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.
Tags: COTA, Enea Bastianini, Marc Marquez
Late-Braking MotoGP 
April 12, 2023 at 8:18 am |
I don’t even know why Honda bothers to show up.
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April 13, 2023 at 1:03 pm |
To their credit, they won’t quit.
They’ll get the rules changed if they have to (eye roll), but they won’t quit.
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April 12, 2023 at 9:49 am |
Maybe I’ll put Bradl on my team! Flying to Austin tomorrow. I’m taking the wife for the first time.
I’ll try to send some updates from the scene.
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April 12, 2023 at 11:29 pm |
Thanks, Buzz. Have a good trip. We look forward to reading your updates.
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April 12, 2023 at 10:16 am |
I kind of feel bad for Bradl. He’s going to finish out of the points, but so will Mir.
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April 12, 2023 at 2:10 pm |
I wonder if these injuries will force a rethink about the sprint races. Along with a long overdue ban on motocross training during the session 😳
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April 12, 2023 at 11:07 pm |
You think the sprints are too crazy? I enjoy them racing without worry of tire wear. I do think the starts can be hairy, Sunday’s as well.
I would like to see an end to the areo. The stresses on everything, including the rider are increased and the prize is a second or so on a 5km track. The faster they go the less lines they can run. If they took an extra five second a lap, and they didn’t tell us we wouldn’t care. This is the only thing I aflgree with Marquez on.
Agree on the motocross. I’d encourage dirt tracking, but the motocross isnot worth it.
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April 13, 2023 at 1:00 pm |
Great point, Spiff. Everyone has to use the same lines. Makes things less interesting. I guess the Yams, with their I-4 engine, might be able to do something different, but not if they’re constrained by aero optimization. Anyway, whatever they might do in the turns is not much use if they get mugged on every straight.
On the topic of moto-x training, oh please, everything else is formulated. Let’s not constrain rider training, too. Let the riders and teams weigh the benefits and risks, and proceed as they see fit.
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April 12, 2023 at 11:39 pm |
No word on Oliveira yet? I feel bad for him a Beastie, innocent victims of someone else’s error.
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April 13, 2023 at 2:34 pm |
Olivera is in.
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April 13, 2023 at 1:42 pm |
I just watched the press conference with Bezz, BaggyEyes and ZarcTheShark. They asked the riders what they thought of the new weekend format. They all said that they liked it, including Saturday’s sprint race, but Zarc made an interesting point about the side show.
Apparently they are required to participate in press interviews fifteen minutes before they ride. He pointed out that this can interfere with a rider’s concentration – something one needs when careening about at 300 km/hr. He said something like:
“It’s good that we want to make a show, but our show is on the track. Too much distraction on the side, and a rider cannot concentrate. Maybe that’s why we’ve had many crashes and injuries already. The end result is that we have fewer bikes on the track.”
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April 13, 2023 at 11:24 pm |
Update #1. Flew in today. Austin is starting to get more crowded and lots of race fans around. We met a British couple at the hotel bar who just flew in today to enjoy their first GP in Austin.
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.
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April 14, 2023 at 11:31 am |
Cheers to you and your wife.
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April 14, 2023 at 10:54 pm |
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.
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 other get photos with Fabio and Cole Trickle. I also said hello to Brad Binder. Total fun! Wife was overwhelmed.
We’ll be back tomorrow with much less walking planned. Can’t wait to see the sprint!
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April 15, 2023 at 8:14 pm |
Awesome. High fives all around.
First race Wife and I attended in Laguna Seca, we sneaked into pit row after the race. I guess all the bigshots were gone, but the garage crew were good sports. They let my wife got to go in an touch Valentino’s bike. Ha ha ha!
We just watched the sprint race. It was pretty fun. Shame nobody could challenge BaggyEyes. Congrats to Alex Rins! Making the Honda look reasonable. Well, not really. The other Hondas were nowhere.
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April 15, 2023 at 8:29 pm |
We decided today would be sitting in the stands day as it was 90 degrees and we had already walked 8 miles yesterday.
Q1 and 2 were great and the sprint was awesome as usual. Cheers to Rins for making the LCR Honda look respectable.
Wife was pretty happy at the Tissot booth. Thankfully I distracted her and we made it back to the stands before dropping multiple C notes.
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