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MotoGP 2024 – Round 5 – Le Mans

May 15, 2024

Three days late and a dollar short

In the early summer of 2024 I find myself almost completely incapable of penning my usual drivel about my favorite motorsport on Earth. I have bought a house and need to sell a house and am trying to cope with 50 years of accumulated memories and cargo. Not having moved for 40 of those years has been a blessing, but the chickens are coming home to roost these days. The players at this stage of the drama include two banks, the movers, an estate auction company, a ten-yard dumpster and a sizeable cleaning crew. On deck: a real estate agent and the drama surrounding the disposal of the childhood home of my three girls. My late wife is in heaven second-guessing my every move and cluck-clucking at my decisions regarding what gets moved, sold or thrown away. This process has become a vivid reminder that one should borrow books from the library rather than purchasing them; they have become their own problem. How does one throw away a book, for God’s sake?

Attendant issues, more of an annoyance than anything, include replacing appliances, arranging new internet service (OMG Comcast!), utility service at both homes, change of address notifications X 100, dealing with the BMV.

Piled on top of this are some troubling health issues, the aftermath of a stroke a month ago and some fairly clear signs that the cancer which was removed from my body in 2022, along with my pancreas, has found its way back. I will get confirmation of this in a week, almost assuredly without any kind of useful prognosis. The decision whether to replace the floors in the new house has more to do with the likely amortization schedule than the aesthetics.

In France last weekend it was, once again, the Jorge Martin show. New all-time track record, pole, Sprint win, Sunday win. Marc Marquez acquitted himself quite well in both races, starting from P13 and finishing in P2. Pecco had a disappointing weekend, retiring with a mechanical on Saturday and getting stood up by Marquez very late on Sunday, giving up P2 in the process. If I were Gigi Dall’Igna I would put Martin and Bagnaia on the factory team next year and Marquez and Bastianini on the Pramac team with factory bikes and damn the extra expense of four GP25s. If one of them has to step down it is likely to be EBas, which would not really be fair but c’est la guerre.

I really don’t have much to say about any of the other riders, teams or manufacturers. The exception is Pedro, who is rapidly coming into his own. But whether we like it or not, it must be said that the KTM is still not on the same level as the Ducs except at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg which is where, I would be happy to wager, young Acosta will get his first win. And I think the writing is on the wall for Aleix and, perhaps, Zarco as well.

My fantasy team is doing quite well. I’m planning to use my next boost in Germany. And for those of you–I’m talking to you, Kevin–anxious for some tranches, I’m still working things out.

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Posted in Ducati, Fantasy MotoGP, French Motorcycle Grand Prix, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP Le Mans, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, pedro acosta, Racing News | 4 Comments »

MotoGP 2027 Changes, Cont’d

May 6, 2024

Oh sure, it’s all about increasing competition

As many of you know, MotoGP is making substantial changes to the competition rules commencing with the 2027 season. Smaller engines, reduced aero, fewer engines, all synthetic fuel, banning holeshot and ride height devices, etc. Read a bit of Dorna puffery on the subject: https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2024/05/06/welcome-to-the-future-of-motogp-new-bikes-in-2027/497238 The fact that Dorna is determinedly glossing how these changes will improve competition leads me to believe that they won’t improve competition. They will simply reduce speeds and, at the margin, costs.

Observers more cynical than myself might suspect these changes are designed to make Honda and Yamaha entries less pathetic. If so, they won’t work. Someone needs to finish last. For the foreseeable future, the Japanese manufacturers appear to have a lock on this.

Oddly, the list of proposed changes omits a number of less technical reforms that will accompany the changes to hardware and data.

EXPANDED PODIUMS: Commencing in 2027, race podia will be expanded from three to nine spots. This will allow more riders to receive acclamation. All riders earning points in the Saturday Sprint races will get to spray prosecco on their rivals and teams.

MORE NATIONAL ANTHEMS: The crowds will be feted by the national anthems of all nine riders appearing on the podium. For those of you weary of hearing only the Spanish and Italian anthems week after week, you can join in the celebration of the national songs from places like South Africa, Australia and even Japan. How fun is that?!

