MotoGP Track Records Under Assault in 2019

Last year I started looking at MotoGP track records. Eight new track records were set in the premier class.

At Qatar, new track records were set on Saturday in all three classes. The big new Triumphs in Moto2 kicked ass. Not to mention that the winner, Lorenzo Baldassarri, edged our old whipping boy Tom Luthi by .026 seconds, while Marcel Schrotter was putting it to Remy Gardner, snatching third place from the Australian by .002.

Marquez got another one, in addition to having the highest top speed of the weekend. In Moto3, 11 riders finished within a second of the winner.

A road race in Singapore looms, in addition to the Finnish track. Correct me if I’m wrong–(when I say that I’m never wrong)–but aren’t there already 19 rounds? When I add two to that I get 21. Isn’t there some agreement somewhere limiting the season to 20 races? If there is, and if both Singapore and Finland make it on to the calendar, which round gets killed off–Qatar, please–or do they change the rules and expand the calendar yet again?

This entry was posted on March 23, 2019 at 6:52 am and is filed under Moto. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Responses to “MotoGP Track Records Under Assault in 2019”

Gruf Rude Says:
March 23, 2019 at 12:28 pm | Reply
“Qatar, please?” Highly unlikely as Dorna just extended their contract for 10 years. Be nice if they took away Qatar as a test venue, though; the place is useless for testing.

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- Bruce Allen Says:
  March 23, 2019 at 7:34 pm | Reply
  The test data helps for Losail only. Go to Mugello or Catalunya.
  
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Barry_Allen Says:
March 24, 2019 at 6:35 am | Reply
If they haven’t improved COTA over last year it could be soon for the chopping block. Planning to watch at least part of the Indy Car Race taking place there Sunday afternoon just to see how much dust they raise.

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- Bruce Allen Says:
  March 24, 2019 at 6:56 am | Reply
  That place is becoming a joke. I agree, more likely to come off the calendar than, say, Aragon.
  
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  - Barry_Allen Says:
    March 24, 2019 at 10:58 pm | Reply
    The announcers referred to the track as “showing it’s age,” and didn’t get any deeper into it. The scars from last year’s grinding of the surface are still visible. We can only hope that a year of racing has helped even out the wear on the track. Somebody is just going to have to bite the bullet and come up with a big sack of cash to resurface this place, and soon.
    
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  - Old MOron Says:
    March 25, 2019 at 12:04 pm | Reply
    It will be an interesting situation if COTA is removed from the calendar. Marc Marquez will have won every race held there – unless someone can knock him off the top of the podium this year!
    
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