Welcome back, Qatar
Here we go again. Swarthy miniature European jockeys holding on for dear life to grossly overpowered motorcycles. 20-some rounds all over the world between March and November. Six rounds in seven weeks to end the season, testing the mettle of riders and crews. Teenagers running wild in the lightweight Moto3 class; grizzled veterans seeking the top prize in motoracing in the premier MotoGP class. Half-length Saturday Sprint races on the big bikes making Saturdays on race weekends as exciting as the main event on Sundays.
Saturday
Jorge Martin is pretty much untouchable at short distances like qualifying and Sprints. It came as a surprise to no one that he took pole, breaking the all-time track record in the process, ho hum, then came back in the evening to win the first Sprint of the year. Brad “Skeletor” Binder dogged Martin over all 11 laps for another P2 finish, followed by the relatively ancient Aleix Espargaro. Bagnaia loitered his way into P4 ahead of a resurgent Marc Marquez onboard his shiny secondhand Gresini Ducati.
MotoGP is a great way to hear the Spanish and Italian national anthems.
Sunday
In Moto3, two of the pre-race favorites, Jose Rueda and Ivan Ortola, clattered out of the race on Lap 3. Young Japanese pilot Taiyo Furasato, coming from P18, put himself in contention for a podium in short order. Late in the day, Colombian David Alonso, Spaniard David Holgado and Furasato were clustered at the front of the pack, Holgado having led roughly 95% of the race. A classic Turn 16 overpass handed the win to Alonso. 25 bikes started the race, which seems to me to be half a dozen fewer than in most years.
In Moto2, pre-race favorites Fermin Aldeguer, Tony Arbolino and Aron Canet had terrible days, suggesting that the new Pirelli medium rear leaves a lot to be desired. Belgian Barry Baltus spent the last half of the race dogging eventual winner Alonso Lopez without a single cigar to show for his efforts. Sergio Garcia claimed the last step on the podium, followed by Ai Ogura and Manny Gonzalez. 2024 appears to be the year that the chokehold enjoyed by Kalex for the last thousand years has been broken.
In the premier class, Pecco showed that he learned a lesson on Saturday. He charged to the front from P5 on Lap 1 and stayed there all day, holding off Skeletor, who, in turn, stiff-armed Martin. Marquez finished in P4 ahead of the late-charging Bastianini. Teenage alien Pedro Acosta made a bid for the podium in the first half of the race and spent the second half of the race watching his tires turn to oatmeal, ending the day in P9. Dude will win some races this year and for the next decade.
Matt and Louis spent some time today pointing out how much faster the 2024 contests were than last year. I’m not sure where to go with this, but the elapsed time for the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix was 41.43.654. This year, it was 39.34.869, a full two minutes faster. They had been expressing shock over the fact that the Sprint was 11 seconds faster this year than last. Wonder what they will have to say in two weeks at Portimao about a two-minute drop in the grand prix. Every year I get readers commenting about how The Powers That Be are dumbing down the sport in their efforts to make fielding teams more affordable. If this is so, they are failing miserably. MotoGP, it seems, has never been faster nor safer than it is today. Of course, today’s race was shortened by a lap due to Raul Fernandez’ cluster immediately before the start. Thanks to loyal reader Mad4TheCrest for pointing this out.
2024 is going to be the bomb diggity.
Tags: Aprilia, brad binder, Doha, Ducati, Honda, jorge martin, KTM, Lusail, Marc Marquez, Moto2, Moto3, motogp, pecco bagnaia, pedro acosta, Yamaha
March 10, 2024 at 3:11 pm |
Does the fact this years GP was shortened to 21 laps (from the originally planned 22) account for the 2-minute increase in elapsed event time?
<Mad4TheCrest>
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March 10, 2024 at 5:03 pm |
Absolutely. I forgot about the cluster at the start. Thanks, M4C.
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March 10, 2024 at 10:15 pm |
Drat. Halfway through reading, I was planning to add the Vote For Pedro pic (great minds?)
Remarkably few collisions and crashes, I thought. Are the riders getting a handle on the frenzy of of short races?
I can’t remember the last time I saw two ejections from the starting grid in one day, and it seems like there needs to be a refresher course for race procedures
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March 11, 2024 at 1:42 pm |
Hmm. “Anonymous”. This was dmensch-not sure how I used to get identified…
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March 11, 2024 at 10:29 am |
Welcome back Bruce. I’m just pulling for someone other than Bagnaia whose name isn’t Marquez. Martin, Binder, Acosta, I can be flexible. Though a P9 won’t get Acosta there this year.
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March 11, 2024 at 5:51 pm |
Hmm, I tried posting yesterday, but my efforts seem to have been for naught. Oh well, I don’t have much to add, except that the riders who stall their bikes or otherwise cause delays on the starting grid should GTF out of the way. In both Moto3 and MotoGP, riders refused to follow instructions of the race steward. In the case of Raul Fernandez, instead of sanctions for insubordination, he was allowed to change to his other bike and to start from the back of the grid.
-OM
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March 11, 2024 at 6:51 pm |
You’re hardcore. Gonna be a great season. Vote for Pedro.
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March 18, 2024 at 4:38 pm |
Ha ha, Wife likes Pedro. He made a good showing last week. Bring on Purtugal!
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March 12, 2024 at 6:50 am |
Best birthday present is to welcome Bruce back to reviewing the racing over here! Way to go!
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