PARTICIPATION AWARDS: Riders who fail to reach the podium will nonetheless have their efforts recognized by the granting of Participation Awards in the form of chrome-plated bracelets. Limiting prizes to only the top handful of riders is so unfair. No longer!

PRIORITY PARKING: The crew chiefs from the top three finishers will earn spots in the infield parking areas, designated “TOP MOTOGP CREW CHIEF PARKING ONLY.” No longer will it be just the riders getting recognized for their accomplishments. Remember, teamwork makes the dream work!

HATS FOR THE TOP THREE CREWS: The remaining members of the top three crews will each receive a monogrammed cap commemorating their achievement at each particular round. For example, in the upcoming French Grand Prix, the hats will be badged “Top Crew Le Mans 2024.” Even better, hats for the French tilt will be actual berets, while the swag from the Kazakh race will be authentic taqiyas. I know, right?! Tell me Dorna does not have their thumb on the pulse of racing professionals across the globe! Who doesn’t love a snappy lid?

NEW STATISTICS: Although the final details are still being worked out, a new set of track records will be generated from each round. Preliminary stats may include:

SLOWEST ELAPSED TIME, DRY RACE, SINCE (YEAR)

SLOWEST POLE LAP SINCE (YEAR)

SLOWEST RACE LAP FOR RACE LEADER SINCE (YEAR)

NEW TIRES: Given the inexorable expansion of the MotoGP calendar and increasingly remote venues, Michelin is developing two separate racing snow tires–studded and unstudded. This anticipates a new Tierra del Fuego round in February 2027 and a holiday round in December in Hudson Bay.

MotoGP is like the Ringling Brothers circus–it just gets bigger and better every year. Cheers.

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Posted in Dorna, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 3 Comments »

Did Not See This Coming

May 1, 2024

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Posted in Ducati, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News, Yamaha | 4 Comments »

MotoGP 2024 Round 4 – Jerez

April 29, 2024

Spending less time with MotoGP these days and more time schvitzing about my health. When one is staring down the barrel of a potentially life-threatening diagnosis, one’s attention starts to wander at the prospect of sussing out all these diminutive Spaniards and Italians and Joe Roberts.

Thanks to daylight savings time–or perhaps in spite of it–I missed the Moto3 tilt entirely. As the winning margin was 4/100ths of a second I expect it was a good one, and I’m pleased to see David Munoz getting back in shape.

I’ve been wondering what it is that Ducati Corse sees in Fermin Aldeguer. Yesterday’s Moto2 confab gave some clues, although it was not a dominating performance in my opinion. The cool thing about Moto2 at this point is that Joe Roberts leads the series, presaging the possibility of seeing an American rider in the premier class for the first time since the days of Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies. With Trackhouse Racing now running Aprilias in MotoGP it seems logical to expect Joe to graduate next year. And ain’t nobody care if Raul Fernandez loses his seat after this season. Underachieving is his middle name.

I don’t have much to say about the big bikes this weekend. Jorge Martin won another Saturday Sprint but once again was the victim of an unforced error on Sunday, crashing out of the lead in a race that was his to win. The late race drama was provided courtesy of Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez in a preview of what we can expect to see for the rest of the season. Unlike so many of you, I’m not a Marquez hater, and it’s nice to see him not having to override to be in contention. I have trouble getting all excited about Pecco; sure, he’s highly skilled, but he has the best bike on the grid, the best team behind him, and an enthralled nation gasping over his every move. I fully expected Marquez to beat him yesterday, waiting for Pecco to get twitchy under the assault of a guy who routinely ignores life-threatening situations. There was a day not that long ago when a rider seeing “Marquez +.2” on his pit board would generally go into convulsions. Yesterday in Jerez, there was a single bump, after which Pecco put the hammer down and Marquez minded his manners.

