First test in Sepang was 10 days ago. All the factories testing new parts, engines, chassis, etc. Aprilia has an all new bike with a 90 degree V4. Yamaha have finally seemed to spend some money after years of doing jack shit. They have a new 2020 bike, and have signed (At Rossi’s heavy insistence) Jorge Lorenzo as factory test rider for Europe. Yamaha has also signed Fabio and Maverick for 2 years, starting in 2021, to the official factory Yamaha squad. And at the same time offered Valentino a full factory spec bike with full factory support should he want to continue racing in 2021. My bet is yes since he was just a few tenths off the lead all during the Sepang test, working on development rather than chasing a fast single lap time.

Marquez, it was just announced, has signed a record breaking 4 year extension with HRC. So he’ll be on the factory Honda through 2024. And his brother, Alex, is now on the factory HRC team to replace Lorenzo. #familygig

The bikes are now up to 280 HP. And Ducati and Honda have turned up the wick on their 2020 machines, looking for even more power.

Suzuki is close to signing Mir and Rins to 2 year deals with reportedly 2 year extensions in the contracts.

Next pre-season test is Qatar starting on Saturday. March 8th is the first race. 20 races this year (too many for the riders).

I've been following the off season closely. It'll be fun to see how things pan out for the teams. Yamaha (via Petronas) might just have a "2nd" factory team with JL99 and VR46 next year Maybe....

Watching testing vids, MM93 still has a hard time with right turns. If I were developing a strategy, I'd be getting my riders to put pressure on him in every right hand turn of the course.

Problem for them is he is hell on wheels on the lefts and many tracks are left turn dominant. It’s why he is so dominant in Austin.

I CANT WAIT!!!!

I’m gonna spend the money this year and make sure I get to watch every single race.

I wish Suzuki would hurry up and sign Rins & Mir. I am LOVING the throwback colors Suzuki is rocking this year. Going all the way back and giving a nod to Ernst Degner‘s Grand Prix winning bike which was Suzuki’s first ever GP win! I like that they are doing a modern take on their original race scheme for Suzuki’s 60th anniversary in racing. Very cool.

Rumors are that the tires this year might be favorable to the inline four machines from Yamaha and Suzuki. Man I hope that’s true. I’d love to see Suzuki and Yamaha give hell to Honda and Ducati. It looks like even with a tweaked new engine the GSX-R is going to be down a bit on power and top end speed.

Edit to add: Rins and Mir were looking good at Losail today. 1 & 2 on the first day of testing.



This thing is GORGEOUS!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: stickman428,

Who carries the coverage now? A couple of years ago it was on BeIn.

I get the intent, but the mustache wings are pretty ugly.

Hated it in 08 with F1 (double front wings) as well.

Have you seen Aprilia’s front aero? It looks like a big dustpan with their logo across it.

ergoproxy, NBC just landed a contract to cover MotoGP. What this means exactly and how good the coverage will be remains to be seen.

I’m going to just buy the package from MotoGP directly.

Link to article

quote:

Originally posted by ergoproxy:
Who carries the coverage now? A couple of years ago it was on BeIn.

MotoGP.com. All practices, qualifying, races, press conferences, interviews. No commercials, the way God intended.

Red Bull made a pretty cool documentary following Dovi during the 2019 season. It’s neat to see a different side of MotoGP, a less glamorous side that shows the struggles a team faces during the season. Link to documentary

Ok finally! Some details on the coverage we will be getting from the recent NBC contract with MotoGP.



NBC Sports Group and MotoGP™ partner on multi-year agreement
MotoGP™ joins “The Home of Motorsports”, all races to be featured on NBC and NBCSN beginning in 2020
Tags , 2020
NBC Sports Group and Dorna Sports are delighted to announce a new, multi-year media rights agreement in which NBC Sports has acquired the rights to present all MotoGP™ races across its platforms beginning in 2020.

NBC Sports opens the 2020 MotoGP™ calendar with coverage of the Qatar Grand Prix from Losail International Circuit on Sunday, March 8, at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, the first of 20 MotoGP races that will air on NBC and NBCSN in 2020.

Four races will air on NBC in 2020, beginning on Sunday, May 3, at 1:30 p.m. ET with the Spanish Grand Prix from Circuito de Jerez. Additionally, NBC will air the Dutch TT from the TT Circuit Assen on Sunday, June 28, at 4:30 p.m. ET; the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, October 25, at 3 p.m. ET; and the season finale in the Comunitat Valenciana in Spain on Sunday, November 15, at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Five of the 20 MotoGP™ races in 2020 will air live on NBCSN, including the Grand Prix of the Americas from Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, April 5 at 2:30 p.m. ET. Many of the races in the latter part of the 2020 MotoGP™ season will air immediately following live NASCAR coverage on NBCSN.

All race coverage that airs on NBC and NBCSN will stream on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Live coverage of all 20 races will continue to stream on MotoGP™ VideoPass, both live and OnDemand, as will each and every session of MotoGP™, Moto2™ and Moto3™. Full WorldSBK VideoPass access will also remain available.

Jon Miller, President, Programming, NBC Sports and NBCSN: "Our agreement with MotoGP further cements NBC Sports as the Home of Motorsports and enhances our comprehensive racing portfolio. We’re excited to bring MotoGP to viewers across the country and showcase the world’s premier motorcycle road racing series."

Manel Arroyo, Managing Director of Dorna Sports: "I am delighted to announce this agreement with NBC Sports Group and see MotoGP broadcast on NBC and NBCSN. A giant of sports and motorsport broadcasting such as NBC will prove a valuable partner, and in an important market for MotoGP both now and historically. Some of our greatest MotoGP and WorldSBK Champions are American and have contributed such incredible chapters to the history of motorcycle racing, and we are delighted to see more of those chapters now have a new home thanks to this agreement with NBC Sports Group."

MotoGP™ joins NBC Sports’ comprehensive motorsports portfolio and in addition to its MotoGP™ coverage, NBC Sports will present six races of the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) on NBCSN in 2020, beginning Monday 2nd at 7 p.m. ET from Australia.

MotoGP.com will still have much better coverage, and it’s in 1080p, not 1080i and most importantly no commercials.

May start recording if it's going to be broadcast on NBCSN.

Haven't watched regularly since about 2006.

Season opener has been canceled.

Link

Apparently moto2 & moto3 might still race.

This fricking sucks.

Wow, that does suck. Hopefully all this mess doesn't alter the calendar too much, same for F1.

Well shit! Word is COTA will be the first race and there may not be any in Italy AT ALL. Sucks for sure.

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:
Well shit! Word is COTA will be the first race and there may not be any in Italy AT ALL. Sucks for sure.

If there is no Mugello then cancel the fucking season.

Buriram MotoGP Round Postponed Indefinitely Due To Corona Virus.....

https://www.bangkokpost.com/sp...ed-over-virus-anutin

https://motomatters.com/news/2...due_to.html#comments

Think it's to early to ask for a pro-rated refund on my MotoGP Video Pass?

Parts of Italy are already banned from traveling to the US. I wouldn’t be surprised if COTA gets canceled too.

Stupid Coronavirus