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MotoGP 2023 Round 4 – Jerez

April 30, 2023

Saturday

Premier class qualifying took place in the middle of the night, Eastern Daylight Time, and, accordingly, our erstwhile reporter missed it entirely. Apparently the schedule had been massaged to allow the big bikes to run in the dry which, of course, failed. A few early showers gave way to sunny and dry conditions for the rest of the day. Pecco Bagnaia and Brad Binder made it through Q1, abandoning Marco Bezzecchi and Alex Rins to the great unwashed. Q2 was great fun, riders on rain tires at the beginning recording Moto3 times, gradually switching to slicks late in the session and threatening the ATTR.

Grizzled veteran Aleix Espargaro left it to way late before sticking his Aprilia on pole, joined on the front row by KTM NKIT (New Kid in Town) Jack Miller and Fast on Saturday Jorge Martin on his Ducati. Row 2 featured Brad Binder, whose name will come up again in a minute, Pecco Bagnaia and one Dani Pedrosa, guesting on the shiny new KTM at age 37. Farther down on the qualifying food chain were Bezzecchi, the woebegone Fabio Quartararo (P16) and flash in the pan Alex Rins (P18). Enea Bastiannini, the hard luck second bike on the factory Ducati team, tried to race with his knitting right shoulder blade, but withdrew from the festivities after the third practice session.

The Saturday Sprint was great fun for the first 30 seconds until Frankie Morbidelli lost the front in Turn 2, collected Alex Marquez and skittled Marco Bezzecchi. The action completely spooked rookie Augusto Fernandez, who pooped his pants and fell off his satellite KTM. The red flag waved as Bezzecchi’s Desmo went up in flames. A few minutes later the restart found KTMs crowding the front, Binder and Miller leading the way with Mighty Mouse included in the lead group. Round and round they went, with Pecco Bagnaia liotering in the top three. Aleix crashed out on his own on Lap 6, joining Marquez, Nakagami and, a few moments later, the downtrodden Joan Mir in the Have Nots. Miller, Binder and Bagnaia jousted over the last few laps for podium steps, with Martin, Miguel Oliveira and Pedrosa lurking. In the end, it was the surprising Brad Binder claiming the title of Sprint Maven, joined by Bagnaia and Miller on the podium.

KTM has arrived. Binder has won two of the four Sprints. Miller has added something to the overall team effort. It was interesting to note that the top 10 qualifiers and top 11 finishers all rode European bikes. These are, indeed, lean times for Honda and Yamaha. There are bound to be some high profile riders defecting from the Japanese teams–Fabio and #93 at the top of the list–which will put huge pressure on the lower-ranked Aprilia, Ducati and KTM riders wishing to hold on to their seats in 2024. Ten years ago one wouldn’t have been able to give away a Ducati, and neither KTM nor Aprilia were even involved in the premier class. What a difference a decade makes.

Sunday

The changing of the guard amongst the manufacturers continued in full force today. It was not that many years ago that the KTMs were only competitive at the Red Bull Ring, MotoGP’s equivalent of Daytona, with eight turns instead of three. The bikes were fast in a straight line, but impossible to turn. Today, they showed that they are both quick and nimble, at a track where riders spend a third of their time on the brakes and only hit sixth gear once, perhaps twice at the max. In a replay of the Saturday Sprint, the main event was red-flagged after about 30 seconds, during which time, Fully Frustrated Fabio dumped the hideous Yamaha and, in the process, sent Miguel “The Victim” Oliveira tumbling into the gravel, where he dislocated his left shoulder and had to sit out yet another round due to no fault of his own. All this while the factory KTMs were flying at the start, with Pecco fending off Austrians on the left and more Austrians on the right.

The restart was a replay of the first, with Miller and Binder hauling Bagnaia around the circuit, the three of them taking turns in the lead. Bagnaia settled into P2 for the bulk of the day behind Binder, finally going through on Lap 21 for the lead and, ultimately, the win. Binder and Miller took steps 2 and 3 on the podium, followed by Jorge Martin and Aleix. Dani Pedrosa finished a very respectable P7 in between the satellite Ducatis of Marini and Marquez. Takaa Nakagami was the top finisher for Honda in P9 followed by Quartararo, who survived not one but two long lap penalties–the second assessed for his having screwed up the first–for a gritty P10. Crashers for the day included Alex Rins and Joan Mir, both of whom are coming to terms with the Honda RC213V in gravel traps, Zarco, and Bezzecchi, with your boy Cole Trickle retiring with a mechanical on Lap 24, for God’s sake. He helped my fantasy team get hammered today.

The Moto3 tilt was a fire drill, as usual, with Ivan Ortola, rookie David Alonso and my boy Jaume Masia ending the day on the podium. In Moto2, Sam Lowes avoided his usual brain fart to win easily in a procession, followed in due course by a stunned Pedro Acosta and Alonzo Lopez. Tony Arbolino, Aron Canet and Jake Dixon took P4 – P6.

I thought the Aprilia contingent would have a better day today, but it was not to be. Sure, Aleix took pole, but spent the day pedaling hard in P5. Ducati claimed P1, P4, P6 and P8, to no one’s surprise. But the factory KTM effort is starting to resemble their dominating little brothers in the lightweight and intermediate classes. If history is a teacher, we can expect better things in the not-too-distant future from both Honda and Yamaha, at which point Dorna will need to start measuring times to four decimal places.

Look who made a cameo this weekend.
Aleix avoids a cat on Saturday
Moto3 rider David Salvador (?) doing it wrong on Saturday.

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Posted in Dani Pedrosa, Dorna, Fantasy MotoGP, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, KTM, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 12 Comments »

MotoGP 2023 – Portimao Results

March 26, 2023

Round One of the 2023 MotoGP season produced a dominant performance by defending world champion Pecco Bagnaia, who took the inaugural Sprint race on Saturday followed by a wire-to-wire win on Sunday. He has confirmed the predictions of many followers who pegged him to successfully defend his 2022 title. But Marc Marquez, once again, will be the main topic of conversation this week after a mistake on Lap 3 clobbered Miguel Oliveira and ruined the day for Portuguese racing fans.

Pretty much everyone knows that Marquez, the most talented rider of the last decade, has an albatross of a bike in the 2023 Honda RC213V, described by the knowledgeable Simon Crafar as having no redeeming qualities whatsoever. In order to be remotely competitive on a grid teeming with fast, agile Italian bikes, he must over-ride for every moment of every race. He must take risks most other riders would eschew. His temperament doesn’t allow him to back down; “go hard or go home” is in his DNA. On Saturday, we witnessed what happens when his luck holds–an all-time track record in qualifying followed by a podium finish in the Sprint. On Sunday, we saw what happens when it runs out–he makes contact with another rider (in this case Jorge Martin, whose day was also ruined) which leads to a dangerous crash and collateral damage for an innocent bystander, in this case Aprilia pilot Miguel Oliveira. If Oliveira is not seriously hurt, it is only because of his leathers, his airbag, his helmet, and his superb musculature.

We will not pile on Marquez here, leaving that for others more inclined to journalistic histrionics. Marquez will receive a major penalty next week in Argentina which he will serve on behalf of his employers. Little brother Alex is demonstrating what happens when a Honda rider climbs aboard a Ducati Desmosedici and goes from utter irrelevance to podium contention. Today may be the day on which Marc Marquez decided to cut the cord with Honda moving forward and defect to Borgo Paginale. Put him on a (new or used) Ducati, and he could easily win a dozen races per season. He could also avoid the regret and embarrassment resulting from crashes such as occurred today.

What About the Race, You Nimrod?

Right. Oliveira took the hole shot and led after the first lap, followed closely by Bagnaia, Martin and Marquez. Bagnaia went through on Lap 2 for the duration. It was on Lap 3 that Marquez attempted to go through on Martin, misjudged the angle, and made contact with the Pramac pilot. His Honda lost contact with the tarmac and plowed into the hapless Oliveira, with both riders going ragdoll and both bikes left in tatters. Martin recovered in, like, P15 while Pecco left the chaos well behind him. The crash opened the door for Maverick Vinales, Jack Miller, Marco Bezzecchi and Brad Binder.

The rest of the day saw the resurrected Vinales furiously dogging Bagnaia on his way to 20 points. Bezzecchi went through on Miller’s KTM on Lap 5 and finished the day on the third step of the podium. Behind this trio was some great racing, as Miller, Alex Marquez, Brad Binder and, late in the proceedings, Johann Zarco mixed it up. Zarco had been riding in P9 early in the race and was still in P8 at the end of Lap 21 before mounting a huge charge over the last four laps on his way to 13 points. I seem to have underestimated his prospects for the season. He seems to be shaving more frequently than in years past. And how nice was it to see young Alex Marquez fighting near the front and enjoying life on a 2022 Ducati. Miller and Binder seem capable of winning somewhere other than Red Bull Ring. And Bezzecchi, heir apparent to Marco Simoncelli, at least in his coiffure, may prove to be the best of the young Italian riders making their way up from Moto2.

