocked Quartararo off his safe perch in the title chase, with virtually nothing to gain, he retired from the race, changed into regular clothing, and returned to the pits, to the catcalls and jeers of everyone not wearing Repsol black, red and orange.
Anyway. Most of the race had Pecco Bagnaia blazing the trail, with EBas, Aleix and the gritty Binder in hot pursuit. Mostly processional until the last two laps, when the prospect of the two fastest riders in the game on the fastest machine in the game becoming teammates next year came into sight, the 2023 team championship having become a foregone conclusion. With both riders able to summon fast laps late in the race, both able to conserve rubber at full race distance, MotoGP 2023 is looking a lot like F1 back in the day when Schumacher and Barrichello owned the world. Italian engineering on full display.
Essentially, Bastianini calmly put Bagnaia in his rearview midway through Lap 23 after dogging him all day. Aleix and his Aprilia passed Binder for the final podium spot on Lap 22. Bastianini, it seems, likes the effect he has on other riders when he’s on their rear wheel with two laps left. Pecco is as fast as fast gets, the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo in appearance and riding style. But he doesn’t seem to have the fire in the belly that his new teammate possesses. My money will be on EBas to win the 2023 title.
Here are the before and after shots of the 2022 MotoGP title, post Aragon:
Rider Points after Austria Points after Aragon 2022 DNF/DNS Manufacturer
Quartararo 211 211 2 Yamaha
Bagnaia 181 201 4 Ducati
AEspargaro 178 194 0 Aprilia
Bastianini 138 163 4 Ducati
All season long we have been saying, along with the entire Sioux nation, that Fabio would have to have what amounts to a perfect race every time out in order to repeat as world champion. And he has been riding the wheels off his vastly inferior Yamaha. But he faltered at Assen and got skittled yesterday, events which the Brits currently refer to as “wet lettuce.” Again, as predicted, we are sticking with Pecco Bagnaia as the 2022 world champion. Despite four DNFs, he has the wind at his back, while Fabio has contusions all up and down his torso from yesterday.
Looking at the upcoming tracks (not sure about Thailand) it appears the Ducati phalanx will enjoy Motegi (stop and shoot) as well as Phillip Island and Sepang, both long and wide. Fabio, being the Yamaha phalanx, may have a bit of an advantage at Buriram and Valencia. Unfortunately, I suspect that his performance in Round 20 will have little to do with the title. And then there’s Aleix, still in the hunt, still not having turned his RS-GP over after 15 tries. Overdue? Cautious? Blessed? A great dark horse for a wager if you’re into that sort of thing. If he maintains his season-long consistency, and both Quartararo and Bagnaia have another off between now and November, it could be an Espargaro wearing the crown in 2022. THAT would be fun.
I watched both races on the undercard. My only real interest these days is trying to identify future Aliens amongst the array of teenage prodigies toiling in the “lightweight” classes. In Moto3, I really like Izan Guevara, who is going to win the title this year and just turned 18 in June. Another fast kid is this David Munoz, #44, who just turned 16 in the spring and has begun terrorizing the grizzled veterans.
In Moto2 it was Vote for Pedro day again, as Acosta made a convincing case for returning to the presumptive Alien class in the foreseeable future. Despite breaking his femur at Assen, he has come back and, at least yesterday, looked again like he did in Moto3 last year, when he was tagged as a phenom. He will likely win the Moto2 title next year for KTM and get bounced up to MotoGP in 2024.
The first Asian flyaway rounds are coming up starting this week. Imagine having raced in Aragon and having five days to prepare/pack to travel to Japan and Thailand. Then a week off, then freezing at Phillip Island and, broiling at Sepang, where Pecco will clinch the title, before finishing, as usual, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
Damn, this is fun.
This from our mid-season report after Assen: The GasGas duo of Garcia and Guevara is, once again, putting a thorough Teutonic beatdown on the grid, same as Gardner and Fernandez did last year in Moto2. I fully believe Guevara is a future Alien and perhaps the most impressive of the impressive crop of young riders passing through the intermediate classes in the past 3-4 years. Young Izan should continue this trend, as it appears both he and teammate Garcia will graduate into Moto2 for 2023.
Spoiler Alert. Although you, the reader, may be hard pressed to find them, the results from all three of Sunday’s MotoGP menu items are buried in here somewhere. I’m looking out from the porch of my oceanfront condo, ogling “…all the tourists covered with oil.” Since you’ve probably already watched the races and are up to speed on results and 2022 standings, this vacation piece will be even more superficial than usual, just a recordkeeping device until October, when I start giving MotoGP my full attention as titles are decided.
In Moto3, we saw an all-day joust between rising stars Dennis Foggia (winner at Misano for the last three years), baby-faced Jaume Masia, NKIT Izan Guevara (my bet as the second coming of Marc Marquez), and Dennis Oncu, who has two dots on top of the O and rode today with 1.0 shoulders and 1.5 arms, doing well to not pass out from the pain and heat. Although teenager Guevara led for most of the day, he ended the day in P3 because it’s Moto3. He did manage to take the lead in the 2022 championship, which must have assuaged his pain somewhat. A fascinating season continues.
Moto2 was won by the seventh first-time Moto2 winner this year, one Alonso Lopez. Left without a ride at the start of the season, he sat around, doing sit-ups, until someone like, say, Romano Fenati self-destructed after Round 4, allowing Lopez to return from exile, with a future so bright he has to wear shades. At one point the lead group in today’s race was comprised of five riders, all of whose first names begin with the letter A:
A Lopez
A Arenas
A Canet
A Fernandez
A Ogura
This is the type of razor-edged reporting you can’t find just anywhere.
Incidentally, series leader Celestino Vietti crashed out again, today from P4, as his dream season in April has turned into a September nightmare. 70 points in the first three rounds; 86 points in the last 11. Bummer, dude. Augusto Fernandez, his ticket punched into MotoGP next season, now leads his only contender, Ogura, by a scant four points with six rounds left. Ogura, too, has his ticket punched to the premier class next season, presumably on an LCR Honda.
In MotoGP, Pecco Bagnaia became the first Ducati pilot EVER to record four wins in a row, putting him smack dab in the middle of the championship conversation. He held off future teammate Enea Bastianini for most of the day and looked to have things wrapped up, until EBas tipped his bike to the left heading for the flag and came within .03 seconds of catching Bagnaia. Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha was not up to the task today, but FQ was able to limit the damage to his championship hopes, with a number of friendly tracks yet to come. At the flag it was Pecco, EBas and Maverick Vinales, standing on the podium a year after making his Aprilia debut, Cole Trickle having, at least for now, the last laugh. For the year, Fabio now leads Bagnaia by 30 points and Aleix by 33. Someone is going to have to figure out a way to slow down Bagnaia unless they want to keep hearing the Italian national anthem week after week.
For the record, Andrea Dovizioso’s MotoGP career came to an unceremonious end today with a P12 in his final ride. I could be wrong, but I don’t recall hearing his name called one during the race. For all veteran riders, the formula for determining when to retire looks like this:
BYR (Best Year to Retire) = AYR (Actual Year of Retirement) -1. Reference Valentino Rossi, Colin Edwards, etc.
Sunday was a lovely day for racing at what must be considered one of the finest stops on the MotoGP calendar. The immaculate circuit, as fast as any, despite the layout which keeps most riders out of 6th gear all day. The postcard quality scenery. World-class brolly girls. A microclimate enriched by the thousands of pine trees in the vicinity. Seeing Carlos Ezpeleta, The Big Boursin of MotoGP in lederhosen, looking like Wally from Dilbert. Three exciting races. Championships tightening.
This is how racing is supposed to be. Fans on first-name bases with the riders. Longstanding rivalries renewed every week. Rampant nationalism. Racing margins so thin they make the blink of an eye seem like a long time. Riders separated by thousandths of a second at the flag. All coming to us at breathtaking speeds. And all on two wheels.
We will cover the high points of all three races but not in our usual depth. I have things to do.
Moto3: Sasaki Wins from Waaaaaay Back
The Crazy Boy, Ayuma Sasaki, was having a bad day. Two long lap penalties early in the race saw him fall to as low as P24 on Lap 5. 18 laps later he was firmly lodged in P1 and on his way to his first grand prix victory ever. Research indicates that riders with the name “Crazy”, by itself or in combination with other words, in their “track name” correlate highly with truncated careers. Over the long term, Crazy typically morphs into “retired.”
First Japanese 1-2 at any level since 2001.
Today’s race: Sasaki Suzuki Munoz (16 years old!)
2022: S Garcia 193 Izan Guevara 188 Dennis Foggia 144
Moto2: P2-OK
Today’s Moto2 race was plodding along, minding its own business with Honda Team Asia riders Ai Ogura (ticket to MotoGP next year already punched) and Thai speedster Somkiat Chantra having carved out a considerable lead on the field, Chantra running as Ogura’s wingman. Over the last five laps of the race it appeared Chantra was having to rein in his bike, that he had better pace than Ogura in addition to the expectation from every member of the team and the media that he would never (NEVER) challenge Ogura during this race, possibly removing him from the lead in the 2022 championship.
So what happened on the last lap. Did young Chantra lose his effing mind? Yes, it was Chantra muscling up on his teammate and good friend, taking the lead on Turn 8 of the final lap before surrendering it again on Turn 9, getting up close and personal and causing team principal Hiro Aoyama to blow a head gasket, oil and smoke pouring from his ears. And though the race ended well for the Honda team, young Chantra will probably be headed to the woodshed with Aoyama and some Asian guys in expensive suits to discuss his comportment in an atmosphere of free and frank conversation.
Personally, I believe Chantra intended to keep it clean and intended to yield the lead to Ogura at the end. The two are good friends; to me it looked like one friend saying to the other, “Congratulations on a great win. I could have beat you any time I wanted. Your mom said to tell you hi.”
Today’s race: A. Ogura S. Chantra J. Dixon
2022: A Ogura 183 A Fernandez 182 C. Vietti 156
MotoGP: Fabio Takes on Five Ducatis, Beats Four
Today’s premier class tilt saw French heartthrob Fabio Quartararo lined up at the start in the middle of row 2, with Bologna Bullets going all Charge of the Light Brigade on him, (Desmosedicis to the left, Desmosedicis to the right, Desmosedicis in front), the Italian brutes occupying five of the top six spots on the grid. By the time he saw the checkered flag, young Fabio had dispensed with Jack Miller, Jorge Martin, Enea Bastiannini and Johann Zarco; given an additional lap, he might very well have tracked down Pecco Bagnaia for the win, as the Italian’s final margin for the win was a mere 4/10ths.
Other than Bagnaia taking the hole shot and holding the lead for almost the entire race, there didn’t seem to be a key moment that changed the course of things. Joan Mir crashed out early as his season of horrors continues. EBas, in some early race contact I missed, left with a damaged rim on his front that allowed air to escape, rendering the bike unrideable. Luca Marini enjoyed his best day in the premier class, finishing in P4 after overtaking a number of more experienced riders from P13.
Today’s race: P Bagnaia F Quartararo J Miller
2022: F Quartararo 200 A Espargaro 168 P Bagnaia 156
The graphic below is chock full of information. Someone—what all does this tell us?
San Marino in two weeks. Andrea Dovizioso’s swan song.
Lots of info here.One long-stemmed rose.Low rez, terrible.Where does Monster find them?Very orderly Teutonic devotees.Aryan beauty on display.
There are people who don’t like racing at Silverstone, for whatever reason. The cafeteria in the press room is inferior? The air conditioning lacks gusto? It’s flat as a board? Its military roots are offensive to the universe? Silverstone is long and fast and wide, allowing for more overtakes than you see in any other race on the calendar. The result is what we saw today, 20 laps of brilliant riding, strategies working and failing, five Ducatis in the top ten, and Pecco closing the gap to Fabio by 17 points.
After a warm weekend of practice and qualifying, the view from here, waiting for the lights to go out, was that Fabio’s Yamaha would be at a decided disadvantage versus the Ducs and Apes. Pecco Bagnaia, everyone’s pre-season favorite, was likely to continue his recent form of either winning or crashing out. Aleix and his Aprilia looked fast all weekend until it launched him into a low Earth orbit during FP4, causing him to race with one leg/ankle/foot combination and one leg/etc. He managed a respectable P9 in a race most mortal humans would have mailed in. Johann “Bridesmaid” Zarco, still looking for his first premier class win, and looking swarthier than ever with the elegant full beard, won pole with another seven riders who broke Marc Marquez’s previous track record set in 2018. And, lo and behold, who comes lurking around the upper echelons of the racing food chain but one Maverick Vinales, aka Cole Trickle. He appeared to be preparing for a stirring comeback to the top step of the podium in merry England, but was unable to mount a successful challenge to Bagnaia on the final lap, appearing to come slightly unglued in the process. P2 is a nice result for Pop Gun as he attempts to resurrect his once promising career with the Noale factory,
Zarco took the holeshot on his Pramac Ducati and led the race for five laps until bad luck, the only kind he knows, undid him, sliding out of the lead into a general Gallic funk. Jack Miller, the forgotten man in MotoGP, spent most of (qualifying and) the race in P3, ultimately securing 16 points for his day’s work. Alex Rins appeared to have good pace all weekend and looked strong early today, but developed what appeared to be grip issues before fading to P7 at the flag.