A few more races like we had on Sunday and it’s a fair assumption that Marquez and Bagnaia will be teammates next year, complete with the Lorenzo/Rossi wall down the middle of the garage. Marquez has a total of four races under his belt on the Duc after 11 seasons on Hondas and has pretty much fully adapted to the new world order. Even with the permanent disability in his right arm and being in his 30’s he’s better than all but one or two riders on the grid. When he was going after Bagnaia yesterday the locals in the stands went completely mental, which is always fun to watch and listen to. With three or four or five riders clearly in contention the sport is not as dull as it was when #93 was winning everything in sight. I will maintain that Marquez is good for the sport and look forward to seeing him on the top step in the foreseeable future.

So there.

A Little Local Color

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Posted in Aprilia, Ducati, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Jerez, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Jerez, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, nicky hayden, Racing News, Spanish Grand Prix | 6 Comments »

MotoGP 2024 Round 3 – COTA

April 18, 2024

Now There Are Six

After enjoying an exciting Tissot Sprint on Saturday, I was looking forward to watching another MotoGP Sunday at The Pretentiously Named Circuit of the Americas, deep in the heart. My plans were derailed late Saturday night when I found myself on the bathroom floor of my house having what turned out to be a minor stroke. My right hand was giving me sass, and I was unable to get on my feet. My phone, which normally offers me a six-digit code I use to unlock it, gave the appearance of having only five blanks, which was largely immaterial as I could not type nor slide the bar necessary to unlock it. My facial recognition screen was not recognizing me, possibly because I was covered in, well, puke. After a half hour struggle I made it back to my bed and resolved to wait until something happened to improve my status. My daughter and her husband showed up on Sunday morning, freaked the hell out, called 9-1-1, and off I went via ambulance for a four-day excursion through the medical/industrial complex at Indiana University Hospital.

The good news was that I became stable during the day on Sunday. I regained 95% of the use of my hand by Tuesday, my legs started working again, and I was largely comfortable, other than the fiendish hospital bed and the unfathomable sheets and blankets they provided. The bad news was that during the interminable rounds of tests they gave me to assess my condition they discovered that I probably have atrial fibrillation and that there is a better than even chance that my cancer is busily recurring, having left my pancreas and taken up residence in my liver.

Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?

Contrary to my usual practice, I am not going to spoil the race for those of you who have not seen it. For once, it was as good as Matt and Louis made it out to be. The subhead of this piece refers to the number of actual title contenders currently employed in the premier class. Four Ducati pilots–Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin and, yes, Marc Marquez, who crashed out of the lead for his second consecutive DNF but is showing definite signs of professional life in 2024. Aprilia veteran Maverick Vinales, who became one of only five riders ever to win premier class races with three different manufacturers. And, surprising few people even casually familiar with this sport, rookie Pedro Acosta on the KTM-GasGas machine.

As I am not 100%, I’m going to stop here and promise to better starting with Jerez. Those of you who have been reading this drivel for years will kindly dispense with the sincere best wishes and instead keep your affectionate slings and arrows coming, as usual. I expect to be writing this stuff for a good long while yet, and have no time for maudlin.

Cheers.

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Posted in Aprilia, COTA, Ducati, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Grand Prix of the Americas, Jerez, KTM, Marc Marquez, maverick vinales, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP COTA, MotoGP Jerez, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, pedro acosta, Racing News | 8 Comments »

MotoGP 2024 Round Two – Portimao

March 24, 2024

If You Like Rollercoasters…

Friday and Saturday on the Portuguese coast saw relatively few surprises, if you ignore having both Yamahas passing directly into Q2. The Ducs and the #12 Aprilia were having things pretty much their own way. Contrary to recent history, the all time track record was NOT broken during qualifying, making my pole time prediction (1’36.986) look just plain silly.

Enea Bastianini continued his personal reclamation project, capturing pole, joined on the front row by Top Gun Maverick Vinales–remember him?–and the resurgent Marc Marquez, who is going to win himself some races again this year after spending most of the past three years in motopurgatory. I noticed at the end of qualifying how Hondas occupied the last four spots on the grid. In 2024, “Honda” translates from Japanese as “dangerous POS.”