Along with the shredding of track records came attrition unseen since the gruesome days of Paul Bird and CRTs. With Pol Espargaro and Enea Bastiannini (fractured shoulder blade) recording DNSs, there were only 20 bikes on the starting grid. Exit Marquez and Oliveira; a thoroughly miserable FDG retired on Lap 11; Martin crashed out on Lap 20 trying like hell to get back in the points; Luca Marini threw it at the scenery on Lap 22, followed by Raul Fernandez on Lap 24, leaving 14 bikes to take the checkered flag. This was great news for the suppurating Franco Morbidelli, who is now assured of scoring at least two (2) points in 2023. No wonder Lin Jarvis looks like he swallowed a fish hook, with Fabio Quartararo having become a second division afterthought and Morbidelli turning green.

The Undercards

Moto3 is back to its usual frenetic self. Today’s race was wicked awesome, with more lead changes than you can count, and seven or eight riders jousting for the win. Sensational sophomores Daniel Holgado, my boy David Munoz and Brazilian teenager Diogo Moreira landed on the podium, celebrating with non-alcoholic magna of the obligatory prosecco.

Moto2 offered, unfortunately, a preview of what could very well be one of the dullest seasons in recent memory, in which Pedro Acosta, KTM’s Next Great Spanish Rider, led Aron Canet on a lonely, fruitless chase all day on his way to the first of what promise to be numerous wins and the 2023 title in advance of his inevitable promotion to MotoGP in 2024. Canet has become the poster child of a racing bridesmaid, with ten second-place finishes and no wins in his career. With Canet, it’s always something, or someone, or two KTM guys, standing between him and success. I can’t help being put off by the extravagant ink on his neck. Call me old-fashioned.

On to Argentina

Back-to-back weekends start the season as the flying circus heads to South America for Round Two. Michele Pirro will undoubtedly fill in for Bastiannini on the factory Ducati. With any luck, we’ll get to see Jonas Folger or Mika Kallio or–be still my heart–Dani Pedrosa subbing for Little Brother on the GasGas entry. We will return on Saturday with Sprint coverage and the usual slanderous blah blah blah.

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Posted in Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Portimao, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 17 Comments »

MotoGP Portimao – Saturday

March 25, 2023

The first Saturday of the 2023 MotoGP season left me shaking my head in wonder. All-time track records fell like tenpins. Ducati Desmos were casually flexing their muscles all day. HRC has reduced Marc Marquez from the dominant force in the sport to playing the role of the wily veteran, having to rely on tows and wizardry to stay in the chase. Jack Miller appears to have found a home with KTM. And the first ever MotoGP Sprint was frantic, and breathtaking, while sowing seeds of doubt upon its ultimate effect on Sunday racing. In short, there was something for every taste and budget.

Premier class qualifying was as exciting as ever, with four manufacturers ending up on the first two rows. Marquez and homeboy Miguel Oliveira made it out of Q1, with #93 laying down a vapor trail early in his first run, allowing him to ignore the last seven minutes of the session, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He then spent most of Q2 lollygagging in P12 until a last lap tow from EBas slingshotted him into a new track record and onto pole for the 64th time in his premier class career. Even on the atrocious RC213V, you still don’t want him on your tail late in the game, as we would see again later in the day.

Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin (for whom the Sprints seem to have been specifically designed) filled out the first row. Oliveira, an ecstatic Jack Miller and disgruntled Bastiannini ended up in Row 2. Cole Trickle captured P7 followed by the dangerous VR46 kids. Row four contained a suicidal Fabio Quartararo and two senior citizens, Johann Zarco and Aleix Espargaro. (Pol Espargaro would miss the weekend after getting folded, spindled and mutilated in a bad crash on Friday.) The stage was set for the debut of The Sprint.

Marquez took the hole shot from pole, but was soon swallowed up by Pecco, and Martin, and Oliveira, and Miller, who held the lead for a few seconds on Lap 7. Otherwise, it was mostly Bagnaia and Martin, with the Pramac pilot appearing to hold the upper hand. A five bike lead group became seven around Lap 8 when both Vinales and Espargaro appeared on the scene. Earlier in the race, rookie Augusto Fernandez threw it at the scenery, and Joan Mir Honda-ed himself for not the last time this year, causing Fabio to fall to around P19 on a humbling day for the 2021 world champion. Luca Marini skittled EBas and Marco Bezzecchi took some soil samples, making my fantasy pick of the Mooney team look ridiculous. The plot would thicken for the last three laps.

Bagnaia went through first on Miller, then, on the last lap, on Martin, who had run wide. In between the action, on Lap 11, Oliveira and Miller were enjoying a close encounter when Marquez, who had been keeping his powder dry in P5, ordered up a double, going through on both riders on the way to the podium and seven points, clearly the best overtake of the day. Oliveira got over-excited on the last lap, dropping from P3 to P7, and taking the air out of the crowd. In the end, it was Pecco, Martin and, yup, Marquez on the podium.

The sprint format allows riders the luxury of not having to conserve either fuel or tires, allowing young fast movers like Martin to go balls out and rendering the skills of more experienced rides moot. It places even more emphasis on qualifying than was already the case. It opens up the opportunity for, say, an Enea Bastiannini to get nicked up, harming his prospects for Sunday’s main event. But it IS cool, and bolsters the arguments of some fans who strongly disapprove of the pace-reducing effects of tire and fuel conservation and the always dreadful processions that can occur on Sundays.

Allow me to crow for a moment over the fact that the first four rows this weekend include 12 of my 14 top picks for the season. I’m probably wrong about Miller, Alex Marquez, FDG and Binder; we’ll find out more as the season progresses. Today gave credibility to Simon Crafar’s observation that Italian bikes are likely to dominate 2023. See y’all tomorrow.

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Posted in Marc Marquez, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP Portimao, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 4 Comments »

MotoGP 2023 Season Preview

March 20, 2023

Ready for Takeoff

Grand prix motorcycle racing—MotoGP to aficionados—is a Eurocentric parlor game for the rich and not-so-famous. It involves undersized riders holding on for dear life to 1000cc bikes with astonishing power-to-weight ratios on road courses at venues on four continents, several of which are in countries one is not anxious to visit. It is almost impossible to find on American television. Riders receive trophies for finishing third. It is the little brother of F1. It is NASCAR’s mentally challenged foreign cousin.

However, for the few of you still reading, at its best, MotoGP is the best racing on the planet, a series of hair-raising encounters between riders and machines traveling at well over 100 mph in unbanked turns, separated by inches, with the difference between winning and not winning often measured in a few thousandths of a second. (By comparison, the autonomic blink of an eye takes around 100 milliseconds.)

These guys are fast. Ridiculously fast. Incomprehensibly fast. The engines on the big bikes retail for around a million dollars per, rotate at, like, 17,000 rpm, and are built to tolerances that defy description, at least with the few words in my vocabulary. The noise they make is equally difficult to describe, resembling, in my mind, the sound a nuclear-powered pencil sharpener might make.

Round One of 2023 lifts off this weekend in Portimao, Portugal. Let the games begin.

A Look Back at 2022

2022 was the year Italy completed a hostile takeover of the premier class. Italian manufacturer Ducati Corse won its first world championship since 2007. An Italian rider, Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia, won it all for the first time since the legendary Valentino Rossi in 2009. Ducati won the constructor’s title for the third consecutive year, in part because they had more bikes on the grid—eight out of 24—than any other builder, placing five of them in the top nine. Bagnaia, left for dead in mid-season, trailing defending champion Fabio Quartararo by 91 points, mounted the largest comeback in history for the title, sealed at the season finale in Valencia. It was the most competitive, most compelling season in recent memory.

Moto2 is, in layman’s terms, the junior varsity in MotoGP. All the bikes are powered by 765cc Triumph triples, with teams providing the rest of the components from various manufacturers. Spaniard Augusto Fernandez took the 2022 championship in Austrian monolith KTM colors, ahead of Japanese rider Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Asia team) and Spaniard Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40 team). Fernandez was exceptionally strong in mid-season, at one point winning four races out of six. Ogura, his main challenger during the final two months, choked at season’s end, scoring five (5) points over the final three rounds. Fernandez was the only Moto2 rider rewarded with a promotion to MotoGP for 2023. He will ride for the #2 KTM (GasGas) team, ensuring a second division finish.

I forgot to mention Pedro Acosta, the young Spanish fast mover who will, according to my forthcoming prediction, take the Moto2 title in 2023 and graduate to MotoGP in 2024 where he will soon become A Force to be Reckoned With.