So, after Zarco led at the start, Rins took over the lead until he was passed by Pecco on Lap 12, who was never seriously challenged thereafter. Vinales moved up the leader board over the last few laps, creating the anticipated Bagnaia vs. Vinales challenge on the last lap. But Pop Gun’s resurrection will have to wait, as he was unable to bring the fight to Bagnaia due to several twitches. Pecco never blinked.
Fabio ended up limping home in P8. EBas, who started in P8 and had nothing going on most of the day, rallied late to secure P4 and feel good about himself heading to Austria in two weeks.
One of the joys of writing about MotoGP for nothing is that it frees me from the shackles of editorial restraint which often chafe and prevent me from expressing my true feelings, at least regarding subjects for which I have feelings, which aren’t many.
Let’s use Assen as an example. Instead of doing my sworn duty as a mototrashjournaist, I spent the weekend driving 1400 miles and speaking briefly at the memorial service for my oldest childhood friend, since 2nd grade. Had I been slaving away under the heartless Evans Brasfield things would have gotten complicated, Evans might have been inconvenienced, my wages could have been garnished, John Burns might have elected to flame me on MO. Nothing good, and my boy Bobby B is well beyond caring. But if we blow off these milestones, especially the exits, who are we? If we decide that the details of our lives are more important than the people who comprised them, who are we indeed?
So, here are the facts. Top ten at Assen. Top six year to date.
Assen MotoGP Race:
pts
1 25 63 Francesco Bagnaia
2 20 72 Marco Bezzecchi
3 16 12 Maverick Viñales
4 13 41 Aleix Espargaro
5 11 33 Brad Binder
6 10 43 Jack Miller
7 9 89 Jorge Martin
8 8 36 Joan Mir
9 7 88 Miguel Oliveira
10 6 42 Alex Rins
Year to date
20 Fabio Quartararo 172 NC = 1
41 Aleix Espargaro 151 NC = 0
5 Johann Zarco 114 NC = 1
63 Francesco Bagnaia 110 NC = 4
5 23 Enea Bastianini 105 NC = 3
6 33 Brad Binder 93 NC = 1
Moto2 Race:
1 25 37 Augusto Fernandez
2 20 79 Ai Ogura
3 16 96 Jake Dixon
4 13 13 Celestino Vietti
5 11 64 Bo Bendsneyder
6 10 21 Alonso Lopez
7 9 14 Tony Arbolino
8 8 16 Joe Roberts
9 7 18 Manuel Gonzalez
10 6 12 Filip Salac
Year to date:
1 C Vietti 146
2 A Fernandez 146
3 A Ogura 145
4 A Canet 116
5 T Arbolino 104
6 J Roberts 97
Moto3 Race:
1 25 71 Ayumu Sasaki
2 20 28 Izan Guevara
3 16 11 Sergio Garcia
4 13 24 Tatsuki Suzuki
5 11 43 Xavier Artigas
6 10 96 Daniel Holgado
7 9 82 Stefano Nepa
8 8 6 Ryusei Yamanaka
9 7 53 Deniz Öncü
10 6 27 Kaito Toba
Year to date:
1 S Garcia 182
2 I Guevara 179
3 D Foggia 118
4 A Sasaki 113
5 J Masia 107
6 D Oncu 98
One thing I’m sure to comment on, under the paragraph entitled “Parity” is the dead heat among the top three contenders in Moto2. Never seen three riders separated by a single point at the top of any chart. Another thing will be your boy Aleix shattering, on lap 15 of the race, the existing all-time lap record at Assen, NOT JUST THE RACE LAP. Up until the moment the all-time record was broken later in the race, Aleix posted the fastest lap ever recorded at Assen, DURING THE RACE. Pretty amazing.
That’s all for now. Need to get started on the mid-season report coming your way on Motorcycle.com in the near future.
Once again, this article will start out as a place for comments and my notes from practice and qualifying, if any. I will then do my usual Sunday purgative and we can get the comments ball rolling on what has become just a dandy 2022 season.
I should be able to do a respectable job in Germany as my home schedule is bad but not terrible. But for the Assen round I am simply screwed. Driving across country to Delaware on Saturday, attending a wake for my oldest friend and our friends on Sunday. I might stay on in DC on Monday if I can find a reason for doing so. Anyway, driving back across the country on either Monday or Tuesday. So, y’all had better take your shots this week and make them count. Next week you’re pretty much on your own. The good news is that Evans’ Mid-Season Recap will post pretty early in the summer vacation, I hope.
Back in the day when Cole Trickle was playing with his hair and mustache, he always reminded me of this guy.
Moto3 notes: Izan Guevara is the next Next Great Latin Rider. The second coming of Pedro Acosta. Acosta won at Sachsenring last year. Today young Izan eclipsed wonderkid Acosta’s time over 27 laps by 24 seconds, almost a full second per lap. So, we are left with the conclusion that Guevara has more mojo than Acosta. Both will be plying their trade in the premier class in the next few years. Not an exciting race.
Moto2 notes: The pool I organized to predict that lap on which Sam Lowes will crash–the number 14 kept coming up. Whatever. Augusto Fernandez won by 10 seconds, the second lousy race of the day. Celestino Vietti did Moto2 a favor by crashing out, allowing the title chase to tighten up a little.
Race Day notes: Three snoozers in one day. Moto3 was a rarity, a wire-to-wire win from pole by the impressive Izan Guevara. The championship tightened up. Lots of other stuff happened.
Moto2 was another forgettable race, Augusto Fernandez putting on a show with teammate and Alien-in-waiting “Vote for Pedro” Acosta taking forever to move through the field to claim P2 in another glorious day for the KTM outfit. The championship tightened up. Lots of other stuff happened.
In MotoGP, the reigning 2021 winner and 2022 champion-in-waiting, Fabio Quartararo did it to us again, ran off and hid from the rest of the field. Took Zarco with him in a blatant display of nationalism. Jack Miller out-dueled Aleix for P3. The championship did not tighten up, and not much else happened.
Next week’s report may not get done at all. The logistics are simply overwhelming. I will try to put a little something together later in the week. But do not despair! Our Mid-Season Review will post during the summer break. Mentally, I’ve already awarded the 2022 title to Fabulous, but we need something to keep us off the streets at least until the NFL resumes.
The 2022 season is unfolding about the way we had hoped back in February. Five or six riders who present credible threats to podium each week. Major moves up and down the leader board based upon the rider’s ability to stay out of the gravel. Two weeks ago I was burying Pecco Bagnaia for crashing out of races too often; today he is right back in the championship conversation.
Had you tried to tell me that 2022 would finally be Aleix Espargaro’s year to win a premier class title for Aprilia back in February, you would have had trouble getting me to listen. What has emerged in 2022 is a few circuits which can be rightfully considered Aprilia tracks. So far, they include Argentina and Catalunya. There will be a few more–tweeners–neither Sachsenring nor Phillip Island. But their mere existence is emblematic of the order of magnitude-scale changes which have taken place with Aprilia during the past 18 months.
Friday’s practice sessions found both Aprilia riders–Aleix, and the other guy–sitting atop the combined sheet for the day. People are saying (I love using that, so lame) the Aprilia will be untouchable this weekend, perhaps causing more tightening at the top. All I’ve got by way of silly season stuff is Jack Miller heading to the KTM factory team to join Binder, with Miguel Oliveiras being shown the door. LCR Honda is going to do something; standing pat does not appear to be an option. Pedro Acosta may, in two or three months, demand a promotion to the premier class, further complicating things amongst the large herd of prospective KTM riders looking to move on up. Too many young, skillful riders; there’s a nice problem to have.
For the record, qualifying ended up with Amazing Aleix on pole, joined on the front row by Bagnaia and Quartararo. Row 2 includes Zarco, FDG and “Crash” Martin. Hard cheese for Marco Bezzecchi and Enea “Big Boursin” Bastiannini, who were unable to pass through Q1. One of our readers mentioned Maverick Vinales as a possible race winner today. He led the warm-up, passed through Q1, and will start the race from the middle of the third row. [Whence he will likely drop back to P18 before bravely fighting his way back to P10.]
Moto3 today was another good old-fashioned knees-up as my boy Izan Guevara, who recently turned 17, won going away after spending the first half of the race slicing and dicing with the likes of teammate Sergio Garcia, Tatsuki Suzuki, Dennis Oncu, and polesitter Dennis Foggia, who lost the key to his roller skates and had to retire. Suzuki had a nice day, slamming the door on series leader Sergio Garcia at the flag for P3 on the podium. When the dust settled, the top of the Moto3 standings YTD:
S Garcia 150
I. Guevara 134
J. Masia 103
D. Foggia 95
D. Oncu 82
A. Sasaki 75
These seasons in which teammates are fighting one another for the championship are extra fun. The drive they have to, above all else, beat their teammates ranks right up there with oxygen and a warm jelly roll. Last season it was fun to watch KTM studs Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner go at each other all year. This year it is grizzled veteran Sergio Garcia (age 18) and GasGas teammate Guevara (age 17). Young Mr. Guevara appears to be the real deal. Not to mention the remarkable debut of one David (Davin?) Munoz, who, riding as a substitute, placed himself on the second step of the podium at age 16. He created a legitimate look at the win with perhaps three laps left, but could not close the deal against all these other old men. BTW, if I weren’t so lazy, I would tranche these riders. What I can do is to designate Moto3 Aliens–Sergio Garcia, Izan Guevara, Dennis Foggia and Jaume Masia
Today’s Moto2 tilt was the best in recent memory, said the guy whose short-term memory is, well, a memory. Until he slid out unforced on Lap 11, it looked like American Joe Roberts was going to win his first Moto2 race. Later, series leader Celestino Vietti shoved hard-luck bridesmaid Aron Canet out of his way late on the last lap to take the win. Today’s race looked more like Moto3 with a big lead group and beaucoups lead changes. At the end of the day the top six riders in Moto2 were Vietti (133), Ogura (117), Canet (109), A Fernandez (96), Arbolino (89) and Roberts (86). A golden opportunity for Roberts and Amerian racing blown.
And, for the record, the Moto2 Alien set currently includes Celestino Vietti, Ogura, and Canet.
The Catalan MotoGP race today will go down in history as the one in which Aleix Espargaro, in the midst of a dream season, lapsed briefly into nightmare, having lost count of his laps, entering the final lap in the midst of the lead group, sitting up, blowing kisses to the crowd, while his rivals disappeared down the road, discovering, appalled, he had just given away nine championship points and a P2 for Aprilia, not to mention gagging in front of his homeys, while little brother Pol was finishing out of the points, some 46 seconds behind Quartararo. All in all, a terrible day for the family, who had probably made potato salad and fried chickens to celebrate their local boys making good.
So the podium included Fabio on the top step, Crash Martin on P2 and Johann Zarco P3. Joan Mir followed in P4, in front of Aleix, who would undoubtedly sack up and take responsibility for his obvious and inexcusable mistake. It would be better if he were a rookie or second year man. A rider with his experience; I suppose all one can say is that he clearly had a lot on his mind.
This was another of those Quartararo races in which absolutely everything went right–
friendly circuit, dry conditions
able to grab the lead early in the first lap and run unchallenged in clean air
terrible day for Ducati–Bagnaia DNF, Bezzecchi DNF, FDG DNF, EBas DNF
a once-in-a-career brain fart by one of his top challengers
Props to Crash Martin for showing us again why it is too soon to write him off. He strikes me as the second coming of Dani Pedrosa in a sport that favors small, light riders. And we are happy to announce the recipient of this season’s first Dennis Rodman Award, for hanging around the basket looking for rebounds and easy put backs, is Johann Zarco, the primary beneficiary of Espargaro’s momentary, imaginary side trip to Turks & Caicos.
The 2022 top ten after nine rounds looks like this:
Quartararo 147
Espargaro 125
Bastiannini 94
Zarco 91
Bagnaia 81
Binder 73
Rins 69
Mir 69
Miller 65
(M Marquez) 60)
Suddenly, or nor so suddenly, the title seems to be Quartararo’s to lose. Aleix seems to have lost some of the magic we’ve come to expect from him. Same with Bastiannini, with DNFs in his last two outings. I read somewhere that a number of writers had written off Bagnaia until his win at Mugello, then put him squarely in the midst of the title conversation until today’s skittling, after which he has been written off again. (As it turns out, I read it at the top of this page.)
