What a great race! Mark Marquez was VERY entertaining, stalling his bike on the grid, getting penalized a few times and going to the back of the pack only to work his way back and then torpedo Rossi in a turn. My favorite manufacturer Suzuki finally got a podium and put in a solid effort. All in all it was a dang entertaining race to watch.

Commercial free coverage of F1 on ESPN, here. Sounds like MotoGP put on a good race as well.

Hey stickman, what channel/network did you find to watch it? I have Dish and could not find it.

It’s on the beIN network which covers mostly European soccer clubs. They are adding MotoAmerica this year so it’s a great channel to have if you are into superbikes and moto racing. I have AT&T and added it for next to nothing. Streaming online packages are also an option but they are expensive.

You can probably also watch it for free on YouTube. It was up earlier.

Thanks, stickman, I’ll see what if Dish offers that. I followed on MotoGP.com but miss much detail.

i enjoyed all three races and am glad Zarco placed a podium finish .....

What a shit show from the get go. I feel bad that Rossi got fucked out of a good deal of points and the penalties for MM weren't what they should have been. It was great to watch him come from just about dead last to get to where he did, but man, this ain't NASCAR. Instead of a 30 second penalty at the end, I think they should just flipped the Vali/MM results. That would have been the most equatable way to deal with the situation all around (and taught a valuable lesson on not shoving people around). It may have no real bearing in the points at the end of the season, but if Rossi ends up losing his 10th title because of those 11 points, I think the Moto GP world will be seriously pissed (at least I will be )

Zarco ran a good race. Would have liked to have seen a win, but he needs to manage those tires better and not let everyone else force his pace. Still making friends like I predicted he would

Crutchlow, also did very well. Can't say I was surprised to see him win. It's looking like he'll be a top 5 contender this year on his new ride.

Jack Miller should have had that race in the bag, but noooooooo. He pretty well fucked that up. Just goes to show how outclassed he was, even with all that power.

Rins: I'll keep an eye on him and Suzuki. He seemed to be overworking the hell out of his tires and it showed toward the end of the race. Not sure how he would have placed if it was a "normal" race, though this race was as abnormal as could be

Dovi must have said fuck it once the delay happened. I don't think his heart was in this one.

Lorenzo? Ha ha you twat. 3 rookies placed better than you Suck it you hack! I'd really like to see Duc pull his ride right out from under his sorry ass. (apologies to any fans he may have here)


Here is a link to the thread we had going in The Lair though it will probably get more views in the lounge.

I didn’t even know about the GP thread in the lair.

Ive been having a blast toying with furious Rossi fans online. They REALLY don’t like the meme I made.

^^^^
It got a chuckle out of me, but it might have been better with the NASCAR comparison.

I will say that nobody even came close to riding the bike as well as Marc on Sunday. He made everyone look like rookies........

BUT: if MM is allowed to run into people without true consequence, I see no reason he wouldn't pit maneuver anyone that gets ahead of him in a race. Kinda sets a bad precedent. I understand the desire to win, but taking others out isn't how you do it, especially when seasons are ended by broken bones which are easy to come by in GP.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Commercial free coverage of F1 on ESPN, here.

Here also.....it is great....unless one has a bladder full of "liquid"!!

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I didn’t even know about the GP thread in the lair.

Ive been having a blast toying with furious Rossi fans online. They REALLY don’t like the meme I made.

Well I lost respect for you for doing that. I’ve watched this sport for 25 years and seen a lot. Been going every year in person since 2005. Marc’s move on Aleix, or Valentino, was putting their lives at risk and doesn’t belong on the track or in the sport. Last lap, last corner, sure, but not this. Márquez is an ass hole. Zarco did the same thing to Pedrosa and race direction did nothing. Mike Webb is taking flack for it too. Hypocrisy.

Do you understand why it was bullshit and dangerous as fuck? As soon as you move off the line there is standing water, then wet grass. Someone could have died. But yeah, go heckle the Rossi fans about it, and show them your class

A better one

What’s going on with the factory Yamaha bikes? They looked so dominant at the start of last season. Did they change something or did the rest of the field catch up? It’s gotta bother them how Zarco is so competitive, what’s going on there?

In all seriousness I’m happy if Mav or Rossi beat Marquez, he wins too damn much.

It was great to see Suzuki on the podium and see Rins get a good result finally. He was fading towards the end but seeing Rins lead for a while was awesome.