The Saturday Sprint appeared to be another Bagnaia cakewalk until Lap 9 when Pecco failed to negotiate Turn 1, allowing Vinales, Martin and Marquez through. Martin had effed around with Marquez early in the race, and Marquez returned the favor on Lap 12, stealing the second step on the podium from his compatriot. Vinales held on for the win despite spending most of the weekend in the loo with gastroenteritis. During his post-race interview with Simon Crafar, he looked a little green around the gills. I expect him to be fast again on Sunday until something untoward befalls him, as is usually the case.

Sunday

Moto3 was, once again, riveting. Put breathtakingly expensive motorcycles in the hands of a bunch of hypercompetitive teenagers amped up on testosterone and adrenaline and things generally get interesting. Such was the case today under cloudy skies in Portugal. In 2024 Spain has a bit of a stranglehold on the upper echelon of the Moto3 grid, with the occasional Colombian thrown in for notes of rainforest and coca.

Watch the video. As is my usual practice, Ima be the spoiler. Daniel Holgado won by 4/100ths over Jose A Rueda, with Ivan Ortola claiming the third step on the rostrum.

Moto2 was anomalous, as Aron Canet, the official Bridesmaid of Moto2, lucked out when Alonso Lopez crashed out of the lead on Lap 12, leaving Canet a clear path to his first win in the intermediate class. Golden Boy and pre-season favorite Fermin Aldeguer followed up his undistinguished race in Qatar by jumping the start, serving a double long lap penalty, and still claiming P4. At the end, his front tire was a rubber rag, showing the deleterious effects of his day-long scramble. My person (xenophobic) favorite, Joe Roberts, ended the day in P2 with his eyes firmly on Round 3 at COTA in three weeks. Polesitter Manny Gonzalez spent his day jousting with Ai Ogura before claiming the final step on the podium. All in all, it was a nice race until the last lap or two when Canet went fully tumescent.

The main event on Sunday was generally minding its own business until the last three laps. Jorge Martin was happily leading wire-to-wire, dogged by Maverick Vinales who, in turn, was being pursued by the reborn Enea Bastianini. This lead group maintained a slight advantage over the next three contestants–Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and rookie sensation Pedro Acosta–until Lap 23.

It was on L23 when Marquez attempted to go through on Bagnaia and was unable to make it stick. The two alpha males gritted their teeth and determined to occupy the same bit of tarmac when they came together. Marquez haters will insist the resulting crash was entirely #93’s fault. The rest of us will call it a racing incident. Regardless, both riders went down and out of the points. Casual observers such as myself thought the final results were essentially cast at that point, ignoring the predictable distress which soon overcame Vinales.

At the start of the final lap, #12 appeared to be experiencing some kind of distress on the bike, his right leg sticking out, slowing down drastically. It may be that he was emulating teammate Aleix Espargaro, who miscounted the laps on a Sunday last year and gave away a win. It may be that his Aprilia lost power. It is being reported that he had a gearbox problem. Regardless, Pop Gun veered radically to port, onto the red, onto the green, finally sailing over the handlebars, out of the race, and hopelessly confounding my fantasy team. This debacle opened the door for young Acosta, who celebrated from the final step of the podium, while Bastianini collected the silver and Martin the gold.

Having put Vinales on my fantasy team, and watching his seemingly inevitable late-race disaster, I found myself channeling the late Chris Farley, berating himself for being “Stupid. Stupid!! STUPID!!!” after some poor decision-making. Whatever. Portimao gave us three fun races. With Argentina descending into chaos, we have three weeks until COTA, upshifting from the Roller Coaster to the Horsepower Rodeo. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming–GO BOILERS!

Alex Marquez in practice. Jack Miller on Saturday traveled over 20 meters with neither wheel in touch with the tarmac.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Portimao, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 7 Comments »

MotoGP 2024 Round One – Lusail

March 10, 2024

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.

2024 promises to be another long year for Joan Mir.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Qatar, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, pedro acosta, Racing News | 9 Comments »

MotoGP 2023 Round 17 – Buriram

October 29, 2023

Jorge Martin has that look of inevitability about him

After difficult weekends in Indonesia and Australia, Prima Pramac pilot extraordinaire Jorge Martin held off stiff challenges from KTM’s Skeletor Brad Binder and world champion Pecco Bagnaia to win the Thai Grand Prix in the fourth-closest podium scrap in history.