Torturing the analogy, Moto3 is, like, the MotoGP freshman team, although the 250cc bikes are fast and loud. Lap times are a few seconds slower than Moto2, which are, in turn, a few seconds slower than the premier class MotoGP bikes. Moto3 is annually populated by a cadre of upwardly mobile teenagers and a roughly equal number of grizzled veterans who have embraced The Peter Principle and who will never see the saddle of a MotoGP machine. The 2022 title was won by Spanish teenager and rising KTM star Izan Guevara, who will turn 19 this coming June. The Next Great Spanish Rider soundly beat teenaged teammate and countryman Sergio Garcia and Italian Dennis Foggia (Honda) for the title. All three were promoted to Moto2 at season’s end.

2022 Moto3 rookies who had notable seasons include Daniel Holgado, who turns 18 in April, and my personal favorite, David Muñoz, who will turn 17 this year and may be the Next Next Great Spanish Rider.

Premier Class Teams and Riders

For 2023, moto-social Darwinism and economic constraints reduced the number of teams from 12 to 11 and, accordingly, the number of riders from 24 to 22. The riders and teams play musical chairs every year in MotoGP. A few get promoted from the underclasses, others change teams, seeking greener pastures, and the dregs get consigned to the rubbish heap. This year, mixing metaphors, the deck was re-shuffled more than usual due to the demise of the factory Suzuki team. And while only one rider, Augusto Fernandez, had his ticket punched from Moto2 into MotoGP, a larger number than usual headed for the other side of the hill, as follows:

  • Yamaha shut down their hopeless satellite team and Aprilia added a hopeful one. Yamahan Darryn Binder was shown the door, while Andrea Dovizioso retired. Aprilia recruited former KTM pilots Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira, to rep their new #2 team. The two riders’ prospects appear to have improved with the switch. Aprilia, having recovered from the loss of Gigi Dall’Igna to Ducati ten years ago, is an ascendant program of late.
  • Rookie Augusto Fernandez will team up with veteran Pol Espargaro, late of the factory Repsol Honda team, on the #2 (KTM) Tech 3 GasGas team, under the careful supervision of jovial French guy (pronounced ghee) Herve Poncharal. Aussie Remy Gardner was advised he was “insufficiently professional” (read: insufficiently Spanish or Italian) and made his way, with a pocketful of sour grapes, to the tacitly less professional World Superbike championship series.
  • Joan Mir, 2020 World Champion with a couple of asterisks, was left without a seat when Suzuki folded their tent and chose to join the Repsol Honda team alongside Marc Marquez. Exhibiting questionable decision-making skills, this compares to an infant leaving a comfortable bassinet, complete with mother’s milk, to ride alongside Mad Max in the Thunderdome. Former teammate Alex Rins, also revealing impaired judgment, moved on from the comfort of the smooth-riding Suzuki to LCR Honda, whose version of the RC213V is as difficult to ride as the Repsol bikes but slower. His teammate there will be Mr. Cellophane, Takaa Nakagami. It promises to be a long year for Mir and Rins. It is always a long year for Nakagami.
  • Australian veteran Jack Miller, realizing his own pedigree was insufficiently Italian, chose to leave the factory Ducati team on his terms rather than theirs, and landed squarely on the factory KTM team, joining skeletal South African mercenary Brad Binder on the only entirely Anglo team on the grid. Miller’s initial bubbly optimism about the move lasted until the first test in Sepang. Such is life.
  • In a classic MotoGP three-way, once Miller vacated the factory Ducati crew, Enea Bastiannini got promoted from Gresini Ducati to replace him alongside world champion Pecco Bagnaia, and Alex Marquez escaped from LCR to Gresini, where it is thought, at least here, he will scout the Ducati ecosystem as an advance man for his brother Marc, who has only so many years left to await Honda’s return to respectability. Alex will be welcomed by returning Gresini up-and-comer Fabio de Giannantonio, who is singlehandedly causing a shortage of lower-case Ns amongst the journalists covering the sport. (We decided last season to refer to him as FDG to conserve consonants.)
  • The remaining four teams made no changes in their rider lineup this season. Aprilia #1 with a resurgent Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro. The hobbled Yamaha team of Fabulous Quartararo and an enigmatic Frankie Morbidelli. Rossi’s Mooney VR46 Ducati team with Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi, and Pramac Ducati with whiz kid Jorge Martin and aging Frenchman Johann Zarco. If I had to make a prediction for 2024, I would expect Morbidelli and Zarco to exit the premier class stage after this year, followed soon thereafter by Aleix.

Sprint Races? C’mon, Man

In the face of declining fan interest in the sport, The Powers That Be decided to put on flattering imitations of the sprint races found in World Superbike and, on occasion, F1. Essentially, these will be half-length tilts run on Saturdays in the place of the execrable FP4 sessions. In the past, cumulative fast times in the first three practice sessions determined which 10 riders would pass automatically into the QP2 pole shootout, with the remnant having to slug it out in QP1 for the top two slots which would then pass GO into QP2. As of 2023, these determinations will occur after FP2, throwing a real sense of urgency into Fridays. That’s the good news. The results from QP1 and 2 will determine starting positions for both the sprints and the full distance races on Sundays.

This year, the last event on Saturdays will be premier class sprint races. The top eight finishers will score points–9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1—while the other 14 will put hours on their engines and chew up a set of tires. No changes have been made in engine allocations, despite the fact that the number of race laps the engines will have to complete will increase by half. Look for penalties to be assessed late in the season as teams run out of operational engines.

While the fans, at least those still sober at 3 pm, will get to see riders competing in anger on Saturdays, the pilots and crews will pay the price, especially in the autoclaves of Thailand, Malaysia, India and Indonesia. (I’m torn between using “autoclave” and “blast furnace” to depict the hellish conditions in these places.) The older riders—notably the Espargaro brothers and Zarco—will suffer more, despite the chilling effect of 200 mph headwinds. And nobody gives a hoot about the brolly girls and what they will have to endure, in full pancake makeup and leather trousers.

Personally, I get the feeling that the sprint races, as currently configured, will be a full-blown cluster, most notably in October, with three races in three weeks, including Indonesia and Thailand. I also get the feeling, for the record, that the Indian Grand Prix will not make it onto the final calendar due to construction issues, that the 21- round season will eventually be reduced to 20. Just sayin’.

The Big Questions: Will Borat Attend the Kazakhstan Grand Prix? And Where Can We Find His Sister?

Tranches

One has to be a moron to try to predict the eventual 2023 MotoGP standings when there’s still snow on the ground. Undeterred, and using my proprietary and well-worn SWAG (Sophisticated Wild Ass Guess) predictive software, here goes:

  1. Pecco Bagnaia. A formidable combination—the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo on the best bike on Earth, the 2023 title is his to lose.
  2. Enea Bastiannini. Young, smooth, easy on tires and fearless. The teammates appear ready to dominate the season the way Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello did F1 in 2002.
  3. Marc Marquez. #93 is, for the moment, 100% healthy. Despite being stuck with the crappy Honda RC213V, he will finish the year on the podium. At age 30, his days of dominance are numbered. But, as Nick Harris used to say about Valentino Rossi, “Ignore him at your peril.”
  4. Maverick Vinales. Going out on a limb here, Pop Gun showed a few flashes of his old form last year, and the Aprilia has become a credible contender. He will finish ahead of aging, arm-pumping teammate Aleix Espargaro.
  5. Fabio Quartararo. As gifted as Fabulous is, the Yamaha doesn’t appear yet to provide him with enough grunt to compete for a championship. This is his final contract with the Iwata factory. As for the rest of the field, I’ll just let the software do the predicting:
  6. Jorge Martin
  7. Aleix Espargaro
  8. Marco Bezzecchi
  9. Brad Binder
  10. Luca Marini
  11. Fabio di Giannantonio
  12. Joan Mir
  13. Jack Miller
  14. Miguel Oliveira
  15. Johann Zarco
  16. Alex Rins
  17. Pol Espargaro
  18. Raul Fernandez
  19. Alex Marquez
  20. Franco Morbidelli
  21. Takaa Nakagami
  22. Augusto Fernandez

And the 2023 Winner Is…

Moto3:    Jaume Masia

Moto2:    Pedro Acosta

MotoGP:  Pecco Bagnaia

For Those of You Who Think I Don’t Know What I’m Talking About

No argument here. You will find more informative articles on any number of other sites. We’re willing to settle for cheap laughs, mostly at the expense of the authority figures in a sport that seems to take itself way too seriously. Most of you reading this drivel are riders who view the statement, “I want to grow up and be a motorcycle rider” as a choice. The punchline is you can’t do both.

Having made your decisions, I’m here to give you the opportunity to express yourself. Reader engagement is the currency of life on the web. We hope you will take the time to share your opinions without dropping a lot of F-bombs, as we jealously protect our PG-13 rating.

I will post results from each of the 21 rounds this year.

