Marquez impact(s) from last weekend. 26 g's

Rins & Mir rode a surprisingly decent race today all things considered. I wasn’t expecting Rins to move up 10 positions and Mir to finish 5th.

Rough day for the KTM fans.

Almost didn't watch. My DVR recorded it as Moto2.
Crazy race, lots of attrition.

Rossi haters “He couldn’t take it and parked the bike. He doesn’t have it anymore”.

Valentino Rossi “third bitches! I’m coming back!”

Brutal race for everyone. IIRC 136 - 145 degrees on the track, that’s insane. That’s TX style, as they were hovering right under 100 degrees ambient.

Crazy. Saw Vin saying it was hard to breathe while tailing Rossi. Ambient heat + exhaust ahead.

Good race for Rossi!!

A little funny at the end of Moto2 with Marini and Bezzecchi locking up on the handshake.

Go Rossi!!
Go Marini!!

Pretty good race though I would have like to seen Bagnaia (whom I mistakenly thought was a rookie) finish his race, even if it had bumped the Doctor off the podium. It was seriously hot on the track and you could tell because of how many people were sliding off of it. Fun racing over all 3 classes as always.

Marquez fucked up his arm again during FP4 at Jerez II. The titanium plate to set the humerus got bent so Marc underwent surgery again under the knife of Mir, again. Bradly will be replace him at HRC for this weekend’s race at Brno.

Crap.
I knew he was pushing it.
I know there is no telling them no, but....

Brno is a great track and I have seen 2 Moto GP's there.

Be interesting how the race plays out....

You’ve got to admire his tenacity.

It's nothing new stick. Marc is not exceptional in this area. Many GP riders have come back from serious injury very very quickly. Lorenzo, and Rossi in recent years. Lorenzo at Assen with a busted collarbone and Rossi with a tib/fib break require a crutch just to walk and get on the bike. All of them do this. Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins had tough injuries and showed up also at Jerez II yet neither was talked about much because they aren't the reigning champion.
Marc is out of this year for the title so I'd rather focus on the racing and the people competing for the title.

I agree. MotoGP is more interesting when we focus on the rising stars and how they battle through injuries and perform exceptionally rather than focus a lot if not all of our attention on the continued struggles of the former champion who will very likely NOT repeat his championship bid this year.

So who do you have your money on now?

Does Ducati have a chance with their current bike & riders?

Yamaha? Hmm this is an interesting bet.. Are you worried about engine problems towards the end of the season?

Suzuki? Can the boys from Hamamatsu get competitive enough to threaten?

It’ll be fun to see how it plays out.

I wish I could say Ducati, but, Suzuki seems to have a good chance.

Hope Jack does some good out there.

Stick,

I'm gonna go with yes on the Ducati's being able to run, especially on tracks with longer straights. I will say though, I think it'll be with Miller and Bagnaia (and flashes of Dovi when he wants to). KTM isn't doing so bad with Pol on top of it. Yet to really be determined how Olivera and Binder will do on it. They just need to stay out of each others way. Yamaha is going to have a hard time keeping the rest of their engines from grenading, but Fabio will most likely pull it off and keep the lead in the championship. Suzuki is having a hard time with Rins not 100% and the new tires aren't doing as much for Suzuki as it is for the Yamaha. Which brings us to Honda. Alex isn't his brother, so no chance of Honda winning with him on top. Nakagami though....If there's another Honda rider that could win, it's him. He's changing his style every time he gets on the bike to copy Marc's. It's taking some doing on his part, but right now, that's all Honda can ask for.

Agree on Nakagami.
Waiting to see this race very badly.

https://www.autosport.com/moto...hip-can-be-difficult

Valentino Rossi says the relationship between Ducati and MotoGP riders is often "difficult", referencing his own experiences in 2011 and 2012 in relation to Andrea Dovizioso's current contract situation.

Talks between Dovizioso and Ducati for the 2021 season are currently on hold, with the pair not seeing eye to eye on the financial side of a new deal - with Ducati keen to scale back on big-money contracts in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ducati says it will resume negotiations in August, with Dovizioso's manager admitting his rider could take a sabbatical if his terms are not met.