Lest I forget, our current crop of premier class Aliens includes Fabio, Aleix, EBas and Pecco.
This should be a week featuring lots of sharing from readers, given the unlikely nature of 2022. To me, it feels like an NBA game in which the opponent hits 11 of their first 13 three-pointers, and they have you by 14 at the half. My point is that I doubt everything is going to go perfectly well for your boy Fabio during the entire season, that he will not have one or two DNFs by the time they start putting up Christmas decorations in the stores. Once again, depending upon who stays upright and who doesn’t, the standings could easily look way different during the Asian part of the schedule.
As always, I’m still singing the same sad old song:
So. fellas and Allison, I had more surgery this past week, in on Monday, home n Tuesday. I’ve been getting my act grouped relatively quickly, but haven’t had what it takes to do more than watch stuff so far, it’s being Sunday 4:30 am. I’ve been watching warm ups since 3:30. This ends, for the foreseeable future, my planned encounters with the medical/industrial complex. This surgery had originally been scheduled for mid-July, but I was in a hurry to get it done and get it behind me. So, there’s that.
My personal goal for the next 12 months is to not get admitted to a hospital.
As most of you know, including today there are four MotoGP rounds in the next five weeks. In a normal year, the championship would be mostly decided after Round 11; we would be in the teeth of the season with one rider in recent years, Marc Marquez, usually leading the way. A number of teams will, by Round 11, have revised their rosy estimates from the preseason. For example, see the post that will appear on Motorcycle.com short after the Assen round. Moreover, the crowded field at or near the top of the standings adds another layer of stress on the riders–one mistake could drop them two or three spots in the standings. The riders who can keep the shiny side up will be competing for the title on the back nine of this year’s schedule.
It pleases me to think about the cranky, jingoistic old Tuscan men who’ve lived their entire lives in the shadow of Ducati around Bologna. Italy. Yesterday, for example, they watched on TV as five Ducati pilots, four of whom are Italian, put a choke hold on the first five spots of the Sunday grid, at Mugello, the monument to speed, one of the world’s great layouts. Plus, this year the folks over at Aprilia are punching above their weight, Aleix a legitimate threat to title. More Italian joy. Plus, being handed the keys to the WithYou RNF team which will bail on Yamaha and fly the colors of the Noale factory. It has been determined elsewhere that 2022 will be shown to have been Andrea Dovizioso’s final season in MotoGP (how’s that for some serious verb conjugating?). The last year, for now, that once-proud Yamaha fielded a satellite team. Ascendant programs at Ducati and Aprilia, the European builders finally getting their own after years, decades of eating Japanese dust. Programs at Suzuki ending, with disarray at Honda and Yamaha.
Anyway, for those old men, qualifying at Mugello on Saturday, May 28, 2022 was righteous.
I watched qualifying in the lightweight classes, but am not inclined to include it in this report. Perhaps there are some old morons out there ready, willing and certainly able to give us, the readers, 150 words on qualifying in both Moto3 and Moto2. Not sure why I have to do everything around here. I need to outsource some of this stuff. It’s not like any of us is getting paid.
[Dorna showed video from the US Grand Prix in 2008 at Laguna Seca. This was the first race I ever “covered” = watched on TV, and it just happens to have been one of the all-time greats. Rossi passing Stoner in The Corkscrew, both wheels in the gravel, pressuring Stoner into a crash late in the day. Who knew? I always try not to get too carried away with the play-by-play, and there certainly seemed to be a lot of shouting in the Rossi vs. Stoner epic that marked my introduction to the sport. I gave Motorcycle.com 1500 words, with a heavier-than-normal dose of my usual meanderings, since I didn’t know the first thing about motorcycle racing. The suits in Toronto liked it. The real MOrons, Kevin, Sean, John and Evans and Dennis, etc. hated it, recognized me as a fraud masquerading as a motojournalist and knew instantly that I wasn’t a real rider, wasn’t one of them. 13 years later, we are friends. I still don’t know much about motorcycles, but they do like some of the laugh lines. For instance, I probably told them that I misunderstood the phone call with Joe, thought he said ‘writer.’]
So teenager Izan Guevara, the next Next Great Latin Rider, won the Moto3 race at the flag–three hundredths of a second separated the top step from the third step on the podium. Moving up the standings. A post-race penalty, for exceeding those pesky track limits, dropped Guevara to P2 and elevated series leader and teammate Sergio Garcia to the win*. The two GasGas riders thus occupy P1 and P2 in Moto3 for 2022.
Moto2 saw the public debut of The Next Great Latin Rider who, after having torn up Moto3 as a rookie last year, was suffering a failure to launch in 2022 until Le Mans, which he led for a dozen laps before crashing out, and today when he went out and schooled the grid, wire to wire, for his first win in the intermediate class. His win today was facilitated by Aron Canet, he of the laughable paint job, who was considerate enough to crash out of a threatening second place on Lap 13, essentially handing the win to Acosta.
The MotoGP race was Exhibit A in our argument, since before the season started, that the close quarters at the top would make crashing out of a race very expensive. The corollary to this is that a win will occasionally give the rider a big boost. After underachieving for most of 2022, Pecco Bagnaia goes out and sets the pace at Mugello, gives young EBas that come hither look, then looks away as the swarthy sophomore crashes out at Turn 4 of Lap 14. His 25 points today vaulted him from P7 to P4 for the year. He’s baaaaaaaaaack. Meanwhile, EBas slides into a 28 point deficit to Quartararo.
Pecco, Fabio and Aleix comprised the podium. Zarco, Bezzecchi, Marini and Brad Binder followed. As is becoming routine, bikes made by Ducati and Aprilia continue to dominate recent proceedings, the Suzuki team is crumbling right before our eyes, with suits from Yamaha and Honda dropping broad, unfunny references to ritual suicide. Marc Marquez’ announcement that he was folding the tent on 2022 in order to have another surgery, one with a six month recovery time frame, was met with further gnashing of teeth, frantic smiling and nodding of heads.
Y’all can talk amongst yourselves. Catalunya beckons. Plus, I’ve gotta go ice myself down. I really want to hear opinions relating to silly season speculation and the #2 spot on the factory Ducati team moving forward. Although the futures of Frankie, Dovi and Darryn deserve some conversation
I’m pretty sure I told you so. I’m pretty sure I told you that a long lap penalty. or having a last lap waved off for getting in the green, an untimely DNF. Any of these could decide the championship in a race that, in the words of my late Aunt Frannie, is tighter than a tick.
I’d like to think that I called it when I suggested an inverse relationship between the number of DNFs recorded by a rider and his rank in the chase. These top ten YTD standings are current as of 05/21/2022.
Rider Points #DNF
Quartararo 102 0
A. Espargaro 98 0
Bastianini 94 1
Rins 69 1
Miller 62 2
Zarco 62 2
Bagnaia 56 2
B. Binder 56 1
Mir 56 2
M Marquez 54 2
This illustrates, once again, that, as the expression goes, in order to finish first, one must first finish.
The four riders leading the 2022 chase have averaged, over the first seven rounds, half a DNF, with neither Quartararo nor Aleix haven’t crashed once. Riders five, six and seven–Miller, Zarco and Bagnaia–have all crashed out of two races, returning us briefly to the days when the Desmo was considered unridable by anyone other than Casey Stoner. In fact, of riders five through eleven, all have crashed out twice other than Brad Binder, whose numbers suggest he is too stubborn to stay down, that he may have remounted once or twice.
The current poster child for this “win or bin” mentality is Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin, with DNFs in four of his first seven. Earlier in the season he looked ready to assume the second chair on the factory Ducati team. Lately, however, Mo Mentum, the famous sixth man in basketball, the 12th man in the Seattle Seahawks’ crazy home field advantage, seems to be smiling on your boy EBas, at the expense of Jack Miller, who would look good in KTM colors. Honda must be sweating bullets trying to get Mir signed now that PEsp is feeling unwanted. Mir, one supposes, is not looking forward to wrestling the RC213V, at least the 2022 iteration. Neither of the LCR boys, Nakagami nor Little Brother, can ride the Honda. PEsp will have his moments at his tracks but is nothing like consistent. And, if you were a betting man, um, person, who would you rather have a grand on right now–Marquez, with 54 points or Bagnaia with 56.
Interesting that Maverick Vinales has a clean DNF record but only 33 points, suggesting he is not riding the Aprilia hard enough. Much the same could be said about PEsp. Oh, and just for the record I expect Ducati to crush Mugello, lock out the podium, and convince Fabio that his future does not lie with Yamaha, that he’s caught them with the OEM pendulum swinging in the wrong direction. Is this the weekend Zarco finally achieves liftoff speed? Can Marquez continue trying to catch a tow into Q2? Will young EBas continue his poised, efficient efforts to winning a premier class title as a sophomore in the Marquez era, or at least the close of it. Fabio knows he has to remain perfect in order to remain in contention, putting massive pressure on himself. And my boy Aleix is sitting there making it look easy on an Aprilia that finally does what it’s told.
One of the few things I remember from five years of university-level economics is the tendency of large numbers to regress to the mean, all things being equal, which they never are. In the immediate case, as is almost always the case, you have a new group of Aliens. It’s true. Your present group of Aliens includes EBas, Pecco, Fabio, Aleix. The jury is officially out on #93; we may be witnessing the end of an era, the emergence of Italy, fast young Italian Riders and the, ahem, iconic Italian brand, the Really Big Red Machine. Europe, in Ducati and Aprilia, seeming to enjoy the upper hand in recent times, Fabio and Yamaha holding on for dear life. The Suzuki boys, Rins and Mir, appear disillusioned, watching their teams disintegrate beneath them.
And so it goes in grand prix yachting. I expect that latest division amongst the racing cognoscenti is whether Marquez can bring it back home again, like, in 2023, 2024? He needs a better bike, which Honda has generally provided. No sense in gathering input from PEsp any longer, as his head is unlikely to still be in the game. Nor does he appear to be at all effective as a wingman. Anyway, I think the top three riders at this moment–Fabio, Aleix and EBas–will not be the same three at the top of the heap heading to Valencia. In my unsolicited opinion, I think Fabio is in trouble at tracks like Mugello and Red Bull Ring. Assen is the fastest track on the calendar. He is so unlikely to maintain his clean slate, and when it goes, there goes his lead in the series. Aleix is making it look easy, a third of the way through the season, and EBas is threatening to run away with things.
Somewhere in me resides the thought that the guys who’ve avoided gravel traps thus far are due for a visit. That once Fabio loses his grip on the title, his successor will have a brief ride at the top. The greatest movements, the worst movements, are a DNF at this point. The figures would argue that the riders most at risk of a DNF at this time are Fabio, Aleix, EBas and Rins. This is the type of season in which the MotoGP announcers begin wetting themselves, waxing euphoric about “those precious _____ points.”
Similar to their race strategy at certain tracks, perhaps the riders don’t actually want to be in the lead this early in the season, especially since there is no runaway winner who needs stopping. It is simply vital that the riders gathered at the top of the heap today remain upright on race days, that they continue to gather points no matter what, that they know who and what is ahead of them and behind them. That they take no stupid risks that would jeopardize another rider.
So far, IMHO, this season is shaping up exactly the way fans want it. There are three Aliens at this moment. There is a host of challengers waiting for someone in front of them to fall. There is just so much riding on every turn, the race, the season, the silly season, which brand is on the upswing, which brand is heading down? Competition amongst the teams–first and foremost, beat your teammate.
It’s fair to expect financial pressures to force teams to cut costs, a process well beyond the scope of this effort. We’e been down this road before and have been breaking all-time track records along the way. If I were a betting man I would be that all the money spent on winglets is all the money that will get spent, i.e., no more R&D on winglets with wind tunnels and etc. Beyond that I don’t know, other than them that has, gets.
Some teams are scratching their heads this year.l LCR Honda. Factory Suzuki. Gresini, current employer of EBas. Jack Miller needs to pull a rabbit out of his hat to keep his current seat. Why does Alex Rins appear to be odd man out during this silly season? Riding Aprilia for Leopard Racing, that could work.
This week is Mugello, one of the great venues in this sport. So much history, none of which I can remember, but I know it’s out there. Perhaps the best slipstream anywhere, adds a whole new dimension to bike racing. The noise. As we like to say out here in Hoosierville, “MotoGP is one of God’s great gifts to mankind. It. Just. Is.
So go tell your friends. Tell them it’s the best sport on two wheels. Ever.