Keep the shiny side up.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP Portimao, MotoGP Preview, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 36 Comments »

MotoGP 2022 Round 17: Buriram

October 2, 2022

We here at Late-Braking MotoGP have admittedly become something of a clanging gong on the subject of Fabio Quartararo and the likelihood of his repeating as world champion in 2022. Such concerns arrived in full force today in the steam bath that is Buriram, in a part of the world that offers one a choice of climatic conditions. Not a range, mind you, but a choice–heat found only on hell’s front porch or torrential downpours that raise the humidity above 100%. These come and go with reckless abandon, causing events such as we saw today in Round 17.

Doesn’t the editorial We above sound better than some mope sitting at his kitchen table clattering away about stuff he doesn’t really understand?

Screenshot (476)

I suppose I should mention somewhere that Miguel Oliveira won the race.

I have our crack research staff examining 2022 records for help answering the following question: Is a rider’s fate on Sunday largely decided by the events in FP3 and Q1, or are you stupid? Of course it’s decided on Saturday, from top to bottom. I’ve decided I love the current qualifying format in that it is progressively Darwinian. You have to make the top 10 in the combined FP1 – FP3 sessions. If you fail to do so, it is imperative that you battle through Q1 to make it to Q2. [When was the last time a rider won in MotoGP starting outside the top 12? The nerds are looking into that, as well. No they’re not.] Once in Q2, it is ultra-helpful if the rider can finish the session above the 50th percentile, i.e., in the first two rows. Only then does one get a credible chance for the win.

One example of this (not a very good one) was Johann Zarco today, who got pistol-whipped at the start from P5 and spent his day trying to get his wipers to work in traffic, with a notable lack of success. Until Lap 15, when he laid down the first of five consecutive fastest race laps and put himself up with the big dogs for the last half dozen. He would overtake Marquez, who appeared to develop grip issues late in the day, but was unable to penetrate Bagnaia for a place on the podium. Likewise, Marquez missed a decent chance to capture his 100th career podium, but he looked fit doing it. He barged into a couple of riders along the way today, but escaped penalty, unless he’s the rider given three extra seconds for bashing directly into Marco Bezzecchi without so much as a by your leave on Lap 8. Just sayin’.

I guess what I’m suggesting is that my idea back in 2008 when the Indianapolis round was busy failing due to Hurricane Ike that new venues, like the IMS at the time, offer free admission on the first Saturday of racing. Give the uninitiated a dozen or so sessions during the day, saving the best for last. In the absence of a tropical depression, such a promotion could have brought 150,000 paid admissions on Sunday; it would have instantly become the best-attended race on the calendar. A full day of MotoGP, all three classes, is enough to get any 4 wheel gearhead interested in two-wheeled racing. Although the thought of offering free admission on Saturday during the dubious India round could result in six or seven million people crashing the gates. Not a great idea after all, I suppose.

Today’s race was highlighted by the fact that the riders had virtually no practice time whatsoever, at all, no how no way. None. A couple of extra sighting laps before the race. The notable mudders on the grid–Miller, Oliveira, Marquez, Alex (!) Marquez, Zarco–were going to have a good day, being veterans comfortable on rain tires. Oddly, rookie and Valentino Rossi protégé Marco Bezzecchi took pole on Saturday, joined by Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia for an all Ducati front row. Duc Duc Duc. Young Marco took the hole shot and proceeded to get mauled by pretty much everyone, ending his day in P16.

By Lap 4, Jack Miller had established a clear but unconvincing lead, with KTM wet weather ace Miguel Oliveira sniffing around his tailpipe. Oliveira took P2 from Bezzecchi on Lap 7 and seized the lead from Miller on Lap 8 as Aleix Espargaro was being assessed a long lap penalty for, as I understand it, “being kind of an asshole all day,” as it said in the FIM press release. I overheard the announcers say that someone had been assessed a three-second penalty for conduct unbecoming, but missed the rider’s name. One of you, I’m sure, will inform me. Wouldn’t be surprised to learn it was #93.

Quartararo’s day was awful in several ways. He gave up 16 of his 18 point lead and now is in a dogfight with Bagnaia for the title. Aleix sits in third, any momentum he enjoyed early in the season largely gone. EBas had a quiet P6 today, his ten points taking him to within 18 of Bagnaia. And along comes Jack, suddenly, having secured 45 points in the last eight days, sitting in a somewhat menacing P5. Conceding the win to Oliveira late in the race, Miller appeared somewhat circumspect about the prospect of trading paint with the rider he will replace on the KTM factory team next season.

For me, the highlight of the day occurred after the conclusion, when Simon Crafar, World’s Worst Interviewer, was sufficiently at sea, all deer in headlights, such that he could only manage to ask Pecco, “How happy are you?” I suspect Simon is moonlighting for some magazine, maybe Us or Forever21, and that he bootlegs these clips into articles about relationships and feelings and leather.

OK. I heard Matt Birt allude to the possibility the 2022 title could be decided in Valencia. So, we Dummies, we Morons, can look forward to that prospect today, when six weeks ago it seemed unlikely. Reality, it seems, has caught up with your boy Fabio and I’m afraid it’s downhill from here. Phillip Island and Sepang are happy hunting grounds for the Ducati phalanx. As usual, the primary question remains, “Who is composed enough to stay out of the gravel during the last four rounds?” Which is why we watch this stuff. I wish I had it in me to share my thoughts on Moto3 and Moto2 today. All I can say at this time is that the Moto2 race was shredded by the weather and, accordingly, for the first time in my memory, awarded half points to the riders of the truncated fiasco. The main beneficiaries of this decision, it would appear, are the bookmakers who can now avoid pushes using full point spread increments. There’s a sentence in there somewhere.

A week off before heading out to Australia and Malaysia. It appears plausible to believe 2022 will be one of those years when two riders head to Valencia within three points of one another, perhaps with a third another ten points back. A race in which the three riders will push all of their chips into the middle of the table, look each other in the eye, and say, “All in.” The guys who are making the videos recapping each MotoGP season will get their teeth into the jangling nerves and rampant obsessive compulsive disorders on display behind the scenes in Valencia on Friday night. One guy on the team stress-refreshing the Accuweather forecast. Fabio getting his roots done. Vinales on the phone for two hours with his infant daughter discussing race strategy. Jack Miller getting well into the beer before arm-wrestling members of his team. The young VR46 guns, Marini and Bezzecchi and Bastiannini, sitting with The Great Rossi listening to stories about 2008, barely able to keep their eyes open other than the breathtaking number of, um, encounters with, ahem, female admirers.

The hits just keep coming in MotoGP. Stay tuned for more up-to-date expressions of wild speculation.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Buriram, MotoGP Results, MotoGP Valencia, Motorcycle Racing, Phillip Island, Valencia | 7 Comments »

MotoGP 2022 Round 16: Motegi

September 25, 2022

Jack Miller dominates; Quartararo extends series lead

The 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, after getting skipped by The Powers That Be for the last two years, gave the fans an odd little race. The kind of race it was today: Series leader Fabio Quartararo, stuck in the mid-pack mud all day, finished in P8 and extended his series lead. Everyone’s favorite underdog, Aleix Espargaro, got undone on the sighting lap, something terminal with the electronics on his Aprilia, forcing him to pit, drop his bike, jump on his #2 bike, and start from pit lane in a distant P25. Aleix rode his ass off all day only to finish in P16, pointless.

Factory Ducati pilot Pecco Bagnaia, he of the gi-normous expectations heading into the season, found himself slugging it out in the aforementioned mud with his rival, series leader Quartararo, on the final lap. Young Pecco choked on the lowside, trudging through the gravel, clapping his hands in mock appreciation for what he later implied was an error by someone on his crew. Oh, and factory Ducati #2 pilot Jack Miller owned the place all weekend, seized the lead in today’s race on Lap 3 when he went through on Pramac brother-in-arms Jorge Martin and proceeded to lay down a Marquez-esque vapor trail on his way to his fourth win in the premier class.

Ducati did well, as expected, today. Placed five machines in the top ten and two on the podium. Gigi–gotta love this guy–sitting in the garage during the race, looking relaxed, wondering whether he should order more tiramasu. There was a point in the race when Matt Birt stopped to observe that he had just seen a Ducati turn inside a Yamaha for the first time ever. Having seen the results before watching the tape, on Lap 23 I wrote, “KITTENS COMING,” in anticipation of the meltdown Matt and Louis would suffer watching Pecco coming unglued on the last lap. Sure enough, right on cue, here they came. I could only be thankful that Steve Day is no longer in the booth, as he was always the one having kittens.