His Thai weekend followed an increasingly familiar pattern:

  • Win pole by setting an all-time track record
  • Win the Saturday Sprint
  • Win Sunday’s main event

Martin now trails championship leader Bagnaia by a mere 13 points with three races left. It is a two-man race; Marco Bezzecchi is still in it, mathematically, but in no other way. Binder, whose track limit violation on the last lap dropped him from P2 to P3, has a bright future, but his present is reduced to trying to win races rather than a title. Everyone else has now fallen by the wayside. And although hope springs eternal in these parts, the grid’s view of 2024 is jaundiced by the prospect of having to deal with Marc Marquez on a Ducati commencing next spring. There may be more industry people watching the post-Valencia test on that late November Tuesday than the race on Sunday.

Those of you who follow me and/or Motorcycle.com, where I toiled as a freelancer for a dozen years, are aware of the passing of Evans Brasfield at the hands of a hit-and-run automobile driver, who was my editor and cheerleader for the past few years. I doubt I will get asked to work for my Canuck friends in the future. As such, I have decided that now is the time to change hats, from journalist to fan. I have some increasingly wonderful distractions occurring in my personal life and have found it difficult to devote the time and mental energy necessary to make these reports worth your while. I have also been saddled with very lame commenting software, both on my blog and on the Motorcycle.com site.

I realize that a number of you are determined Luddites who break out in hives at the mention of social media sites like Facebook. FB is not for everyone. But for my purposes, it is ideal going forward. It is dirt simple to post words and pictures, is amenable to brief observations rather than long essays, and has a robust commenting platform. It allows for discussion between readers, something I truly have missed since my days as a regular on MO ended. I hope most of you will at least visit my Late-Braking MotoGP (https://www.facebook.com/motogpfordummies) page on FB before consigning me to the proverbial dustbin of history. Kevin, I’m speaking directly at you.

One week off before the season-ending triple header in Sepang, Qatar and Valencia. Otherwise, I will close this week’s column by pointing out that I used the second of my three boosts on Fantasy MotoGP on Martin this week, which kept me in the hunt for the league title this year. A few of you will be disappointed to read that I’m stepping back from the greatest show on wheels. Rest assured that we can still exchange ideas and barbs going forward during what remains of this season, and during The Second Coming starting next year. Peace.

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Posted in Ducati, Fantasy MotoGP, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Buriram, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 7 Comments »

MotoGP 2023 Round 15 – Mandalika

October 16, 2023

Bagnaia retakes the lead after Martin chokes

By now, I assume everyone reading this has either seen the race or read about the results. Jorge Martin took over the lead in the 2023 title chase for roughly 24 hours, winning yet another Saturday Sprint before an unlikely/uncharacteristic/unforced error while leading comfortably on Lap 13 forced him out of the grand prix. Pecco Bagnaia overcame a P13 start to win the main event on Sunday after a two point Saturday.

  • KTM tough guy Brad Binder knocked polesitter Luca Marini out of Sunday’s race, did the same to Miguel Oliveira some nine laps later, served two long lap penalties and still managed a P6 finish.
  • Alex Marquez sat out nursing his four broken ribs while Alex Rins raced with two barely-knitted leg bones and saw the checkered flag.
  • Maverick Vinales led much of the main event until his soft rear tire turned to queso midway through the race before finishing in P4.
  • Marini and Bezzecchi, with, as Louis Suddeby pointed out, “two fully functional collarbones between them” both finished on the podium on Saturday. Both looked good for a while on Sunday; Marini got clattered by Binder on Lap 4, and Bezzecchi flirted with the podium for most of the day until he tired at the end, finishing in P5.
  • Bagnaia’s win marked the first time in 17 years a rider starting lower than P12 won a grand prix. Um, that would have been Marco Melandri at Phillip Island in 2006.
  • Due to the painful attrition in the main event, Franco Morbidelli scored two championship points despite finishing four (4) laps down. And this guy earned a Ducati ride for next year?
  • Assuming the championship is decided again this year before the Valencia round in November, the most interesting part of the visit to eastern Spain will be watching Marc Marquez getting acquainted with the Ducati Desmosedici during the post-race test.
  • The new tire pressure regulations have now placed five riders on a bubble. Maverick Vinales ran afoul of the regs in Barcelona. On Sunday, four more riders–Bezzecchi, Aleix, Morbidelli and Raul Fernandez–recorded their first violations of this senseless rule. Meaning all five are at risk of a three-second penalty on the next occurrence. For Bezz and Aleix, this could have some meaning. But MotoGP needs to make up its mind. Enforcing such a rule while allowing ride height devices and advanced aero wings pretty much guarantees riders will get penalized at some point during the season, perhaps more than once, with the penance rapidly becoming draconian. If there’s one thing this sport doesn’t need it is to have a world championship decided based upon a technical post-race penalty.
  • The silly season is now down to determining who will take Marquez’ empty seat with Repsol Honda. Assuming either Oliveira or FDG draws the short straw, there could be a subsequent minor hassle with the RNF Aprilia squad. It doesn’t sound like HRC is inclined to boot Zarco up from LCR, for whatever reason other than ageism.