[Sorry guys and Allison. This is going to happen occasionally with Catholic grandfathers. One of my grandsons is getting confirmed this weekend, which entails an all-day retreat on Saturday and a full slate of activities on Sunday. I will get up early on Sunday and watch the races, but practice and qualifying are mostly a lost cause. I will do a brief write-up of the MotoGP race, probably Sunday night.
Thank you for hanging with me.]
Let’s talk about race day.
Moto3 was a victim of a two-minute rain shower during the first two laps of the race, leaving almost a dozen riders dazed with gravel in their underwear, a red flag, and a 14 lap sprint as a result. Young Jaume Masia, the latest Pride of KTM, persevered against Ayuma Sasaki, Izan Guevara (the next great MotoGP rider) and Dennis Foggia, taking the lead in Turn 13 of the last lap for 25 points, gaining 12 points on series leader Sergio Garcia and cutting his lead for 2022 to 17 points. Foggia and Masia are tied, with young Guevara only 6 points farther back. The Hondas figure to have an advantage at Mugello, but, seriously, who can predict what will happen week-to-week in this, the best racing in MotoGP.
Moto2 was a two man procession led by the factory KTM duo of Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez. Acosta, a disappointment for 2022 after tearing a new one in the Moto3 championship last year, looked like he would finally begin to return to his dominant 2021 form, leading from the holeshot until an unforced error on Lap 11 took him out of the race, handing the win to teammate Fernandez. Bridesmaid Aron Canet took P2 yet again, with Thai sensation Somkiat Chantra stealing the final podium spot ahead of erstwhile American Cam Baubier, who came as close to his first grand prix podium as one can get. After an atrocious qualifying and early race, series leader Celestino Vietti salvaged eight points with a late charge, leaving him 16 points in front of Ai Ogura for the year, with Canet another three points back. Not the best Moto2 race I’ve ever seen, but they can’t all be barn burners.
MotoGP was eventful, especially for the Ducati contingent, which thrives at point-and-shoot layouts like Bugatti. From gasping Yamaha pilot Frankie Morbidelli running off track during the sighting lap to Pecco Bagnaia crashing out of the lead on Lap 21, ceding the win to Enea Bastianini, there was something for every taste and budget. Alex Rins continued his recent return to MotoGP hell, crashing out on Lap 2 after going for a long walkabout in the gravel. Herve Poncharal’s KTM boys crashed out within three laps of one another early in the race. Joan Mir joined Suzuki teammate Rins on the sidelines after crashing out on Lap 14.
Bastianini moved past Jack Miller into P2 on Lap 12, setting up an Italian Ducati duel with Bagnaia, which took shape on Lap 19. Bastianini is my current favorite to take the 2022 title, having won three out of seven outings, consistently having plenty of rear tire left late in the race to scare the crap out of anyone still in front of him. Today it was Pecco who folded under the pressure, giving him two DNFs in 2022 and putting a serious dent in his title hopes. Miller held on for a rather quiet P2, with plucky Aleix Espargaro and his newly-competitive Aprilia keeping his chances alive with another impressive P3. Fabio Quartararo salvaged P4 after struggling early. Had the 100,000 French fans been sober at the end of the race, they would have been disappointed by their young heartthrob; as it was, P4 probably felt like a win. Johann Zarco, the other French pilot, looking increasingly like a caricature of the swarthy villain in an animated French movie, followed Fabio to the finish in P5, having disposed of the increasingly irrelevant Marc Marquez on Lap 17.
So, for the season, Quartararo sits on top with 102 points, followed by Aleix at 98 and EBas at 94. I’d have to go back and look, but my earlier-in-the-season projection for the 2022 podium had two of these guys, plus Joan Mir, slugging it out for the year. Mir and Rins appear to be completely scrambled by having their team collapse beneath them, withdrawing from the chase at the end of 2022. Pussies! I think it’s a safe bet that the Ducatis are going to enjoy another clambake at their home crib in Mugello in two weeks. Fabio is going to have to rely on some serious slipstreaming to keep up. I’ve stopped worrying about Espargaro, as he seems to do well everywhere after over a decade of futility; he must have a permanent erection these days.
A Little Eye Candy for Youse Guys
The girls from Moulin Rouge
Vive la France. Downtown Sarthe.Jack Miller’s brolly girl.Quick–Pecco Bagnaia or Jorge Lorenzo?France’s #1 sporting hero, 2022.The raffish Johann Zarco.
Even better–Leopard Racing has made clear its intention to secure a two bike slot on the MotoGP grid, with Aprilia machinery, giving the world its much-desired Aprilia satellite team. This would fill the hole left by Suzuki’s departure at the end of the season. From motorsports.com.
At issue is HRC’s intention not to continue with the services of Pol Espargaro for 2023 and then create the conditions for a new rider to enter the team’s garage. The Spaniard is in his second season with Repsol Honda and, despite the improvement in his results compared to 2021, the truth is that the Catalan is still not impressing, with only two podiums and one pole position.
Dubai Autodrome Racing bikes action as captured by KTdrones!
Espargaro, it should be remembered, signed for two years with a third option from Honda, but Gazzetta dello Sport reports this Friday that that clause will not be activated, leaving the rider free to choose his future in 2023.
At the same time, this situation opens the door to the entry of Joan Mir, a long time wish of Alberto Puig and who has already been in negotiations with the Japanese giant in the past. Mir was due to renew his contract with Suzuki, but an alleged decision by the manufacturer to pull out of MotoGP eliminated any chance of a renewal. However, now the window of opportunity has opened for the Mir/Honda marriage to finally move forward.
It should be remembered that Joan Mir is 24 years old and is one of the most hyped riders on the grid, much to the credit of the world titles won in 2020 in the premier class and in 2017 in Moto3, at the time riding a Honda.
Monday’s shock announcement that Suzuki will withdraw from MotoGP at the end of the current season has rattled a number of cages amongst the jet set in the grand prix motorcycle racing community. It puts to rest my conjecture that they would field a satellite team at some point in the foreseeable future; consider my personal cage rattled. It leaves riders Joan Mir and Alex Rins facing homelessness come November. It applies pressure to the Aprilia organization to field a satellite team in the foreseeable future, lest conjecture about their own future starts to circulate, causing jangling nerves amongst their current and prospective riders. Finally, it throws a spanner in the works of an already unclear silly season for 2023.
One thing Suzuki’s withdrawal means: the essential Theory of MotoGP is flawed. To wit, participation, and doing well, in MotoGP appears not to increase demand for the street bikes the OEMs are desperate to sell. Otherwise, the Dorna monster is simply a hole in the ocean where CEOs of the manufacturers go to throw away their money, in addition to getting massive hard-ons when they win a title.
The first bit of scuttlebutt to emerge from this developing debacle is the likelihood that Pol Espargaro will lose his seat on the #2 Repsol Honda to Mir. The permutations and combinations following this likely move will occupy MOrons for the remainder of the season.
Readers are encouraged to speculate/theorize/ take wild ass guesses below. This is one of the biggest developments in our sport in a decade. As usual, please keep it civilized as you let your wild imaginations run free. Once we start preparing for Le Mans, I will collect all of the comments, wad them in a big ball, and toss them over the rail.
Alex Rins and Joan Mir dominated the proceedings on Friday, to a resounding “Who cares?” from the rabid, mostly Spanish crowd. FP3 on Saturday morning saw Pecco Bagnaia and his Ducati GP22 rise from the ashes of a miserable start to the 2022 season to lead the combined practice standings, trailed by Fabulous Fabio and (who?) Takaa Nakagami, making a cameo appearance, along with his satellite Honda, near the top of the time sheets. Marc Marquez continued his epic struggles in 2022, needing a tow from Jack Miller to scrounge P4, with Miller the last of ten riders to move directly into Q2..
Q1 saw rookie Marco Bezzecchi (a continuing surprise to me) hovering near the top for the entire session, ending up in P2 and moving on to Q2 after Johann Zarco, who seems to do something like this every time out, laid down a late burner to take P1 and bump hard-luck Pol Espargaro to P13 on Sunday’s grid. Alex Rins and Brad Binder looked capable of moving through but were unable to reach deep enough.
Q2 was, as always, a heart-stopper. With crashes from Jorge Martin, Joan Mir and Enea Bastianini bringing out a bevy of yellow flags, the battle for pole went like this:
Rider Time left when taking the lead
J. Mir 10:30
J. Miller 9:00
P. Bagnaia 8:50
F. Quartararo 8:45
Bagnaia 2:45 1:36.170 new track record
Bagnaia’s lap was half a second faster than Quartararo, which equates to an hour in dog years. The first three rows in Sunday’s race, from which the winner will doubtless emerge given how tight the layout is, include Quartararo, Aleix Aprilia, Miller, M Marquez, Zarco and the pesky Nakagami, punching above his weight, along with Bezzecchi and Mir. The weather forecast for Sunday looks perfect.
Race Day
Once again, Jerez failed to disappoint the thousands of sober, drunk and/or stoned Spaniards in attendance. Speaking from experience, the combination of hot weather and stimulants can often cause unconsciousness. Not today, as all three of the internal combustion-powered races had something for every taste and budget. In Moto3, seventeen year-old sophomore sensation Izan Guevara showed remarkable race craft as he swept from P4 at the end of LP 21 to take the win away from countrymen Sergio Garcia and Jaume Masia. KTM Turk Deniz Oncu led the majority of the race, but got de-pantsed at the end by the Spanish trio. Today’s top finishers occupy four of the top slots in the 2022 race, with the mysterious Dennis Foggia finishing out of the points. His deficit to series leader Garcia grew from a single point to a discouraging 21. With last year’s rookie sensation Pedro Acosta having a difficult go of things up in Moto2, Guevara seems to have seized the title of The Next Great Spanish Rider. Dude doesn’t look old enough to shave.
The Moto2 tilt featured a wire-to-wire exhibition by Ai Ogura, who has been tipped for greatness for a couple years despite never having stood on the top step of the podium. That all changed today, as he opened a can of whup-ass on the grid and was never seriously challenged. Joined on the podium by Aron Canet, riding with a freshly broken arm, and an increasingly impressive rookie Tony Arbolino, Ogura seized the title of The Rider Most Likely to Unseat Takaa Nakagami on the MotoGP Idemetsu LCR Honda next year. The Moto2 championship after Round 6 features leader Celestino Vietti (100 pts), Ogura with 81, Arbolino with 70, tough-as-a-$2-steak Canet at 69, and the Great American Hope, Joe Roberts, barely in the picture in P5 with 57 points, possibly in contention for The Next Colin Edwards award.
The MotoGP race was billed all weekend as a showdown between Ducati pilot Pecco Bagnaia and smooth as silk Fabio Quartararo, the only one of four riders able to get a single frigging thing out of the Yamaha YZR-M1. The race, indeed, featured #63 and #20 in a daylong battle, with Quartarao unable to put his front wheel in front of Bagnaia for even a split second. The two ended up, like, 10 seconds in front of eventual P3 finisher Aleix Espargaro, who will get the blame for Aprilia having lost its treasured concessions going forward. Aleix took advantage of a mistake by Marc Marquez on Lap 22, eating Jack Miller’s lunch at the same time and moving from P5 to P3, where he remained for the rest of the race. Marquez took out his anger on Miller on the last lap to take P4, a surprisingly robust finish given the fact that he was unable to turn a fast lap all weekend without stealing a blatant tow from several faster riders. It appears that Marquez has regained his previously dominant form while the 2022 RC213V is a dog. Marquez fans can hope that next year’s iteration of the bike will be up to their previous standards; there appears to be nothing wrong with the eight-time world champion.
Today’s P2 for Quartararo allowed him to establish a lead in the 2022 championship of seven (7) points over the now-scary Aleix Espargaro, who finally has a competitive ride beneath him and is showing the race craft of a veteran of 13 frustrating premier class seasons. Suzuki enigma Alex Rins slipped from a tie for P1 into a tie for P3 with Enea Bastianini, whose early-season magic has faded somewhat of late. Bagnaia’s haul of 25 points today puts him at 56 for the season. Last year, he waited until Round 13 at Aragon to make any noise; he appears to have started early this season, and must be viewed as the most serious challenger to Quartararo for the 2022 championship.
The fervent nationalism found in MotoGP left a number of fans cursing today, with a Japanese rider and a cursed Italian standing on the Moto2 podium and another cursed Italian and a cursed Frenchman occupying the top two steps of the MotoGP podium. Everywhere else it was all Spaniards, cold consolation for having a single Spanish race winner at (one of) the Spanish Grands Prix (out of a total of four on the calendar). The premier class appears to be a lost cause for Spain this year with only Aleix and Rins in serious contention; neither has been close to a MotoGP title in a combined 19 premier class seasons. Perhaps the Aprilia is enough bike to propel Aleix to a championship in 2022; the smart Euros, however, are being bet on Bagnaia, with Quartararo attracting a healthy number of French wagers.. The season is unfolding as expected, with a half dozen credible threats to win it all in 2022.