Fabio may be The Blessed Rider again this year; if so, it would represent a truly great season-long body of work on a sadly inferior machine. But really, he struggled all day to manage P8 which would have been P9 had Pecco not surrendered to the laws of physics. Aleix had the best qualifying of the four contenders in P6 prior to the debacle at the start. EBas started from P15 before finishing in P9. And Bagnaia hamstrung himself today by slogging to a P12 during Qualifying #2. It appears that most of our fearless leaders are feeling the pressure of having a premier class championship within their reach. The answer, in all likelihood, will lie, as we have been saying all year, in the number of crashes/DNFs the riders accumulate, as follows:

Rider Points DNF

Fabio Quartararo 219 2

Pecco Bagnaia 201 5

Aleix Espargaro 194 1*

Enea Bastianini 170 4

*mechanical failure at the start

Looking at things this way, it’s entirely possible to project Espargaro winning the title. Fabio spending his entire days on the limit is a blueprint for disaster. Bagnaia has people wondering why he doesn’t get it, that if he would only keep the shiny side up a little more often he would be leading the championship. That he doesn’t should great hope to the Espargaro family. Here’s what the season would look like if Quartararo and Bagnaia were to crash out in Thailand, allowing Aleix to win and EBas to place second:

Quartararo 219

Espargaro 219

Bagnaia 201

Bastianini 190

With four rounds left, I’m confident both Fabio and Pecco will slide out of one of them. The question is whether Aleix can keep his nose clean for an entire season. I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy seeing him take the title after so many years of fruitless toil.

Marc Marquez seized pole on Saturday, just to remind folks how extraordinarily successful he has been here in the past. He took the hole shot and held the lead for three or four turns before getting swallowed up by a gaggle of riders not riding with one arm. He sat in P5 pretty much all day before taking Miguel Oliveira’s lunch money on the final lap for P4.

The factory KTM operation had things going their way today, placing Binder on the podium and Oliveira in the top five, too. Another guy I’ve been ignoring, but who is getting harder and harder to ignore, is Luca Marini. The sophomore has scored points in 13 of the 16 rounds to date. He worked his way up front and was tagging along with the lead group by the end of the day. The grid these days seems absolutely packed with fast young Italian riders, another node of The Rossi Effect. Another example–Marco Bezzecchi, late of the VR46 Academy, will be the runaway winner of the 2022 ROY award aboard his Desmosedici. The future is bright for Ducati pilots in the years to come. Ecstar Suzuki, on the other hand, had one rider out injured, a second retired with a mechanical issue, and their test rider/wild card had to make a hasty exit from his GSX-RR which was, at that moment, engulfed in flames. Doing a Zarco is what we call that around here.

So it’s off to Thailand to see how riders under extreme pressure perform in an autoclave. I think such conditions favor the younger riders who are physically more able to withstand the heat. But the veterans have been here before and to Sepang and know how to hold up over race distance. For Fabio, Pecco and Aleix, the season is now. Young Bastianini is going to have to ignore the championship, keep his head down, and score as many points as possiblle each time out. Oh, and remember not to crash.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP Motegi, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing | 4 Comments »

MotoGP 2022 – Aragon Round 15

September 19, 2022

Fabio crashes, the championship tightens up, and Marc Marquez is getting flamed

Looking back over the season this coming winter, (I know, right?) one may conclude that Round 15 was the decisive race in a terrific season in which, with five rounds to go, there are still four riders with a genuine chance to title. My original thesis this season–that consistency (not crashing) would be the determining factor–is proving true. Almost. Somehow, somewhere, the law of averages is beavering away, tagging each rider with the “likely to crash again” label, others with the “hasn’t crashed enough, is long overdue” tag. Yes, that means that the law of averages is of absolutely no help in predicting the 2022 champion.

The race itself, in a nutshell, went something like this. Aleix, a few of the Ducatis, and rugged KTM pilot Brad Binder got off to quick starts. Marc Marquez, in his latest return to racing, failed to make it out of Q1, starting in P15. When the lights went out, #93 decided to damn the torpedoes and head for the front, carving up the field, elbows out, narcissistically unconcerned about the fortunes of the riders actually competing for the championship. (This is early on Lap 1, friends, with a full tank and cold tires.) In the thick of things (P7) surrounded by contenders, Marquez had a moment which resulted in championship leader Fabio Quartararo piling into the rear of his bike, parting company with his YZR-M1, going boom on the asphalt, down and out.

Poetic justice saw to it that the collision would render the #93 bike unrideable by Lap 2. Marquez discovered an issue involving his rear tire and a crumpled fairing by clattering Takaa Nakagami out of the race later in Lap 1. Having knocked Quartararo off his safe perch in the title chase, with virtually nothing to gain, he retired from the race, changed into regular clothing, and returned to the pits, to the catcalls and jeers of everyone not wearing Repsol black, red and orange.

Anyway. Most of the race had Pecco Bagnaia blazing the trail, with EBas, Aleix and the gritty Binder in hot pursuit. Mostly processional until the last two laps, when the prospect of the two fastest riders in the game on the fastest machine in the game becoming teammates next year came into sight, the 2023 team championship having become a foregone conclusion. With both riders able to summon fast laps late in the race, both able to conserve rubber at full race distance, MotoGP 2023 is looking a lot like F1 back in the day when Schumacher and Barrichello owned the world. Italian engineering on full display.

Essentially, Bastianini calmly put Bagnaia in his rearview midway through Lap 23 after dogging him all day. Aleix and his Aprilia passed Binder for the final podium spot on Lap 22. Bastianini, it seems, likes the effect he has on other riders when he’s on their rear wheel with two laps left. Pecco is as fast as fast gets, the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo in appearance and riding style. But he doesn’t seem to have the fire in the belly that his new teammate possesses. My money will be on EBas to win the 2023 title.

Here are the before and after shots of the 2022 MotoGP title, post Aragon:

Rider Points after Austria Points after Aragon 2022 DNF/DNS Manufacturer

Quartararo 211 211 2 Yamaha

Bagnaia 181 201 4 Ducati

AEspargaro 178 194 0 Aprilia

Bastianini 138 163 4 Ducati

All season long we have been saying, along with the entire Sioux nation, that Fabio would have to have what amounts to a perfect race every time out in order to repeat as world champion. And he has been riding the wheels off his vastly inferior Yamaha. But he faltered at Assen and got skittled yesterday, events which the Brits currently refer to as “wet lettuce.” Again, as predicted, we are sticking with Pecco Bagnaia as the 2022 world champion. Despite four DNFs, he has the wind at his back, while Fabio has contusions all up and down his torso from yesterday.

Looking at the upcoming tracks (not sure about Thailand) it appears the Ducati phalanx will enjoy Motegi (stop and shoot) as well as Phillip Island and Sepang, both long and wide. Fabio, being the Yamaha phalanx, may have a bit of an advantage at Buriram and Valencia. Unfortunately, I suspect that his performance in Round 20 will have little to do with the title. And then there’s Aleix, still in the hunt, still not having turned his RS-GP over after 15 tries. Overdue? Cautious? Blessed? A great dark horse for a wager if you’re into that sort of thing. If he maintains his season-long consistency, and both Quartararo and Bagnaia have another off between now and November, it could be an Espargaro wearing the crown in 2022. THAT would be fun.

I watched both races on the undercard. My only real interest these days is trying to identify future Aliens amongst the array of teenage prodigies toiling in the “lightweight” classes. In Moto3, I really like Izan Guevara, who is going to win the title this year and just turned 18 in June. Another fast kid is this David Munoz, #44, who just turned 16 in the spring and has begun terrorizing the grizzled veterans.

In Moto2 it was Vote for Pedro day again, as Acosta made a convincing case for returning to the presumptive Alien class in the foreseeable future. Despite breaking his femur at Assen, he has come back and, at least yesterday, looked again like he did in Moto3 last year, when he was tagged as a phenom. He will likely win the Moto2 title next year for KTM and get bounced up to MotoGP in 2024.

The first Asian flyaway rounds are coming up starting this week. Imagine having raced in Aragon and having five days to prepare/pack to travel to Japan and Thailand. Then a week off, then freezing at Phillip Island and, broiling at Sepang, where Pecco will clinch the title, before finishing, as usual, on the Spanish Mediterranean coast.

Damn, this is fun.

This from our mid-season report after Assen: The GasGas duo of Garcia and Guevara is, once again, putting a thorough Teutonic beatdown on the grid, same as Gardner and Fernandez did last year in Moto2. I fully believe Guevara is a future Alien and perhaps the most impressive of the impressive crop of young riders passing through the intermediate classes in the past 3-4 years. Young Izan should continue this trend, as it appears both he and teammate Garcia will graduate into Moto2 for 2023.

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Posted in Grand Prix of Aragon, Marc Marquez, Moto, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 13 Comments »

Mandalika–The “Fires of Hell” GP Quenched

March 20, 2022

Miguel Oliveira won the first Indonesian Grand Prix in 25 years on Sunday, holding off French challengers “Fabulous” Fabio Quartararo and Johann Zarco. The podium celebration featured a KTM, a Yamaha and a Ducati. Notably absent were representatives from Honda; it looks like it’s going to be another difficult year for the Suzuki and Aprilia contingents.

