Saturday
Marco Bezzecchi loves him some Assen.
Untouchable on Friday. Pole early on Saturday. Sprint winner on Saturday afternoon.
Marc Marquez had another train wreck of a weekend. Qualified in P17 after colliding with Enea Bastiannini in the morning warm up. Finished the Sprint right where he started. Looking utterly demoralized, hovering on the edge of the existential abyss, looking down. Says he is committed to the Honda project, but making it sound like an involuntary commitment, you know, like with a rehab facility or nuthouse. More of a sentence than a commitment.
Brad Binder had the pickiest long lap penalty ever very late in the Sprint, costing him a podium and elevating Fabio Quartararo–remember him?–to the bronze medal. Pecco had a nice race, taking the hole shot, giving up the lead to Bezz on Lap 2 but still collecting nine points on Saturday.
Sunday
The Moto3 championship race tightened considerably, as series leader Daniel Holgado screwed the pooch in qualifying and ended up starting from the back of the grid, from where he crashed out early and finished the day out of the points. Honda pilot Jaume Masia, meanwhile, my pre-season pick for the title, won another barnburner, holding off Sasai, Oncu. and Munoz, cutting Holgado’s lead from 41 to 16 points heading into the break.
Moto2 was refreshing, as Brit Jake Dixon won his first ever grand prix (then spoiled it by crying during Simon’s crappy post-race interview), ahead of the resurrected Ai Ogura and savant Pedro Acosta. During the race, Acosta had to serve a long lap penalty during which he clearly had both wheels in the green. Such an error would cause a mortal to have to repeat the penalty, but for an Alien-in-Waiting the stewards said, “nothing to see here.” Pretty blatant, IMO. Acosta and Toni Arbolino seem to have their tickets punched for MotoGP next year, but it remains to be seen for whom Acosta will be laboring. Gresini Racing has already sent signals it intends to sign Arbolino and jettison FDG.
Prior to the start of the premier class tilt, it was announced that Marc Marquez, for the fifth time in eight rounds, had been declared unfit to race, citing a bruised ego, a broken spirit and shattered confidence. Albert Puig tipped his hand in an interview in which he essentially said that if #93 wants to seek greener pastures next year Honda would not hold him hostage. Perhaps HRC has figured out that paying a rider $30 million a year to ride an unrideable bike doesn’t make much sense. After all, if the rider is going to end up in the gravel, it would be better if he were only working for minimum wage.
The race itself was okay, ignoring the eight riders who failed to finish and allowing Jonas Folger to build his points lead over Marquez. The Killer Bees–Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Binder–led all day, trailed by Aleix and Jorge Martin. For the second time in 24 hours, apparently for the benefit of those who missed it yesterday, Binder put a tiny bit of his front wheel in the green on the last lap, incurring a track limits violation and dropping him from the podium. Yesterday’s beneficiary was Fabio Quartararo; today’s was Aleix. Bagnaia’s lead in the 2023 chase now stands at 35 points, and he is looking strong enough to take the hardware for the second year “on the trot.” lol. Bezzecchi and Martin are fast young guns and will be in the picture for years to come. Binder is fast off the line and, if the racing gig doesn’t work out, given the murderous KTM pilots on their way to the premier class from Moto2 and Moto3, could find work filming instructional videos on the rules of racing.
Now that interest in MotGP is peaking, after the June triple header, Dorna will let all the air out of the balloon by taking the next month or so off, staying out of the headlines and driving fans back to F1, soccer, MLB and NFL OTAs. I will attempt to assemble a coherent mid-season report for Motorcycle. com which should post in early July. 12 races will take place after the summer break, including two more triples: Indonesia, Australia and Thailand in October, Malaysia, Qatar and Valencia in November. Six races in seven weeks to close out the season. The Bagnaias and Bezzecchis of the world need to watch out for an injury in October which could cause them to record multiple DNSs and impact the title chase.
For everyone but Marc Marquez, life goes on.
Tags: Aleix espargaro, Assen, brad binder, Ducati, jorge martin, KTM, marco bezzecchi, Moto2, Moto3, motogp, pecco bagnaia
Late-Braking MotoGP 
June 25, 2023 at 10:39 am |
Not very exciting, but at least it wasn’t a Ducati parade today. Bezz passing Binder was the highlight. wow. I didn’t capitalize for a reason.
If Puig really inferred that, Antman is gone. Even he must be feeling the new sensation of irrelevance. Tick tock. His other option is gravel dancing for 1 1/2yrs and the ensuing permanent body damage. $20M a year less isn’t pocket lint though. I’d safely ride around in mid pack and take the money. He’ll never see it again. That might also light a fire under Honda as well, although it seems they are doing all they can right now, even using an outside maker for the frame, Kalex, which must seem face-losing to proud many-times champion Honda. I don’t have Antman’s irrepressible drive and intensity tough, and I’m sure he wants a 10th to at least match the Yellow One for co-GOAT. Ago, while great, doesn’t count for me. Too many years of DOHC 4’s against ancient Manxes, etc.
Baggy looks tough to beat if he finishes the races.
Binder needs to stay on track. You would think he’d be more careful with a margin of error after yesterday’s demotion.
Well done bronze for the eldest rider on the grid.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 25, 2023 at 9:12 pm |
That’s hysterical, guest rider Jonas Folger spanking Marquez. Well beating him anyway. Nakagami put a Honda in 8th, so somebody can do it. Aleix is carrying the Aprilia effort with Vinales having crashed out of 4 in a row, no surprise there. I had Miller in fantasy, so that’s gonna hurt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 26, 2023 at 3:49 pm |
Interesting situation. With Nakagami fighting for his seat, one would expect him to be taking bigger risks. Of course bigger risks, especially on the Honda, lead to more crashes. Since he isn’t crashing like the other Honda pilots, I wonder if he’s taking it easy.
Three of the four Honda pilots are unfit to race! Maybe he’s the only smart one.
Hey Bruce, do you have any info?
Obviously Rins has a severe injury and can’t ride. Marquez has given all he can. Some might even say he’s over done it, exposing other riders to undue risk. What about Mir? Is he malingering?
LikeLike
June 26, 2023 at 4:58 pm |
I think Mir is just fucking terrified, considering a career change, becoming a gardener or government employee.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 26, 2023 at 5:37 pm |
Honestly Honda is likely treasuring an eigth place finish. As Bruce said Mir just seems scared, Marquez ain’t far from it, Rins produced one race, Nakagami might be there top guy right now.
LikeLike
June 26, 2023 at 2:56 pm |
I agree with you, Brucey. Acosta’s failure during his long-lap penalty was plain for everyone to see. The commentators fully expected him to be assigned another penalty, and the graphic on the left side of the screen confirmed this – at first. Then came the blatant effort to make the Moto 2 title race more interesting before the summer break. Might also be some Spanish national pride involved, what with Italy dominating the premier class. Whatever it is, it’s very much a poor showing from Dorna. Really bad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 26, 2023 at 2:57 pm |
“Prior to the start of the premier class tilt, it was announced that Marc Marquez, for the fifth time in eight rounds, had been declared unfit to race, citing a bruised ego, a broken spirit and shattered confidence.”
Bruce! You’re back! Yay!
LikeLiked by 1 person
July 12, 2023 at 1:43 pm |
Gresini will be KTM backed in 2024.
LikeLike