Le Mans beckons in two weeks, followed by Mugello. Life is good in MotoGP. Plus, the brolly girls are back. There’s also an image of the massive Jerez Cathedral for your pleasure.
Hello, MOrons. I’ve taken the offensive comment by Steve Day and moved it just below this one. Please rake a look and reply to his comment as appropriate. You guys are the best.
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It’s now Saturday afternoon. All of the action from Friday and today is complete. As race day approaches, the weather is improving and the times are dropping. Friday was Crash Day for the Ducati contingent, as four of their six stalwarts ended up in the gravel. Marc Marquez set the pace on Friday in the wet, showing us again that he has a big pair. Alex Marquez and Luca Marini, of all people, passed from Q1 into Q2, leaving names like Martin, Bastianini, Rins and Bagnaia behind. Bagnaia was shaken, not stirred, by a big high side in Q1; it appeared he may have lost consciousness, and my guess is he will be declared unfit to race before the lights go out tomorrow.
Q2 was run in bright sunshine, the track almost completely dry. Plenty of yucks in the last few minutes. Alex Marquez, celebrating his 26th birthday, held pole with 4 minutes left in the session; he would end up in P7. In order, the pole sitter parade featured, Johann Zarco, then Quartararo for an instant, followed by Joan Mir, Zarco again, and Jack Miller. Pol Espargaro was left chewing asphalt with less than two minutes remaining; the yellow flag accompanying his off cost Quartararo, then Marquez, pole. Once the clock hit all zeroes, the fun really began, as Mir, then Aleix, then, finally, Zarco, put down fast laps, although none came close to challenging Bagnaia’s track record lap from last year.
Tomorrow’s race promises to be madness, with Zarco, Mir and Aleix on Row 1, Miller, Quartararo and Bezzecchi (?) on Row 2, the Marquez brothers and Luca Marini (??) on Row 3, and Pol Espargaro and the factory KTM boys on Row 4. Farther back in the pack and newsworthy are Jorge Martin (off the first row for the first time this year), series leader Bastianini in P18 (???) Lorenzo Savadori (what the hell is he doing here this week with both Aleix and Vinales running?) and Alex Rins, sucking canal water in P23. Perhaps Savadori is racing this weekend because the Aprilia team has been hoarding soft rears and had so many they decided to waste a dozen or so on the hapless Italian.
Despite the troubles they had on both Friday and Saturday, Team Ducati still placed four riders on the front three rows. Martin and Bastianini, both in the conversation for the title this year, will have their work cut out for them on Sunday. My Magic 8 Ball tells me to keep an eye on Joan Mir, #93 and Aleix, upon whom my money is riding for podium honors for Round
Sunday’s race saw Fabio Quartararo become the first two-time winner this season, having taken the lead from Joan Mir on Lap 4 and cruising to an easy 5.4 second victory over fellow countryman Johann Zarco, with Aprilia Boss Aleix Espargaro taking yet another podium in his happy season. The chase for the 2022 championship is tight as a tick after five rounds, Quartararo tied at the top with the suddenly formidable Alex Rins, who carved his way from P23 at the start to P4 at the end. Aleix sits pretty in P3, a mere 3 points separating him from the leaders, A suddenly mortal Enea Bastianini sits in P4, five points “in arrears”, as the Brits say, to Espargaro.
Buried in the footnotes to today’s race–
Pecco Bagnaia, who tried to break his collarbone on Saturday and came damned close, hanging tough on Sunday, starting from P25 and finishing in P8. He and Zarco were the sole bright lights for Team Ducati, Jorge Martin having crashed out around Lap 6 and Jack Miller, chasing a podium, sliding off the track on Lap 19 and collecting Mir in the process. Luca Marini did finish in the points, while Marco Bezzecchi, starting from P6, worked his way down to P15 at the finish.
Marc Marquez, starting from P9, got lost in the sauce early, worked his ass off all day, and just barely beat little brother Alex by 2/100ths at the flag for 10 points. What the hell is Alex Marquez doing fiddling around just behind the lead group(s)?
With Miller and Mir getting skittled late, everyone trailing them got promoted two spots. Marquez, who could have started on pole were it not for teammate Pol Espargaro bringing out the yellow flags in Q2, might as easily have finished in P8. He thumped his noggin on the asphalt again on Saturday, but his diplopia, which may be becoming chronic, did not appear.
The first 1-2 finish for French riders since the Earth cooled.
Miguel Oliveira, the Great Portuguese Hope, finished in P5 at his home crib, but his name was only called two or three times all day.
Fabio is starting to resemble former Yamaha pilot Maverick Vinales. He is dominant when running in clean air at the front, but unable to slice and dice his way through the field like Marquez, Rins and Bagnaia. Accordingly, I make him a long shot to take the 2022 title.
Valentino Rossi showed up at today’s race, the first time he has graced the paddock since his retirement at the end of last season.
Loyal readers of this column will notice a comment recently affixed (approved by me) to the post about Simon Crafar and Steve Day from last year, in which I cast some aspersion on both gentlemen. Simon, since then, has impressed me, especially when he is in the booth during practice sessions. But it’s Steve Day who took time out of his busy schedule yesterday to insult me and, by extension, the loyal readers who follow this column. This after getting tossed from the booth by Dorna or whoever. I expect you MOrons to respond to Mr. Day on my behalf, defending me from the slings and arrows, etc. Mentioning the fact that he resembles Flounder in Animal House would be helpful as well. If you choose to defend me, might as well do it below, rather than paging back through piles of gibberish. I hope Steve will see that he started a bit of a MotoGP shitstorm.
Next week Jerez. I attended the race there in 2010; it was one of those memorable Lorenzo moments.
If you have some real miles on your odometer, this will make more sense.
Not Dylan Gray. Not Nick Harris.
I get it that Simon Crafar was kind of a big deal in motorcycle racing some years ago, and is a SME regarding motorcycle racing in general. He is nervous, and doesn’t possess a great reservoir of questions when he’s conducting an interview. Despite his wealth of knowledge, he consistently asks riders these squishy “how does it feel” questions that many are reluctant, unprepared or unable (in a second language) to answer.
On Sunday, Simon conducted possibly the worst interview EVER of Valentino Rossi, a task which is usually a lay-down, as Rossi is usually happy to have a mic stuck in his face. It took place in the midst of a riveting Moto3 race in which Rossi had some pronounced interest in several of the riders up front. Simon gets in his grill, delivers his “I’m here with nine-time world champion…” opener, and asks, “Who do you think will win?” Rossi, confused, thinking he’s still the MotoGP guy, stammers about how Jorge is strong and Iannone… when Simon interrupts, saying “No, the Moto3 race!” Rossi: “No idea.” Simon, equipped this time with a follow-up, asks, “How’s it feel to win pole here at Mugello?” “Rossi: “Is good.” Simon: “Back to you, guys.”
As I was getting over this mess, it occurred to me that Matt and your boy Steve need to bring Simon up to speed, as it were, on a few of the finer points of MotoGP announcing:
They switched from 125s to 250s in Moto3 in 2012. They no longer run 125s.
The word is “best,” not “bist.”
He needs to focus on more technical questions, which will require that he employ the open probe “when,” as in, “When did you know you could win the race?” or, “When did you feel your front tire starting to melt?”
The season is a third over. Time to move on from “How does it feel?”
As for Steve Day, I saw him on camera for the first time and could not shake the image of Flounder, from Animal House, from my head. Here I expected a buff, English kind of jock who happened to have a high voice. Instead, it’s Stephen Furst in his mid-30’s, appears to possibly never have been on a motorcycle, and who gets his panties in a twist at the slightest provocation. OK, it’s fine to try to inject some excitement, but, for the most part, the action is exciting on its own. He needs to speak more calmly, as if he’s been there before, and in a lower register. They appear to be under orders to sound as utterly British as possible–rough treatment in a turn is “naughty.” Both Matt and Steve are excellent at identifying riders during the heat of battle. But, whatever MotoGP does, it should keep Steve Day off TV. Better to put on Otis Day and the Nights.
There was a bit of a kerfuffle when yellow flags came out at the end of FP3, interrupting hot laps for a number of riders and resulting in a Q1 featuring eight MotoGP race winners out of the 12. Q1 was mostly a non-event, with wonderkid Jorge Martin bitch-slapping the field on his way to an easy entry into Q2 with Alex Rins only slightly behind.
Q2 was pretty exciting for Ducati fans, as Jorge Martin took pole away from Jack Miller on his last flying lap (by 3/1000ths of a second!) with the big red machines occupying the top five slots on the grid, a scene we may see more often, courtesy of the genius of Gigi Dallig’na. The top five also included Pecco Bagnaia, who appears to have figured out the GP22, along with Zarco and The Beast . This was the first top five lockout in qualifying for Ducati since they entered the premier class in 2003. The fact is, none of the other teams even field five bikes, so if anyone is going to post five for five it’s going to be Ducati. The rest of the front three rows, the only guys with a real chance to win tomorrow’s race, were Quartararo, Rins, Mir and Marquez, who, at this point in his career, is looking like Just Another Fast Rider who will win at some tracks and won’t be a threat to podium at others. This is a rough sport.
For the record, sitting on pole in Moto2 tomorrow will be the great American hope Cameron Beaubier; Andrea Migno occupies the top slot in Moto3.
Here is a comment from loyal reader OldMoron who watched the race before I did:
Wow! Fantastic race. Waiting for Moto3 to start, but in no hurry as I’m still enjoying the MotoGP afterglow.
I needed a great MotoGP race to make up for the disappointment of Moto2. That was a good race, too. But I wanted better for CamBeaub. Oh well, very happy to the Moto2 podium, with most of them getting up there for the first time.
Don’t know what the heck happened to MM at the start. Would’ve loved to see him and Beastie cutting each other up. The consolation was watching Marc and Fabio going at it. Full credit to Quarty. The other Yamahas are nowhere. He’s riding the wheels off that bike. If the Yam is not stronger on the Euro tracks, they might lose Quarty next year.
Thank you, sir, for your loyal readership for 13 years. You are THE MAN!
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
This will be the race people remember owing to Marc Marquez having a major technical issue at the start, falling from P9 to P24 in the first three turns. Any chance he had had of winning on Sunday was summarily dismissed. He then proceeded to slice up ts the field, with winning pace, on his way to a heroic P6 finish. A helluva lot of work for 10 points.
Jack Miller took the lead on Lap 1 and held it for most of the day, dueling first with Jorge Martin, who faded to a P8 finish as the Pramac Ducatis seemed to lose grip mid-race; Zarco, who was in the lead group for most of the first half of the race, finished in P9. Later in the day, Miller would have his lunch money stolen by new series leader Enea Bastianini, who has established himself as a legitimate title contender in only his second premier class season. One of the many things he has going for himself, in addition to being very gentle on his tires, is that he sits on a Ducati GP21, probably the best bike on the grid, certainly superior to the GP22. I expect Ducati will iron out the wrinkles on the 22 in time to make next year’s GP23 ferocious.
Alex Rins had an impressive weekend, overtaking Miller late on the last lap for a P2 podium, 2021 was a total disaster for the Spaniard (everyone should watch MotoGP Unlimited on Prime, the gritty documentary covering the 2021 season, warts and all), but he appears to have solved his Suzuki this year, finishing in the top ten in all four rounds, and lately on the podium twice. When he was coming up through the junior classes there rumors that, as a teenager, he was faster than #93, but his premier class career has been one continuous disappointment. Trailing series leader Bastianini by a mere five points in P2 for the year, he has established himself as contender in 2022.
Bastianini had a fabulous weekend, hanging around near the top of the charts during the practice sessions, and slotting himself into P5 during Q2 while Jorge Martin established an all-time lap record. He sat in P3 and P4 during most of the race, dispatched Martin on Lap 12 and Miller on Lap 16, taking the lead he would hold without too much trouble until the checkered flag waved. This gives him two wins in four rounds, leading a ridiculously competitive field. At 5’6″ he is the right size to compete in motorcycle racing. The world, at this point in time, appears to be his oyster.
Jack Miller finished the day in P3 and on the podium, a frustrating outcome in a race he might have won if he had taken better care of his rear tire. He and teammate Pecco Bagnaia are in the midst of a forgettable year. And while Bagnaia still smells like a title contender (perhaps not this year but certainly in the future), it looks all but certain that Miller will lose his factory seat to Jorge Martin for next year. Whether Miller will accept a demotion to the Pramac team or seek greener pastures remains to be seen.