When Rossi left for Ducati Yamaha put 100% of development around Lorenzo and his riding style. Part of this still exists today. Zarco isn’t developing a bike. All he has to do is set it up with his team and get the most out of it. Zarco is using a 2016 frame with a 2017 engine. Viñales and Rossi are on new frames (2018) and new engines. They have to develop the bike. Ducati and Honda made big steps from 2017 to 2018. Suzuki did as well. Yamaha made a step but not quite as large. Yamaha’s problem is electronics. Their staff isn’t getting everything out of Magneti Marelli’s software. Ducati have the most experience with it but Honda has poured money into it and are close to Ducati. For the past two seasons Yamaha just isn’t spending the money Honda and Ducati are. Historically Yamaha will be behind at the beginning of the season and make progress finally mastering that year’s bike in late May/early June.

Everything is this sport is highly complicated. It would take pages to explain and you’d have to understand each company from a 10-20 year historical view. For the past few seasons Gigi has advanced the Ducati. Nothing could match it down the straights. Honda was developed to be the best bike on the brakes into the corner. Now Honda have caught up to 90-95% of the Ducati down the straights. Yamaha’s only best remaining trait is midcorner. All of them had been using Magneti Marelli hardware but they are all required to use their software as well. Yamaha just isn’t getting what they need out of it.

Repsol/HRC spend more than anyone else in the paddock. Honda outspends everyone. They used to spend twice as much as the next factory but that isn’t as true today. The factories all being required to run both Magneti Marelli hardware and software (ECU) has leveled the field and why Suzuki is podium competitive. Prior the factories were allowed to run proprietary ECU’s and software where Honda could outspend everyone, and to a lesser degree Yamaha as well.

Keep in mind that Argentina was a wet race more or less. So all bets are off. Rain or wet rounds, all bets are off and the podium is vastly different than what it would be in the dry. A dry race without all the confusion would have seen Márquez, Crutchlow, and Pedrosa on the podium. They resurfaced a portion of the track in Argentina so it’s slippery. Honda excels in that road surface condition. Where there is a lot of grip, Yamaha and Ducati excel.

Qatar, Argentina and Austin are completely different tracks than normal. Who got their 2018 bikes right we’ll find out once the calendar is on home soil. Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello, Catlunya. The top 15 in Qatar was the tightest finishing order in MotoGP history. This will be the most competitive championship season in history. 10-11 different riders could be on the podium every race, from 4 different factory teams plus 2-3 satellite bikes (Crutchlow, Zarco, Petrucci) nad maybe a few more (Miller, Rabat, Morbidelli). Championship is wide open. The biggest factor will be who develops their bike over the season the best.

As far as heckling rider fans. You should steer clear of that in the future, especially as it pertains to wrecks, and more so when they are punted off the track. I met Marco Simoncelli 3 months before his death. Had a good conversation with him, got a nice photo with him, then 3 months later I watched his lifeless body on the track, dead. Zarco and Marquez’s bumper car moves have no place on that racetrack. There are times when trading paint is necessary. It’s part of the sport. You don’t lunge the inside of a corner where off the dry line is water. Someone could die. Rossi landed on a leg he re-broke (2nd Time rib/fib break) and he could have broke it a 3rd time. Dani was highsided by Zarco and could have broke a collarbone. He has broken both multiple times already.

Excellent info!

Are all the manufacturers pretty close regarding power and top speed? Does Ducati still have an advantage?

Do you think nerves got to Rins or do you think all that tire smoke is just proof that Suzuki still has lots of work to do? He looked damn fast for a little while.

I think that Ducati still has the straight line power, though Honda and Yamaha are getting better. I think what we are seeing though is the programming that Prefontaine was referring to. They can add or take away power based on the demand of the track and how well a rider can finesse that power. Some riders have been smoking the shit out of their tires coming out of corners. That is just a bit of a lack of experience on the bigger bikes that have that kind of power on tap. I think that's exactly what happened to Rins Sunday. His team hasn't nailed down his riding style vs how much power he can use effectively on a set of tires.

Looks like Pedrosa will probably miss COTA. This kind of drives the point home that Prefontaine and I were making. These riders only have so many races to get points. Any time that someone intentionally or unintentionally puts another rider down, they are taking opportunities away from that rider. Bone breakage is the #1 reason these guys miss races. That's why it's important to remember that Zarco and MM or anyone else that rides carelessly, can end a season in a heartbeat. It's one thing to have it happen because of an unforced rider error, but a whole other shit storm when an opposing rider causes it, especially when it was unnecessary.

Pedrosa is definitely having surgery on his wrist thanks to Zarco. Zarco pulled the exact same move on him that Márquez pulled on Aleix and Valentino, except he wasn’t penalized. Both of them need to be black flagged in Austin.

Prefontaine, that isn't likely to happen, though not impossible. Just saw that Canet did the same shit without punishment in Moto3, so race direction isn't too worried about their riders.

Please report back how loud the BOOOO's are for MM @ COTA, as I am sure Dorna will be cutting those out.