After two rounds, there are four riders within six points of series leader Enea Bastianini, with another four riders tied at ten points back. Pre-season fave Pecco Bagnaia and his GP22 have accumulated a total of one (1) point; a couple more outings like the first two and his unvarnished optimism is going to get shellacked. And please don’t get me started about Marc Marquez, whose dramatic high-side during the morning warm up came close to cracking his head wide open and led to his being declared unfit for the race.

Practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, appeared to be taking place inside an autoclave. The oppressive heat wreaked havoc with the riders, their machines, and the racing surface itself. Soft tires became the only viable choice for most of the teams, and on Saturday’s qualifying sessions they were going through them like salted nuts

Q1 was the most interesting such session I’ve seen since the qualifying format changed in 2013. A number of high-profile riders, including names such as Bagnaia, M Marquez, P Espargaro and Mir, had failed to pass through to Q2, due in no small part to surprisingly competent practice session from Oliveira and FDG. Exhibit A for the radical competition in Q1 was the fact that Marquez went through a passel of soft tires and crashed twice, subsequently landing in P15. He actually would have started the race in P14 but for the picky sanction applied to Frankie Morbidelli for violating some obscure rule about practice start procedures at the end of FP3.

During Sundays warm-up, Marquez went airborn in the most spectacular high-side I’ve seen since Jorge Lorenzo practically achieved a low earth orbit in China in 2009.

Naturally, Sunday was a frog strangler, with rain holding up the proceedings in the premier class for an hour. It was still wet when the lights went out. Since most of you have access to the results of the race by now (the MotoGP website has an excellent summary) I have virtually nothing to say about the race. The season-to-date standings are something else, though. The Beast added 5 points to the 25 he earned in Lusail (when did Losail become Lusail?) and still sits at the top of the standings, followed in close order by the surprising Brad Binder, a dangerous Quartararo, and today’s race winner Miguel Oliveira. Of particular interest is Marquez sitting down in P12 and, as mentioned above, Pecco Bagnaia resting in P20 with the likes of KTM rookies Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner. Amazingly, rookie little brother Darryn Binder, enjoying a jump shift (for you bridge players) from Moto3 made his way into the Top 10 today.

Since this post is only for record keeping, that’s it for now. My buddy OldMoron is going to take this post apart in his inimitable style, which is fine with me. And, for the record, somebody named Somkiat Chantra won his first grand prix in Moto2, while Dennis “The Menace” Foggia won the Moto3 tilt in comfortable fashion.

Next stop: Another dirty track in Argentina in two weeks. This season is going to be a blast.

Errata from Canadian correspondent Allison Sullivan. Posted completely without permission of the author.

THAT.HIGHSIDE. was gnarly. You could tell it was so unexpected that Marc basically had no idea what had happened. That he got up and walked away is testament to the technological marvels those suits are, but that has to mess with his already fragile head.

(Speaking of which, is anyone watching MotoGP Unlimited on Amazon? I’ve just finished Ep 3 where Jorge Martin comes back from his broken leg, and he’s matter-of-factly talking about how his suit recorded 26G of force and he should have been dead. O_O)

I’m a fan of the The Beast, but I wouldn’t have picked him to be leading the series after 2 races. Fabio looks strong again this year, the rest of the field can’t afford to be spotting that boy points (cough, cough, Pecco). Style points for this week go to Alex Rins for his very undignified bail of his flaming Suzuki, and the bad luck award goes yet again to Jorge Martin (if that boy didn’t have bad luck, he’d have none).

I’m passing on the main race (rain races are never good watches), but I did watch Moto3 because I have to cheer for Ana Carrasco this season. Foggia and Izan Guevara definitely look to be the class acts of that field this year. Tatsu stayed upright, huzzah. Looks like Pedro is not finding Moto2 to be the cakewalk everyone predicted – it will be interesting to see if he finds form once they get to Europe.

Thank you, Allison.

Marquez on his way to the medical center.

Miguel winning his fourth GP in the premier class.

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Posted in Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, Marc Marquez, Moto, MotoGP, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News | 14 Comments »

THUNDERATION—MotoGP 2022 Cleared for Takeoff

February 27, 2022

By Bruce Allen

[Note: The scurrilous opinions, mis-statements of fact and otherwise actionable slurs below do not represent the views of Motorcycle.com. In fact, we are surprised if they represent the views of anyone at all.]

MotoGP, the fastest sport on two wheels in the known universe, is back for what promises to be one of the most competitive seasons in history. Twelve well-financed teams. 24 riders, of which only a handful can be excluded from consideration for multiple podium appearances during a 21-round campaign stretching from the streets of Indonesia to the jungles of South America to the Gulf of Finland. And the machines, hand-built to inconceivable tolerances, with power-to-weight ratios comparable to strapping a pair of big Evinrudes on the ass end of a dinghy.

In the past ten seasons, only four men have claimed the title of MotoGP world champion. Jorge Lorenzo, gone but not forgotten, won it all during his Yamaha days in 2012 and 2015. Joan Mir, the young Spanish speedster with the girl’s name, claimed his win in 2020*, winning a single race in a season decimated by Covid. French heartthrob Fabio Quartararo became a world champion in 2021*.

The asterisks signify seasons in which Spanish king of kings, Marc Marquez, who won the other six titles during the period, was injured or trying to return from injury. It doesn’t require much imagination to suggest that, had Marquez been healthy, both Mir and Quartararo would have watched him claim his seventh and eighth premier class crowns. For those of you new to the sport, he is the Michael Jordan, the Tom Brady of grand prix motorcycle racing. Those of us who watched him during those years remain unworthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals.

In 2022, having returned to full health (or close to it) Marquez will have his work cut out for him. There is more talent on the grid today than there was in 2013, and, despite his boyish good looks, he has a lot of miles on his odometer and is, in fact, a veteran rider. Not a grizzled veteran like my boy Cal Crutchlow, but a veteran nonetheless. He turned 29 in February, in a sport where eyebrows begin to raise at anyone over 30.

When Last Seen

The 2021 calendar was goofed up, again due to the Covid pandemic. There were a full 18 rounds, but it was cobbled together, with two each at Losail, Red Bull Ring Portimao and Misano. Quartararo won five rounds—Losail II, Portimao I, Mugello, Assen and Silverstone, coasting to the championship at season’s end. Upstart Pecco Bagnaia, the second coming of Jorge Lorenzo, captured four of the last six rounds to make the final standings look closer than they were. Ducati pilot Jack Miller won two early rounds, at Jerez and Le Mans, but failed to launch thereafter, going winless over the final 13 rounds.

Other winners included KTM’s Brad Binder at his home gym in Austria, and the wounded Marc Marquez, who, riding with one arm, managed wins at the Sachsenring and COTA, both of which he basically owns, and Misano II. In a harbinger of great things yet to come, rookie Jorge Martin, the second coming of Dani Pedrosa, recorded a great win at Austria I. And, in a footnote, the bedraggled Maverick Vinales, once considered the next great thing, won Round One in the desert and was hardly heard from thereafter. He switched teams in mid-season, falling out of grace from the factory Yamaha team and landing in a heap with Aprilia. He has gone from the next great thing to a trivia question, all due to the size of his ego.

The Off-Season

Since the final 2021 round at Valencia up until this week, actually, teams have been installing new riders and scrambling to come to terms with the 2022 iterations of their bikes. Rules governing what goes on in the off-season have been tightened drastically in recent years in an effort, I guess, to cut costs. Personally, what I learn each year from testing and the race at Losail is essentially nothing. IMO, Losail, for me anyway, marks the end of pre-season testing, but with the riders able to score points. Winning at Losail in March counts for about as much as the Cincinnati Reds winning their opening game in March. It has no predictive value.

The Grand Prix of Qatar has always been a strange choice for the season opener. They run it at night under gigantic lights, with sand blowing across the track. The racing surface is wide enough to tow a fifth-wheel trailer. March is one of the few months where local air temperatures are under 150 degrees. And attendance usually runs to about 1500 fans, most of whom are oil sheiks, crypto miners and political assassins. Not normal.

New Faces

This season starts with seven underclassmen, three sophomores and four freshmen. New to the premier class last year were Italian speedsters Luca Marini (half brother of the legendary Valentino Rossi) and Enea Bastianini, along with rising Spanish star Jorge Martin. The 2022 crop of rookies includes a pair of KTM guys, apparently chained at the wrists and ankles—Australian Remy Gardner and Spanish fast mover Raul Fernandez. These two don’t like each other, causing us to hope for a repeat of the hilarious scene back in the day when Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi shared a garage and had a wall built down the middle to keep them from gouging each other’s eyes out.