It seems likely that a good number of riders are going to change teams, and manufacturers, before next season. The Rider Most Likely to Abandon Yamaha is undoubtedly Fabio Quartararo, as the M1 can barely get out of its own way this season. Quartararo, riding like a demon, has amassed 42 points for the year. Morbidelli, Dovizioso and D. Binder have, between them, a total of 23 points. Dovizioso and Morbidelli are sucking canal water this year, with Morbidelli likely to leave Yamaha and Dovizioso likely to leave MotoGP altogether. It’s too early to tell whether Brad Binder’s little brother has anything going on. And, as an afterthought, the satellite Honda team (Takaa Nakagami and Alex Marquez) needs to be turned upside down and shaken hard; Marquez is hopeless, and Nakagami, the current Great Japanese Hope, isn’t getting it done, either.
Championship standings after 4 rounds:
1 Enea Bastianini 61
2 Alex Rins 56
3 Aleix Espargaro 50
4 Joan Mir 46
5 Fabio Quartararo 44
6 Brad Binder 42
7 Jack Miller 31
8 Johann Zarco 31
9 Miguel Oliveira 28
10 Jorge Martin 28
Noteworthy is how Suzuki has quietly placed both riders in the top four. Rugged KTM pilot Brad Binder sits in P6 and must still be regarded as a title contender. We will learn in Europe whether Aleix Espargaro is a one hit wonder or a true contender after most of a decade spent as an afterthought. In two weeks the flying circus returns to Europe at Portimao, where it will begin the process of separating the men from the boys.
Aleix Espargaro makes history with his and Aprilia’s first-ever MotoGP win, in his 200th premier-class start, after a tense race-long duel with Jorge Martin at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina.
Espargaro had been fastest not only in qualifying but also free practice and warm-up, presenting the Spaniard with a perfect chance to finally break his victory drought.
But when the red lights went out, Espargaro got a shaky getaway and lost out to fellow front-row starters Jorge Martin and Luca Marini, plus younger brother Pol by turn two, before recovering to second behind Martin by the end of the lap.
It also threatened to put Espargaro within range of the pursuing Rins, but the Aprilia rider regrouped with the fastest lap of the race to clamp back onto Martin’s rear wheel.
With 8 laps to go Espargaro slipstreamed ahead of Martin along the back straight to lead for the first time, but promptly ran wide at the following hairpin allowing Martin to casually return to the front.
Espargaro repeated the attempt, with the same result, soon after. But it was a case of third time lucky as Espargaro held his line into the hairpin with five laps to go.
Martin wasn’t done, clinging persistently to the RS-GP until the final lap, where Espargaro finally edged out of reach for an emotional victory.
Until today, Aleix had been the only rider on the MotoGP grid without a grand prix win, in any class, to his name while the RS-GP had taken just one prior podium,with Espargaro at Silverstone last year. A dream day was made complete by Espargaro now also leading the world championship standings.
Pol was among those flocking to congratulate Aleix, his brother’s triumph helping soothe the disapointment of crashing out of fourth place with 11 laps to go, leaving Rins to complete the podium ahead of Suzuki team-mate Joan Mir.
Starting 13th and 14th after a problematic Saturday, factory Ducati team-mates Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller failed to gain early ground. Bagnaia then chipped his way up the order to fifth but Miller couldn’t make an impression on the race and finished 14th.
Maverick Vinales, who had also enjoyed his best Aprilia weekend heading into the race, lost a few places from fifth on the grid before stabilising in seventh.
Reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo was shuffled from sixth on the grid to 13th in the early laps. The Monster Yamaha star gained a place when countryman Johann Zarco slid off ahead of him, but could only recover to eighth.
Marco Bezzecchi was the top rookie in ninth for VR46, with team-mate Marini fading to eleventh.
Qatar winner and world championship leader Enea Bastianini began the race twelfth on the grid, reached a peak of eighth, but then ran wide and dropped to 13th. Bastianini completed the top ten by the chequered flag.
The RNF Yamaha team seemed to suffer tyre warmer generator problems on the grid for both Andrea Dovizioso and Darryn Binder. Dovizioso then entered the pits at the end of the opening lap before re-joining the race.
Dovizioso wasn’t the only Yamaha rider in technical trouble with Monster’s Franco Morbidelli looking to suffer some kind of rear tyre issue as he entered the pits with 18 laps to go.
All riders chose to race with the hard front and soft rear tyre combination.
Marc Marquez, who suffered a new episode of double vision in the aftermath of his huge warm-up accident in Indonesia, missed this weekend’s event and was replaced by HRC test rider Stefan Bradl.
After a medical check last Monday, Marquez’s Ophthalmologist Dr Sánchez Dalmau said there had been a “a very favourable evolution in the paralysis of the fourth right nerve affected by the fall that occurred at the Indonesian Grand Prix.”
But he added: “Recovery is not yet complete, and Marc Marquez must follow the established therapeutic regime with conservative treatment.”
It is thus not yet known if Marquez will return for COTA next weekend, one of his most successful circuits, or re-join sometime during the European season, which begins in Portimao on April 22-24.
Fellow Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami also looked set to miss this weekend after testing positive for Covid-19 and being unable to leave Japan. However, the cancellation of Friday combined with subsequent negative Covid results meant Nakagami was able to get to Termas in time for Saturday’s start.
MotoGP was returning to Termas de Rio Hondo for the first time since March 2019, with the event cancelled for the past two years due to the Covid pandemic. That also meant the current ‘standard’ rear tyre construction, introduced in 2020, had not previously been used at the track.
Barring any freight issues, MotoGP will be back on track in Austin, Texas on Friday.
Miguel Oliveira won the first Indonesian Grand Prix in 25 years on Sunday, holding off French challengers “Fabulous” Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco. The podium celebration featured a KTM, a Yamaha and a Ducati. Notably absent were representatives from Honda; it looks like it’s going to be another difficult year for the Suzuki and Aprilia contingents.
After two rounds, there are four riders within six points of series leader Enea Bastianini, with another four riders tied at ten points back. Pre-season fave Pecco Bagnaia and his GP22 have accumulated a total of one (1) point; a couple more outings like the first two and his unvarnished optimism is going to get shellacked. And please don’t get me started about Marc Marquez, whose dramatic high-side during the morning warm up came close to cracking his head wide open and led to his being declared unfit for the race.
Practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, appeared to be taking place inside an autoclave. The oppressive heat wreaked havoc with the riders, their machines, and the racing surface itself. Soft tires became the only viable choice for most of the teams, and on Saturday’s qualifying sessions they were going through them like salted nuts
Q1 was the most interesting such session I’ve seen since the qualifying format changed in 2013. A number of high-profile riders, including names such as Bagnaia, M Marquez, P Espargaro and Mir, had failed to pass through to Q2, due in no small part to surprisingly competent practice session from Oliveira and FDG. Exhibit A for the radical competition in Q1 was the fact that Marquez went through a passel of soft tires and crashed twice, subsequently landing in P15. He actually would have started the race in P14 but for the picky sanction applied to Frankie Morbidelli for violating some obscure rule about practice start procedures at the end of FP3.
During Sundays warm-up, Marquez went airborn in the most spectacular high-side I’ve seen since Jorge Lorenzo practically achieved a low earth orbit in China in 2009.
Naturally, Sunday was a frog strangler, with rain holding up the proceedings in the premier class for an hour. It was still wet when the lights went out. Since most of you have access to the results of the race by now (the MotoGP website has an excellent summary) I have virtually nothing to say about the race. The season-to-date standings are something else, though. The Beast added 5 points to the 25 he earned in Lusail (when did Losail become Lusail?) and still sits at the top of the standings, followed in close order by the surprising Brad Binder, a dangerous Quartararo, and today’s race winner Miguel Oliveira. Of particular interest is Marquez sitting down in P12 and, as mentioned above, Pecco Bagnaia resting in P20 with the likes of KTM rookies Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner. Amazingly, rookie little brother Darryn Binder, enjoying a jump shift (for you bridge players) from Moto3 made his way into the Top 10 today.
Since this post is only for record keeping, that’s it for now. My buddy OldMoron is going to take this post apart in his inimitable style, which is fine with me. And, for the record, somebody named Somkiat Chantra won his first grand prix in Moto2, while Dennis “The Menace” Foggia won the Moto3 tilt in comfortable fashion.
Next stop: Another dirty track in Argentina in two weeks. This season is going to be a blast.
Errata from Canadian correspondent Allison Sullivan. Posted completely without permission of the author.
THAT.HIGHSIDE. was gnarly. You could tell it was so unexpected that Marc basically had no idea what had happened. That he got up and walked away is testament to the technological marvels those suits are, but that has to mess with his already fragile head.
(Speaking of which, is anyone watching MotoGP Unlimited on Amazon? I’ve just finished Ep 3 where Jorge Martin comes back from his broken leg, and he’s matter-of-factly talking about how his suit recorded 26G of force and he should have been dead. O_O)
I’m a fan of the The Beast, but I wouldn’t have picked him to be leading the series after 2 races. Fabio looks strong again this year, the rest of the field can’t afford to be spotting that boy points (cough, cough, Pecco). Style points for this week go to Alex Rins for his very undignified bail of his flaming Suzuki, and the bad luck award goes yet again to Jorge Martin (if that boy didn’t have bad luck, he’d have none).
I’m passing on the main race (rain races are never good watches), but I did watch Moto3 because I have to cheer for Ana Carrasco this season. Foggia and Izan Guevara definitely look to be the class acts of that field this year. Tatsu stayed upright, huzzah. Looks like Pedro is not finding Moto2 to be the cakewalk everyone predicted – it will be interesting to see if he finds form once they get to Europe.
Thank you, Allison.
Marquez on his way to the medical center.
Miguel winning his fourth GP in the premier class.
Lots of conversation amongst you motorheads about watching the races, TV vs. the Dorna video feed and so forth. The only race I’ve ever watched on TV was the 2008 classic at Laguna Seca, where Rossi out-raced Casey Stoner, eventually putting his dick in the dirt. I remember this one, because my write-up of that race earned me the lofty title of MotoGP correspondent at Motorcycle.com for the next 10 or 12 years. I was unaware that it was one of the most exciting races in MotoGP history. I remember not appreciating the TV commercial breaks and thought the announcers were new at their jobs, too.
Fourteen years later, I’m starting to get this sport figured out. I’ve purchased the video feed during the entire period and have never regretted doing so. There’s so much more content available on it–all four classes (counting e-bikes), practice sessions (where FP3 is occasionally more interesting than the race itself.) Moto3 is usually the best race on Sunday. Then there are the announcers.
I can’t speak to the TV announcers, but am happy to talk a little bit about the crew on the video feed. I’ve always been a fan of Matt Birt, even though he jocks the sport way too hard, in my opinion. He often describes a win as “a famous victory,” which is a hoot, given the fact that MotoGP is a parlor game in the world of sports. Famous wins take place around the world in soccer and in the three or four major sports in the U.S.
For 2022, color man Steve Day has been relieved of his duties for this season, replaced by the obscure but capable Lewis Suddaby. One thing I won’t miss about Mr. Day is the incessant high-pitched shrieking he brought to every overtake in every race, raising my hackles. Appearance-wise, he reminded me of Flounder in Animal House (“You f**cked up, Flounder. You trusted us.”) Then there’s Simon Crafar, the former rider stationed in the pits.
Opinions on Simon’s skill set vary widely. Having been a rider, he can and does provide useful insights as to what’s happening on the track. This part of his job he does very well. But no one can argue that his interviewing skills are non-existent. He seems incapable of framing good questions for the guys he interviews, and doesn’t appear to be at all familiar with what are generally referred to as “follow-up questions.” It appears he also doesn’t do his homework and comes unprepared for the interviews. Most of the time, he flails around making a comment about the subject at hand, appears to give up, and asks the interviewee, “So, what did you think?” or something equally inane. “What do you think?” “What are you thinking?” Here he is, supremely qualified to pose technical questions to riders and team bosses, and he consistently drops the ball, going instead with his dopey question, as if he’s taking a survey.
For those of you either too cheap or insufficiently interested to spend $125 on the feed–which works out to about $6 per round–I’ve posted the TV schedule for the entire season. You will notice that most of the races are tape-delayed, meaning you will often know the outcome of the race before it is shown. If that works for you, be my guest. Spend your $6 on a large frappuccino with an extra shot, heavy on the whipped cream. Enjoy the commercials and the lightweight commentary. And don’t worry about taking part in the conversations about Moto2 and Moto3, (I suppose you could visit Crash.net to find out what happened in the lightweight and intermediate classes. If that’s the case, prepare to get flamed by guys like OldMoron and Starmag for bringing opinions similar to the North Platte River in Nebraska–a mile wide and an inch deep.)
I’m using this space to record my notes from Round One. This is not intended for public consumption, just a place to keep records to be used in the mid-season summary article.