When asked if there had been any development with his future talks, Dovizioso replied: "I don't know about my future at this moment.

"I know very well what I want, but now I am focused on the races because we are in an important moment of the season.

"We want to make a better result and we are focused on that."

When asked to comment on the situation with Ducati and Dovizioso, Rossi believes the "difficult" relationship he sometimes experienced is playing its part now - but hopes the Italian marque will retain the three-time championship runner-up.

"What we've seen during the past, sometimes it is difficult the relationship between the riders and Ducati," Rossi said.

"So, also, when I was there in 2011 and 2012 it was not easy. I think that for this reason they still don't arrive at the contract.

"But I hope for both that they will continue together because in the last years Dovi with Ducati is always strong."

Rossi's two years at Ducati (above) were largely plagued by an unwillingness from the Italian marque's race department to work closely with Rossi's crew - headed by multiple championship-winning crew chief Jeremy Burgess.

Ducati also famously lost 2007 world champion Casey Stoner to Honda in 2011, following an unwillingness to offer the Australian the deal he was looking for, while he was left aggrieved after 2009 for the way the marque handled his battle with an undiagnosed lactose intolerance problem.

Ducati currently only has one rider confirmed for 2021, with Jack Miller set to step up to the factory squad from Pramac.

As reported by Autosport, KTM Moto2 rider Jorge Martin is thought to have agreed a deal to join Pramac next year.

Yeah, Ducati has a bad habit of deep dicking their riders. That's why they will never have a top rider with Dovi coming as close as anyone will. Personally, I think Ducati is trying to make room for younger riders who will accept less money but still give decent results.

Rossi said those comments in the pre-race press conference during the Q8A. And like was said, is nothing new at all. Ducati's rider management has always been shit and you can thank Claudio Domenicali for that. He has little paitence. And the Italians don't listen to their riders. But this is not a problem with just Ducati. Yamaha haven't listened to Valentino for over 2 years until recently. I'm still pissed Valentino wasted 2 years of his career at Ducati. That was a big fucking shit show. What's funny is Ducati's current use of a Twin Spar chassis. Rossi and Burgess told them, immediately after the first test in 2010 onboard the Ducati, you need to fix the chassis, it's fucked. It took what, over a year for them to get rid of that carbon fiber chassis bullshit that even Stoner had told them wasn't working. They are some hard headed sons of bitches.

Dovi has told Gigi for years now, FIX the damn thing mid-corner. Fix that and they'd have the best bike on the grid. Gigi, like his predecessor, has not fixed it. They subcontract out their chassis, unlike the Japanese, and KTM, they do not build it themselves. But they've had many years to fix their corner problems. Much like Yamaha with their engines, top speed, and HP, the issues seem to go on for years.

Just finished FP1. Taka is fast again. I think HRC turned up his RPM's since Marc is out and giving him full factory support. Bagnaia binned it hard, and Mav went down also. I think Mav is getting checked out by clinica mobile. Good thing is the top 5 represent all 5 mfr's.

1 30 Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'57.353
2 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1'57.364 0.011 0.011
3 44 Pol Espargaro KTM 1'57.392 0.039 0.028
4 5 Johann Zarco Ducati 1'57.460 0.107 0.068
5 12 Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1'57.565 0.212 0.105

Edit: After FP1, Bagnaia went to the hospital to get checked out, so no FP2 for him and no weekend, he won't be riding. Knee fracture and will need surgery.

It's a shame really, with Ducati, as I love the bikes, but DAMMIT MAN! Listen to your riders!

Anywho...
I figured Naka would have a good ride, but hope Jack pulls up a bit in rankings....

FP2 results:
1 20 France Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'56.502

2 21 Italy Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1'56.509 0.007

3 88 Portugal Miguel Oliveira KTM 1'56.550 0.048

4 5 France Johann Zarco Ducati 1'56.583 0.081

El Diablo is having a hell of a run.