Two more Italians complete the 2022 grid, starting with Fabio di Giannantonio, repping the Gresini Ducati team. (We will be forced to refer to him this season as FDG in order to conserve our dwindling inventory of lower case N’s.) Last, and perhaps least, is young Marco Bezzecchi, filling the #2 seat on Valentino Rossi’s Mooney VR46 Racing Team. Marco’s coiffure suggests he thinks of himself as the second coming of the late Marco Simoncelli; I prefer to consider him the MotoGP version of Sideshow Bob.

The Machines

Oh, what a different couple of paragraphs this would be had motorcycle whisperer Gigi Dall’igna not defected from Aprilia to Ducati in 2013. Over the past ten years he has transformed the Ducati Desmodici from a rocket sled into the best bike on the grid. Anyone who wishes to question this statement should seek counseling. At present, were we to tranche grand prix motorcycles, the ranking would look as follows:

Tranche 1: Ducati

Tranche 2: Your mother

Tranche 3: Honda

Tranche 4: Yamaha, Suzuki

Tranche 5: KTM

Tranche 6: Aprilia

This season there will be eight (8) Ducatis on the grid. Were it possible, there would probably be 18. Seems every rider wants a Desmo, wants to blow up his rivals on the long straights. It’s as fast as it’s aways been, only now the riders can wrestle it through the turns without giving themselves colitis. And it appears to improve each year. By 2025 Ducati Corse could conceivably sweep the top three or four spots for the year. Wow.

Despite winning the 2021 championship, Yamaha appears to have slipped a bit; Fabio is the only rider able to coax results out of the M1, with Morbidelli starting to smell like an underachiever. The aging Andrea Dovizioso and whippersnapper Darryn Binder, called up from Moto3 where he wasn’t all that, on the #2 team appear destined for the lower links of the food chain.

Honda appears to have similar problems. Clearly, the RC213V has been designed around Marc Marquez; what manufacturer in his right mind wouldn’t? Pol Espargaro, the #2 rider on the factory team, keeps talking a good game and keeps not winning races. Sure, he managed a second place finish last year at Misano II. Big whoop.The riders on the satellite team, Alex Marquez and Taka Nakagami, show occasional flashes of mediocrity, but are second division contestants. The day either of them wins a grand prix I will buy all of you a good cigar. (How you split it up between youse is your problem.)

Suzuki, to my way of thinking, can’t really be taken seriously as a championship-level outfit without a second team to generate more data. Sure, someone is bound to point out that Joan Mir won the 2020 title for Suzuki, and most people I know were happy for him and them. But 2020 was a crazy, one-off year. And, in winning the title, he managed the top step of the podium exactly one (1) time. Nicky Hayden won the Taller Than Danny DiVito Award in 2006 for Honda with two wins. Just for the love of the game, allow me to compare Marc Marquez’ points haul in 2019 with Mir’s in 2020:

Marquez 2019: 420 pts  (19 rounds)

Mir 2020:         171 pts  (14 rounds)

Where was I? Right. KTM, which appeared to be an ascendant MotoGP organization in 2020, took a definite step backward last year, despite the rugged Brad Binder having captured his maiden premier class win at Red Bull Ring, his home crib. In 2020 the two teams managed 200 points in 14 rounds of racing. In 2021, over 18 outings, they scored only 205 points. There has been plenty of sturm and drang during the off season. Another year like last year and there’s going to be some serious Teutonic ass-kicking going on in Mattighofen. Just sayin’.

Which brings us to Aprilia, the racing organization made famous by having let Gigi Dall’igna defect to Ducati. Just think about what this tranche might look like had they had the sense to pay him. But without a satellite team, their brave annual pronouncements about this finally being their year generate choruses of yawns from the racing press. Please don’t tell me what you’re going to do. Tell me what you’ve done.

Everyone’s Favorite Segment

At this point in the 2022 season, tranching the riders is a fool’s errand. And I’m just the fool to take it on. But I’m only willing to separate the riders into sheep and goats. If you have a problem with this, I suggest you write your congressman.

Tranche I—Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Jack Miller, Johann Zarco, Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro, Brad Binder, Pol Espargaro, Raul Fernandez, Andrea Dovizioso

Tranche II—Alex Rins, Miguel Oliveira, Franco Morbidelli, Taka Nakagami, Alex Marquez, Enea Bastianini, FDG, Luca Marini, Remy Gardner, Maverick Vinales, Darryn Binder, Marco Bezzecchi

Our mid-season report will revert to the traditional format. Until then, I welcome your taunts and hoots.

Short Takes

Fabio Quartararo should have his leathers re-worked. Listening to him talk, he’s no more Spanish than I am. El Diablo needs to become Le Diable…Raul Fernandez is my pick for Rookie of the Year…MotoGP will change when teenager Pedro Acosta, The Next Really Great Rider, moves up next year. If he doesn’t title in Moto2 this year it will only be due to his having spent some serious time in traction…Jorge Martin is a rider to keep one’s eye on. Fearless and fast. He needs to concentrate on spending less time getting launched over his handlebars…Between his right arm and his damaged vision, we may have already seen the best Marc Marquez has to offer this sport. His lizard brain, the part firing the synapses behind his “Oh, my!” saves, may be slightly hesitant on the heels of two serious accidents…Pecco Bagnaia is my pick as the 2022 world champion, in case anyone asks.

The American FAA lists 234 miles per hour as “takeoff speed,” the speed at which an airplane leaves terra firma and begins its ascent. This is equal to 376 kmh. During FP4 at last year’s opener in the desert, Johann Zarco recorded 362.4 kmh on the main straight. The Ducati contingent, with their various winglet designs, will probably approach takeoff speed in the next two seasons. This could mark the invention of a new term in motorcycle racing—the overpass.

“Have a Take, and Don’t Suck”

This, for decades, has been the mantra of your boy Jim Rome. For internet journalists like myself (okay, internet hacks) our currency in trade is reader engagement. Late-Braking MotoGP has, for years, hosted informed, civil conversations, without the vitriol, insults and foul language found in most online forums. You, the faithful reader, have the choice of simply consuming our work or helping to create it by sharing your opinions, insights and reactions.

We don’t need lurkers. We need full-throated voices from riders, whether you agree or disagree with the silly, semi-informed opinions you find here. Are you friends with a Saudi assassin? Defend him here. Are you okay with me talking about your mother? Take me down a peg. This stuff is not the war in Ukraine. This is pure entertainment, offered to whet your appetite for MotoGP and to generate myriad requests to Motorcycle.com management to assign me more work. And trust me, I need work. So keep those cards and letters coming, kids.

I will return after Round 11 with some cheeky mid-season analysis. Until then.

* * *

In memory of Nancy P. Gillespie 3/19/1952 – 8/17/2021

 [BA1]

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Posted in Moto | 22 Comments »

MotoGP 2021 Journal Round 6: Mugello

May 30, 2021

© Bruce Allen   May 30, 2021

What beats riding a Desmosedici in Tuscany?

Thursday 

How can anyone think the homeys with Ducati colors on their leathers aren’t going to occupy a couple of steps on the podium on Sunday? I’m inclined to give the nod to Bagnaia, the younger and more Italian of the two factory riders, with Miller and/or Zarco up there too, at one of the shrines of racing. Mugello is perhaps the best example on the calendar of the power of sling-shotting—sorry, slipstreaming—on the main straight. The track design also amplifies the noise in the same area, driving the already-loopy fans insane. Makes for a nice Sunday afternoon if you don’t mind breathing a lot of yellow smoke.

This, and Misano, are Valentino’s Last Stand, Rossi’s last chances to strut on the podium, in SRT teal and yellow, and bask in the adulation of his thousands of Italian fans. He has given them two decades of HOF performance and an Italian presence on the international sports stage. I expect, beginning next year, he will field a SKY VR46 MotoGP team that will be crushing it in the near future. Assuming he ends up with Ducati or Yamaha. If nothing else in 2021, the two brands have established themselves as the clear leaders in the premier class. The championship may remain in healthy doubt, but the hardware not so much.

One of these two brands will win the 2021 title, as it appears our perennial favorite, Repsol Honda legend Marc Marquez, is in poorer shape, racing-wise, than we expected. Looks like he hurried his return in order to have a shot at the title which, it says here, he never really had. I expect him back at 98% of himself next year, the missing 2% coming from the fearlessness he has shown his entire career. His lizard brain is going to try to interrupt during high-stress situations, causing him to pause for a small part of a second. I think he’ll lose a few close races he would have won three years ago. But it’s still going to be fierce to see him back at something approaching complete health.

Regarding 2022, let’s get ready to rumble.