Moto3–Ayuma Sasaki had the race all to himself until he saved a high-side in the middle of the race, causing the left side of his fairing to come unglued and leading to his eventual retirement. Once he was out of the picture, five riders slugged it out for the win–Andrea Migno for his first win since 2017, Sergio Garcia, who came back from a long lap penalty for P2, and Kaito Toba, who raced his ass off and eventually captured a podium. Dennis Oncu and John McPhee were in the lead group but failed to podium. The top five reflected the nationalistic nature of grand prix racing, and featured Italy, Spain, Japan, Turkey and Scotland. Not the best Moto3 race ever, but good.
Moto2–Celestino Vietti led wire to wire, with Aron Canet riding a lonely second place, Action in the final turn of the race saw Ai Ogura lose the front of his bike, bumping Augusto Fernandez off the podium and allowing a very lucky Sam Lowes to climb the third step. Rookie Pedro Acosta got swallowed up at the start (from P10) and had to fight like hell all day to eventually finish in P12. 16 year old rookie Fermin Aldeguer sounds like a rider to watch, although he could manage no better than P16 today.
MotoGP–the big bikes featured the race of the day. Pol Espargaro took the early lead and held it until his rear tire went south around Lap 19. His chasers went on to some success, headlined by sophomore Enea Bastianini, who recorded his first premier class win and looks way stronger than I have given him credit for. Brad Binder rode the hell out of his KTM and took the second step on the podium, followed by Pol Espargaro, Aleix, Marc Marquez and Joan Mir. It was a brutal day for the Ducati contingent. Jack Miller retired early with an electronics issue. Rookie Marco Bezzecchi crashed out on Lap 7. The worst moment of their very bad no good day occurred on Lap 12, when Pecco Bagnaia, my pick to win it all, lost the front, taking himself and polesitter Jorge Martin out of the race. Aside from Bastianini’s win, the other Ducati finishers were Johann Zarco in P8, sophomore Luca Marini in P13, and fellow rookie FDG in P17. Sadly for Yamaha, defending champion Fabio Quartararo finished in P9, while teammate Franco Morbidelli took the flag in P11. The satellite team barely showed up at all; the announcers didn’t mention either of them all day. Maverick Vinales ended the day in P12, Andrea Dovizioso in P14. Looks to be a long year for those two. Aleix Espargaro kept his record of never having won a grand prix race, in any class, intact, although he appears to have more juice this year than usual. Marc Marquez never challenged for the lead after the first couple of laps and settled for 11 points on the day.
Next time out the riders head for Indonesia, another outlier. But for Ducati, their putative top three riders recorded zero points on the day. In 2022, with so many fast movers, zeroes in Week 1 are going to hurt their chances for the entire season.
[Note: The scurrilous opinions, mis-statements of fact and otherwise actionable slurs below do not represent the views of Motorcycle.com. In fact, we are surprised if they represent the views of anyone at all.]
MotoGP, the fastest sport on two wheels in the known universe, is back for what promises to be one of the most competitive seasons in history. Twelve well-financed teams. 24 riders, of which only a handful can be excluded from consideration for multiple podium appearances during a 21-round campaign stretching from the streets of Indonesia to the jungles of South America to the Gulf of Finland. And the machines, hand-built to inconceivable tolerances, with power-to-weight ratios comparable to strapping a pair of big Evinrudes on the ass end of a dinghy.
In the past ten seasons, only four men have claimed the title of MotoGP world champion. Jorge Lorenzo, gone but not forgotten, won it all during his Yamaha days in 2012 and 2015. Joan Mir, the young Spanish speedster with the girl’s name, claimed his win in 2020*, winning a single race in a season decimated by Covid. French heartthrob Fabio Quartararo became a world champion in 2021*.
The asterisks signify seasons in which Spanish king of kings, Marc Marquez, who won the other six titles during the period, was injured or trying to return from injury. It doesn’t require much imagination to suggest that, had Marquez been healthy, both Mir and Quartararo would have watched him claim his seventh and eighth premier class crowns. For those of you new to the sport, he is the Michael Jordan, the Tom Brady of grand prix motorcycle racing. Those of us who watched him during those years remain unworthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.
In 2022, having returned to full health (or close to it) Marquez will have his work cut out for him. There is more talent on the grid today than there was in 2013, and, despite his boyish good looks, he has a lot of miles on his odometer and is, in fact, a veteran rider. Not a grizzled veteran like my boy Cal Crutchlow, but a veteran nonetheless. He turned 29 in February, in a sport where eyebrows begin to raise at anyone over 30.
When Last Seen
The 2021 calendar was goofed up, again due to the Covid pandemic. There were a full 18 rounds, but it was cobbled together, with two each at Losail, Red Bull Ring Portimao and Misano. Quartararo won five rounds—Losail II, Portimao I, Mugello, Assen and Silverstone, coasting to the championship at season’s end. Upstart Pecco Bagnaia, the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo, captured four of the last six rounds to make the final standings look closer than they were. Ducati pilot Jack Miller won two early rounds, at Jerez and Le Mans, but failed to launch thereafter, going winless over the final 13 rounds.
Other winners included KTM’s Brad Binder at his home gym in Austria, and the wounded Marc Marquez, who, riding with one arm, managed wins at the Sachsenring and COTA, both of which he basically owns, and Misano II. In a harbinger of great things yet to come, rookie Jorge Martin, the second coming of Dani Pedrosa, recorded a great win at Austria I. And, in a footnote, the bedraggled Maverick Vinales, once considered the next great thing, won Round One in the desert and was hardly heard from thereafter. He switched teams in mid-season, falling out of grace from the factory Yamaha team and landing in a heap with Aprilia. He has gone from the next great thing to a trivia question, all due to the size of his ego.
The Off-Season
Since the final 2021 round at Valencia up until this week, actually, teams have been installing new riders and scrambling to come to terms with the 2022 iterations of their bikes. Rules governing what goes on in the off-season have been tightened drastically in recent years in an effort, I guess, to cut costs. Personally, what I learn each year from testing and the race at Losail is essentially nothing. IMO, Losail, for me anyway, marks the end of pre-season testing, but with the riders able to score points. Winning at Losail in March counts for about as much as the Cincinnati Reds winning their opening game in March. It has no predictive value.
The Grand Prix of Qatar has always been a strange choice for the season opener. They run it at night under gigantic lights, with sand blowing across the track. The racing surface is wide enough to tow a fifth-wheel trailer. March is one of the few months where local air temperatures are under 150 degrees. And attendance usually runs to about 1500 fans, most of whom are oil sheiks, crypto miners and political assassins. Not normal.
New Faces
This season starts with seven underclassmen, three sophomores and four freshmen. New to the premier class last year were Italian speedsters Luca Marini (half brother of the legendary Valentino Rossi) and Enea Bastianini, along with rising Spanish star Jorge Martin. The 2022 crop of rookies includes a pair of KTM guys, apparently chained at the wrists and ankles—Australian Remy Gardner and Spanish fast mover Raul Fernandez. These two don’t like each other, causing us to hope for a repeat of the hilarious scene back in the day when Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi shared a garage and had a wall built down the middle to keep them from gouging each other’s eyes out.
Two more Italians complete the 2022 grid, starting with Fabio di Giannantonio, repping the Gresini Ducati team. (We will be forced to refer to him this season as FDG in order to conserve our dwindling inventory of lower case N’s.) Last, and perhaps least, is young Marco Bezzecchi, filling the #2 seat on Valentino Rossi’s Mooney VR46 Racing Team. Marco’s coiffure suggests he thinks of himself as the second coming of the late Marco Simoncelli; I prefer to consider him the MotoGP version of Sideshow Bob.
The Machines
Oh, what a different couple of paragraphs this would be had motorcycle whisperer Gigi Dall’igna not defected from Aprilia to Ducati in 2013. Over the past ten years he has transformed the Ducati Desmodici from a rocket sled into the best bike on the grid. Anyone who wishes to question this statement should seek counseling. At present, were we to tranche grand prix motorcycles, the ranking would look as follows:
Tranche 1: Ducati
Tranche 2: Your mother
Tranche 3: Honda
Tranche 4: Yamaha, Suzuki
Tranche 5: KTM
Tranche 6: Aprilia
This season there will be eight (8) Ducatis on the grid. Were it possible, there would probably be 18. Seems every rider wants a Desmo, wants to blow up his rivals on the long straights. It’s as fast as it’s aways been, only now the riders can wrestle it through the turns without giving themselves colitis. And it appears to improve each year. By 2025 Ducati Corse could conceivably sweep the top three or four spots for the year. Wow.
Despite winning the 2021 championship, Yamaha appears to have slipped a bit; Fabio is the only rider able to coax results out of the M1, with Morbidelli starting to smell like an underachiever. The aging Andrea Dovizioso and whippersnapper Darryn Binder, called up from Moto3 where he wasn’t all that, on the #2 team appear destined for the lower links of the food chain.
Honda appears to have similar problems. Clearly, the RC213V has been designed around Marc Marquez; what manufacturer in his right mind wouldn’t? Pol Espargaro, the #2 rider on the factory team, keeps talking a good game and keeps not winning races. Sure, he managed a second place finish last year at Misano II. Big whoop.The riders on the satellite team, Alex Marquez and Taka Nakagami, show occasional flashes of mediocrity, but are second division contestants. The day either of them wins a grand prix I will buy all of you a good cigar. (How you split it up between youse is your problem.)
Suzuki, to my way of thinking, can’t really be taken seriously as a championship-level outfit without a second team to generate more data. Sure, someone is bound to point out that Joan Mir won the 2020 title for Suzuki, and most people I know were happy for him and them. But 2020 was a crazy, one-off year. And, in winning the title, he managed the top step of the podium exactly one (1) time. Nicky Hayden won the Taller Than Danny DiVito Award in 2006 for Honda with two wins. Just for the love of the game, allow me to compare Marc Marquez’ points haul in 2019 with Mir’s in 2020:
Marquez 2019: 420 pts (19 rounds)
Mir 2020: 171 pts (14 rounds)
Where was I? Right. KTM, which appeared to be an ascendant MotoGP organization in 2020, took a definite step backward last year, despite the rugged Brad Binder having captured his maiden premier class win at Red Bull Ring, his home crib. In 2020 the two teams managed 200 points in 14 rounds of racing. In 2021, over 18 outings, they scored only 205 points. There has been plenty of sturm and drang during the off season. Another year like last year and there’s going to be some serious Teutonic ass-kicking going on in Mattighofen. Just sayin’.
Which brings us to Aprilia, the racing organization made famous by having let Gigi Dall’igna defect to Ducati. Just think about what this tranche might look like had they had the sense to pay him. But without a satellite team, their brave annual pronouncements about this finally being their year generate choruses of yawns from the racing press. Please don’t tell me what you’re going to do. Tell me what you’ve done.
Everyone’s Favorite Segment
At this point in the 2022 season, tranching the riders is a fool’s errand. And I’m just the fool to take it on. But I’m only willing to separate the riders into sheep and goats. If you have a problem with this, I suggest you write your congressman.
Tranche I—Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro, Brad Binder, Pol Espargaro, Raul Fernandez, Andrea Dovizioso
Tranche II—Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Franco Morbidelli, Taka Nakagami, Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini, FDG, Luca Marini, Remy Gardner, Maverick Vinales, Darryn Binder, Marco Bezzecchi
Our mid-season report will revert to the traditional format. Until then, I welcome your taunts and hoots.
Short Takes
Fabio Quartararo should have his leathers re-worked. Listening to him talk, he’s no more Spanish than I am. El Diablo needs to become Le Diable…Raul Fernandez is my pick for Rookie of the Year…MotoGP will change when teenager Pedro Acosta, The Next Really Great Rider, moves up next year. If he doesn’t title in Moto2 this year it will only be due to his having spent some serious time in traction…Jorge Martin is a rider to keep one’s eye on. Fearless and fast. He needs to concentrate on spending less time getting launched over his handlebars…Between his right arm and his damaged vision, we may have already seen the best Marc Marquez has to offer this sport. His lizard brain, the part firing the synapses behind his “Oh, my!” saves, may be slightly hesitant on the heels of two serious accidents…Pecco Bagnaia is my pick as the 2022 world champion, in case anyone asks.
The American FAA lists 234 miles per hour as “takeoff speed,” the speed at which an airplane leaves terra firma and begins its ascent. This is equal to 376 kmh. During FP4 at last year’s opener in the desert, Johann Zarco recorded 362.4 kmh on the main straight. The Ducati contingent, with their various winglet designs, will probably approach takeoff speed in the next two seasons. This could mark the invention of a new term in motorcycle racing—the overpass.