In Moto3 my boy Jaume Masia maintained his series lead in Indonesia, while Pedro Acosta, the next great Spanish rider, won again, confirming his coronation to replace Pol Espargaro on the GasGas team in the premier class is well-considered. Espargaro’s crash in Portugal during the season opener looked bad. It may turn out to have been career-ending, which is a shame. Let us not forget that this is an insanely dangerous sport.

Next stop: Australia. G’day.

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Posted in Dorna, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 8 Comments »

It’s Official–Marquez Bailing on Honda

October 5, 2023

Awaiting the announcement from Gresini

So, this week the shoe we’ve been waiting to see dropped finally got dropped on Tuesday, when HRC released a face-saving announcement that they and Marc Marquez were terminating their relationship upon “mutual agreement.” LOL. There is nothing “mutual” about this, with HRC having been unable to deliver a competitive MotoGP bike for three or four years, and Marquez practically getting killed trying to compete on what used to be the best bike on the grid. So, one of the great riders in MotoGP history is abandoning his 11-year affiliation with one of the world’s great brands, giving up wheelbarrows full of money in order to be able to compete at the top echelon of his sport for his remaining years. In the parlor game that is grand prix motorcycle racing, this is big news.

Between 2013, his rookie year, and 2019 Marquez won six out of seven premier class titles. His personal highlight reel would have to include winning the first 10 races in 2014 and his entire 2019 season during which, other than a unforced error at COTA early in the year, saw him finish first or second in every round, scoring an amazing 420 points for the year. 2020 was the year of Covid and the first of several career-threatening injuries. It also marked the beginning of a change in the global world order in MotoGP, the descent of the two previously dominant Japanese brands, Honda and Yamaha, and the ascent of the European brands–Ducati, Aprilia and KTM–that dominate the sport today. The following sentence is one that would have been incomprehensible a mere four years ago:

Marc Marquez will trade his factory Honda ride for a satellite Ducati in 2024.

The feel good aspect of all this is that the Marquez brothers, Marc and little brother Alex, will be teammates beginning next year. Marc will immediately jump into the championship conversation again, alongside Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi and, presumably, Enea Bastiannini. True, the rich (read: Ducati Corse) will get richer. But Marc Marquez has always been obsessed about winning, and if abetting the plutocratic aspects of his sport is the price, he will gladly pay it. Along with what will probably be a $20 million pay cut.

I am all for this, not being an Antman hater. 2023 has been an enjoyable year for fans with three or four riders still in the hunt in October. Marquez will increase that number; Pedro Acosta will increase it again in a year or two. It’s a shame the calendar is getting so stuffed, as that will have a deleterious effect on the riders, teams, and overall level of competition. The rationale for doing so was exposed as being bogus by a reader who pointed out that they sell maybe 12,000 motorcycles a year in all of Kazakhstan, most of which are tiny little things. We will continue to rattle on about the calendar for the foreseeable future.

Marc Marquez is now happily channeling Arnold Schwarzenegger: I’LL BE BACK.

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Posted in Dorna, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Honda, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 11 Comments »

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