Friday

Just like the old days, watching Rossi and Marquez battle it out, except that today it was an FP1 and they were battling for P16. OK, I get it, it was FP1 and they were sorting things out. But while they were sorting things out, four Ducati guys, three Yamaha guys and both of the Suzuki guys were top tenning it, 1.7 seconds ahead of #93. Oliveira in P10 was the top KTM. Weather was perfect, if a little cool; track 86F. I wonder if Rossi doesn’t find all of this somewhat embarrassing. He seems to be trying.

In Moto2, FP1 was again with the Anglos. What gives in Moto2? Roberts, Gardner and Lowes top three? Again, it’s FP1, I’m just sayin’.

In Moto3 my boy Pedro Acosta was loafing in P14 while Andrea “Fast on Friday” Migno led FP1. Watching Acosta reminds me of watching high school soccer games with two good teams and one exceptional player who stands out, who dominates midfield and wins games. Acosta appears to be that player. In a sport full of great riders, he seems to have, at age 16, focus, the ability to instantly measure openings, to know how much throttle he has available, when to brake, when to overtake, and all the things a veteran rider takes years to learn. He brings it with him to Moto3. He is beating full-grown men and making it look easy. Small grown men, but still…

Pedro Acosta may be due for a fall, but he rarely needs to make saves, seems to ride within himself almost all the time. Not reckless. Seems like he is, at his young age, beginning to think strategically; that he is getting good coaching and that he is coachable. His future is so bright he needs to wear shades.

Back in the premier class, old man Johann Zarco is becoming something of a pest, all these highlights, sniffing around the top during practice sessions, two front row starts and three podiums and all. He and the Duc seem to have found one another. He is fast in the wet and the dry. I wish I had put $100 on him to win it all in 2021. Probably around 50-1. Grrrr. P3 after five rounds, trails Quartararo by 12. No hill for a climber.

Saturday

FP3 in the premier class was instructive. Vinales and #93 missed out on Q2 late in the session, Vinales sliding out late and Marquez not having enough shoulder to sneak into the top ten on his last flying lap. Both Suzukis and the factory KTMs pass GO, collect $200. The spread between P1 and P10 in FP3 was 4/10ths.

About Pecco Bagnaia. 24 years old during Year II of the Marquez Interregnum. Sets a new track record in FP3. The freaking CEO of Ducati Corse drops by in shirtsleeves to say ‘hey’. A tightly-wrapped young Italian hunk on Italian hardware in Mugello, fighting for the title. How can this guy not have full-time wood issues?

Other notables trudging off to Q1: Nakagami, Rossi, Alex Marquez. Rossi has been sucking canal water all weekend. June looms.

Moto2 FP3: Oh great. Sam Lowes is fast in practice again. We can look forward to another front row start and early crash out of contention. The stunned, chagrined look. The piles of brightly-painted fiberglass scrap. The guys in the garage grabbing their faces, thinking, “Not again.” Wishing we were watching Moto3 or GP.

Is it just me, or do Bezzechi, Bastianini, the other Italian riders with big hair, consider themselves the second coming of Marco Simoncelli? Tall, brash, wild-haired, ultimately fast, too fast…

For those of you who don’t ride competitively but do what we east coast types call body surfing, I’m pretty sure the sensation of catching a Mugello slipstream is similar to the sensation of catching a big wave that you know will carry you a long way. In the surf, it’s getting on top of it. On the track, I expect it’s being in it. Letting the laws of physics do the hard work.

Qualifying in MotoGP was a hoot, as long as you’re not a big Maverick Vinales fan. The Spaniard made a mistake (perhaps we should call it a Mav) in FP3 which kept him from passing through to Q2. Then, a second Mav during Q1 cause him to fail to pass through at all, leaving him starting Sunday’s race from P13, effectively taking him out of contention. Again. Fabio was incandescent once more during Q2, seizing his fourth pole in succession. He was joined on the front row by my boy Pecco Bagnaia and a late-arriving Johann Zarco. The second row would include interloper Aleix Espargaro, who almost rode the slipstream to a front row start, Jack Miller, looking dangerous, and KTM pilot Brad Binder in P6. [Pop Quiz: When was the last time the three series leaders lined up, in order, on the front row? Our crack research staff is doing jellybean shooters and bong hits in Bruce’s Digital Library and should have an answer for us by, say, early 2023.]

Over in Moto3 rookie Pedro Acosta made it into the front row for Sunday, flanked by Tatsuki Suzuki on pole and Gabriel Rodrigo in P3. Swiss rider Jason Dupasquier was airlifted to a nearby hospital with injuries suffered in a Q2 mix-up with Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki and Spaniard Jeremy Alcoba. Dupasquier fell and was then hit by another bike; this is how bad injuries take place in MotoGP. Keeping my ears out to pick up any word on the young man’s condition. UPDATE: MOTOGP ANNOUNCED RIGHT BEFORE THE PREMIER CLASS RACE THAT DUPASQUIER HAD SUCCUMBED TO HIS INJURIES. A MINUTE OF SILENCE WAS OBSERVED IN HIS HONOR. HE WAS 19 YEARS OLD.

Moto2: Q1 gave us a feel-good moment when young Fermín Aldeguer, filling in on the MB Conveyors Speed Up team, laid down a fast lap and led four riders into Q2, including Somkiat Chantra, Marcos Ramirez and Bo Bendsneyder. Q2, in turn, gave us what are becoming the Usual Suspects in the first two rows, headed by Raul Fernandez, who has MotoGP written all over him. Joining him are Sam Lowes, underachiever Jorge Navarro, Remy Gardner, FDG (still having trouble spelling his last name, way too many N’s), Tony Arbolino and Marco Bezzecchi (P7).

Sunday

Moto3 was its usual frantic self, a 15-rider lead group for most of the 20 laps, the slipstream effect moving riders eight places—either way–in a kilometer. It is still the best racing on the planet. The eventual winner today, Dennis Foggia, won for the first time in 2021 and has nothing going on re the championship.  He was joined on the podium today by The series leader, Pedro Acosta, held the lead for parts of the day but, at the end, got swallowed up and finished in P7, subsequently dropped to P8 for exceeding track limits on the final lap rules is rules blah blah blah. I don’t think the point this cost him will have much of anything to do with the final standings. After six rounds, the top four looks like this:

P Acosta                111

J. Masia                   59

A Sasuki                  57

S. Garcia                  56

Once again, Acosta finishes well down in the points and retains the lion’s share of his 2021 lead. That’s how you do it. BTW, KTM has a surfeit of fast young Spanish riders—Acosta, Masia, Raul Fernandez, etc. The boys on the KTM MotoGP bikes will begin feeling the heat as the season progresses, notably Lecuona and Petrucci.

Moto2 was another exhibition of the strength of the Ayo KTM team, as series leaders Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez fought to the end, with Gardner emerging on top after gazing at Fernandez’s posterior all day. Joe Roberts had just got done dusting Marco Bezzecchi for the third podium spot at the flag when he was advised he was being dropped down a notch for exceeding track limits on the final lap, as picky a foul as you’ll ever see, if you missed the MotoGP race in which first Miguel Oliveira, then Joan Mir, were assessed the same penalty for the same reason. The fact that the penalties were imposed one at a time in the MotoGP race resulted in the final standings reflecting what actually happened, as opposed to the Moto2 result, about which Bezzecchi seemed to feel bad.

The MotoGP race featured a master class from young Fabio Quartararo, who led virtually wire-to-wire and was never seriously challenged after winning the holeshot. Lap two saw first Marc Marquez, then Pecco Bagnaia, slide out of the competition, narrowing the competitive field. Zarco, KTM’s Miguel Oliveira and Suzuki champion Joan Mir all gave chase, and all gave in, as Fabio was not going to be denied today. Toward the end of the race Rins, Nakagami and Pirro all crashed out, artificially elevating the point hauls for several lower tranche riders. After six rounds #20 has stretched his lead over second place Johann Zarco to 24 points, with Bagnaia two points farther back. Miller, Mir and Vinales complete the six riders within shouting distance of the leaders.

The “exceeding track limits” rule needs to be changed. Keep the rule the same but change the language regarding enforcement to one of the judges’ discretion, so long as the tire is not more than halfway on the green, at which point the penalty is automatic. Since the penalty could be imposed whenever any part of the tire is on the green, this would eliminate any complaints that a rider’s tire was less than halfway out of bounds. Silly, meaningless infractions like we saw today would not be imposed, and Joe Roberts would have had a podium.

Everything else you need to know can be found on the MotoGP website or at crash.net. We look forward to bringing you the festivities from Barcelona next week. Four races in five weeks is a lot. I need a nap.

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Fernandez and Gardner running at Mugello. Your eyes are not going bad.

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Posted in 2021 MotoGP, Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing, italian grand prix, Marc Marquez, Moto2, Moto3, MotoGP, MotoGP Preview, MotoGP Results, Motorcycle Racing, Racing News, Valentino Rossi | 27 Comments »

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