“Have a Take, and Don’t Suck”
This, for decades, has been the mantra of your boy Jim Rome. For internet journalists like myself (okay, internet hacks) our currency in trade is reader engagement. Late-Braking MotoGP has, for years, hosted informed, civil conversations, without the vitriol, insults and foul language found in most online forums. You, the faithful reader, have the choice of simply consuming our work or helping to create it by sharing your opinions, insights and reactions.
We don’t need lurkers. We need full-throated voices from riders, whether you agree or disagree with the silly, semi-informed opinions you find here. Are you friends with a Saudi assassin? Defend him here. Are you okay with me talking about your mother? Take me down a peg. This stuff is not the war in Ukraine. This is pure entertainment, offered to whet your appetite for MotoGP and to generate myriad requests to Motorcycle.com management to assign me more work. And trust me, I need work. So keep those cards and letters coming, kids.
I will return after Round 11 with some cheeky mid-season analysis. Until then.
* * *
In memory of Nancy P. Gillespie 3/19/1952 – 8/17/2021
Y’all have pestered Evans and me sufficiently that he has agreed to bring me back into the fold for some guest shots this year. We’ve agreed on three posts for now—pre-season, mid year and a wrap up in November.
I will endeavor to provide all your favorite stuff—tranches, slander, half-baked opinions and old jokes—and to stay on top of what promises to be a hellified good season.
A round of applause for Evans Brasfield, who went up against the suits at VerticalScope, all David vs Goliath-like, to make this happen.
Now if I can just get my ass out of the hospital we’ll be in business.
It’s race day. At what’s left of COTA, in Austin, the racing surface so bad there was talk of the riders boycotting the round. Maverick Vinales is absent due to the tragic death of his cousin? nephew? racing a motorcycle. Although your boy Fabio has the championship pretty well wrapped up, Bagnaia has finally started performing up to his potential and Marquez is showing renewed signs of life, so the 2021 race remains interesting. There has been a horde of young fast movers making their way into the premier class. Paging KTM and Ducati. Someone somewhere is comparing the average age of the grid in 2011 with the average today, discovering, no doubt, that the field is getting younger and, according to Methuselah, more reckless.
All of which is meant to distract you, the reader, from my decision to quit writing about MotoGP for now, as it has dropped sufficiently down on my list of priorities, since Nancy died in August, to make the work seem trivial, inconsequential, undeserving of my mental energy when I have so much else I need to think about. Sure, I intend to keep watching races and probably a few qualifying sessions just to keep my oar in the water. I need to maintain interest in my hobbies and avocations lest one of these doctors declares me clinically depressed. We wouldn’t want that.
I’m having some minor health issues–some hernias to repair, the sudden need for a crown on a back molar–and one serious one, in that I am no longer able to manage my blood sugar adequately with meds and will probably end up shooting up insulin, showing the younger grandkids how to tie it off, heat the spoon, the whole deal.
Part of my current problem is that I tend to come a bit unglued each day very early in the morning, at the time I used to do my writing about racing and a few other topics. I can’t type through my tears, which leads me to the edge of the journalistic abyss, questioning why I’m even trying to do this stuff when I feel so bad. I did some writing about Nancy a month ago and it made me feel absolutely no better.
My counselor says that until I can tell Nancy’s story without losing my shit I will not be on my way back to feeling normal. She says I should go to group therapy and practice telling Nancy’s story, over and over, every two weeks, until practicing doing so makes it easier to do actually get through it intact in the world. I’m going along with everything so my daughters don’t accuse me of being difficult or recalcitrant, which I’m usually not anyway.
I was going through the mail yesterday, doing fine, when I opened an envelope from American International Group which contained a check payable to me, the proceeds of the life insurance contract I insisted she buy years ago. It was, by far, the largest amount of money I’ve ever held in my hands. Despite the fact that I bought the policy before she was diagnosed, the fact that it paid a death benefit, to me alone, seems unfair and selfish. Imagine having had that money, money we could simply blow, back when she was healthy and vibrant. Back to Ireland and Spain, travel to Italy and Austria, Scandinavia, wherever.
So. On to just being a spectator and fan. For now. Once I get her ‘estate’ settled and get my health under control–in other words, when I have absolutely nothing to do–I may return to this site and grace you with my petulant observations. Perhaps in time for the season opener in 2022 under the lights. Until then, you must know that the only thing that has kept me doing this thing since Motorcycle.com broke up with me is you guys and your comments–sometimes prescient, always informed–telling me you enjoy my work. Otherwise, I might have been outta here last year. Anyway, thank you all for the kind words over the years and may the farce be with you forever.
Day 1: The gully washer storm turned into blistering heat and humidity. I missed FP1. FP2 was great to watch because, as the announcers were saying, the Saturday forecast was for more heavy rain so they were going to try to turn their best times in FP2.
Marquez went straight to the top in the early stages and then the tops spot became Fabio, Miller, Pecco but it was all for naught. At the end of the session 93 turned in a fast lap and finished FP2 #1.
Rossi finished the session with a wave and a wheelie as the fans cheered. 46 gear is everywhere as usual. What will MotoGP do without him?
Saturday morning: Wake up to bright blue skies! No rain in the forecast but it is Texas so wait 15 minutes as they say. Gonna be smoking hot today but hopefully not as humid.
Picked a Pecco of pickled peppers. Kaboom! Great Q2 session today. It was 93,93 93 at the top of the board and then Pecco turned up the heat and came flying by our turn 15 grandstand and snagged the pole as time was running out. The first Italian to claim 3 straight poles since Methuselah in 2009.
Many more people at the track today compared to yesterday. No rain. Just blistering heat and humidity. Can someone please tell Texas it’s fall now and it’s ok to cool down? It’s amazing what these guys can do riding this hard in full leathers in this heat. I was in shorts and a t-shirt and feeling Verklempt.
Moto2 qualifying has been awesome. My small group even agreed the triples sound better than the diesels at speed. Awesome shrieking sound and incredibly fast.
Overall, another great day. The vendors and other activities are naturally reduced compared to previous years but everyone here is so cheerful and so pleased we get to experience this again.
OK, so I can’t do this yet. I did watch all three races Sunday and have this to offer.
In Moto3, Pedro Acosta has assumed the mantle of The Blessed Rider of 2021, crashing out of the proceedings, only to be followed later in the race by a gagging Sergio Garcia, who, tampered with no doubt by The Racing Gods, crashed out of a podium spot and a chance to make the 2021 Moto3 championship competitive. The race tightened up behind Garcia, but who cares? Acosta’s lead stays at 46 points with five rounds left. This was his first, and probably last, DNF of the season. He’s been promoted to the best team in Moto2 for next season. The world is his oyster, as it were.
In Moto2, it was all Raul Fernandez up front, once Sam Lowes crashed out of the lead on Lap 13, which our erstwhile reporter predicted on Lap 2 (see notes). Remy Gardner (P2) and Fernandez will remain teammates next year in the big leagues; it’s almost as if they’re joined at the wrists and ankles. Of the two, all of my money is on the 20-year old Fernandez in the Most Likely to Become an Alien poll. There just aren’t any great Anglo riders, besides which I have a distaste for nepotism in all its forms.
Lots of crashers on Sunday, one of whom, Marco Bezzecchi, waved goodbye to his last remaining title hopes. He may still get promoted to MotoGP, if not this coming year then the th year following.
The MotoGP race devolved into one of the great two-man chases of recent memory, with 6-time MotoGP champ Marc Marquez, still on the mend from an injury suffered last year, chasing young Alien-in-Waiting Pecco Bagnaia and his Ducati all day, from the holeshot won by the Italian to the last three laps, which were stunning. Seven times Marquez showed Bagnaia his front wheel, and seven times Bagnaia denied him. Bagnaia, the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo without the bluster, has the high squeaky voice you want in your Italian race winners for their post-race interviews, in which they often sound like they’re on helium. Bagnaia was due, anyway. I look forward to watching these two battle for the next few years.
Have I mentioned sometime this year that there is a s**tload of fast young riders out there these days, on great machines. Marquez and Fabio, Bagnaia and Jorge Martin and Franco and Miller and Mir and even old Aleix. Pedro Acosta just turned 17. Knowing that at least one of you will, I haven’t bothered to look at total race times this year compared to years past, but I expect they’re going down gradually, but consistently.
If you look at point totals since Germany and divide the grid accordingly, you get as close to a legit tranche as anyone. Here are the standings since Sachsenring:
1. Quartararo 99
Mir 79
Binder 74
Bagnaia 73
2. M Marquez 63
A Espargaro 52
Martin 52
3. Rins 45
Miller 39
Zarco 36
Oliveira 33
Nakagami 33
4. P Espargaro 26
Lecuona 25
A Marquez 24
Vinales 20
5. Bastianini 16
Marini 15
Rossi 14
(Morbidelli)
There’s a little weirdness going on in these ranking, but facts is facts. And it doesn’t really matter what you might have done early in the year if you’re not doing it now.
Vinales and Rossi are done and dusted. The MotoGP neighborhood has changed over. Parties on the weekends are going to keep getting better.
I expected to do my usual slovenly job this weekend, covering all three MotoGP races, and there was plenty of material to work with. I watched “Peccorino” Romano Fenati dominate everything all weekend in Moto3. I got thrown off the MotoGP site for the entire premier class race–awesome–but watched your boy Fabio put his boot on the throat of the 2021 championship later in the day. I tuned into the Moto2 race just in time to catch the order of finish–Gardner, Bezzecchi and Navarro–minus Raul Fernandez who, I’m told, crashed late, putting a big old suppurating gash in his championship aspirations.
But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t write it. Sure, I’m happy Dovi is re-employed at Yamaha where he had success earlier in his career. I’m happy Pol got a Pole and Aleix got himself a podium. But compared to what we have going on here, it just seemed somehow inappropriate. As in, what am I doing cracking jokes about motorcycles when our three daughters just lost their mom? If I were a serious writer, writing about serious subjects, using serious words, perhaps I could cobble up something. But the cheap laughs just aren’t working for me this week, and without them, I’m just another scribbler.
So, on to Aragon. I will keep trying this until it starts working again. Thanks for your patience.
Nancy Gillespie, 69, died peacefully at St. Vincent Hospice on August 17. She was born in Woodbury, New Jersey, and was preceded in death by her parents, Edward and Elizabeth (Harper) Gillespie. She is survived by a sister, Mary (Volk), Audubon, PA, brother Ed Gillespie, Glade Valley, NC, husband Bruce Allen, daughters Liz (Pearce), Seattle, WA, Ginger (Edwards), Carmel, IN and Cate (Collins), Chicago, IL and her six grandchildren, upon whom she doted. She will be greatly missed.
Nancy graduated from high school in Woodbury, NJ in 1970 and attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA, graduating in 1974. She and Bruce were married in 1975. Daughter Liz was born in 1977, Ginger in 1980 and Cate in 1984. Nancy spent a dozen years as a full-time mom before re-entering the workforce in 1990. She worked at both Carmel High School and the Carmel Public Library and ended her career at OneAmerica as an Organizational Development leader.
After retiring in 2016, Nancy continued to pursue her love of travel, visiting Mexico, Hawaii, Arizona, Mackinac Island, New York City, Seattle, New England and the Atlantic coast. During this same period she beat all the odds in a battle against Stage IV pancreatic cancer. She credited the combined prayers of her family, friends and complete strangers for her lengthy survival. She was an avid reader, loved her book club members, and stayed in close touch with old friends from Woodbury, Cincinnati, and Annapolis. She loved birds, especially hummingbirds and cardinals, and beaches.
Nancy was an active member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish for 37 years, volunteering for and leading a host of ministries over that time. A calling and eulogy will be held in the church narthex (14598 Oak Ridge Rd, Carmel) on Thursday, August 19, 2021, from 6 to 8 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, August 20 beginning at 10 am. Interment will follow at Our Lady of Peace cemetery (9001 Haverstick Rd., Indianapolis). In lieu of flowers, the family requests your support of pancreatic cancer research through donations to The Lustgarten Foundation.
Nancy Gillespie, circa 2007. Photo by Douglas Pearce
We are having to take a break while dealing with some health issues at home.
Congratulations to Jorge Martin for popping his premier class cherry. Dude is going to win a lot more races. Congratulations to Raul Fernandez for his promotion to the bigs. Congratulations to Petronas Yamaha for approaching the end of the silly season with no riders signed for 2022, once Frankie leaves. Congratulations to Vinny for taking his career in his hands and giving it a good, solid whack. Adios to Danilo and Iker, see you in WSBK.
I look forward to things returning to the new normal later in the season, whence I will re-commence this patter in hopes of a championship race tightening up, and generating more of your always-entertaining comments.
Nancy Gillespie, circa 2007. Photo by Douglas Pearce
Late-Braking MotoGP 