Race is live in less than an hour. Japan time zone so far ahead of us. Love getting to watch live.

Broadcast is at 1pm, actually scheduled to record, for once.

Motegi is hell on brakes, one if not the worst, on brakes on the calendar. I expected more but both races were relatively boring. I prefer and always will, races where this is a dual for the win for at least 1/3 the race. Someone getting to the front and checking out rather quickly after the green light is Bo-ring.

I was watching the real race (not the bs Sprint) live. When it got red flagged for rain I knew it was over but stuck around for 45 minutes. Almost passed out once they re-gridded up and when the warmup lap was occurring they called it, done. I hit power off and went to bed and said meh.

Finally got to watch. Not bad up to the red flag, some moments, mostly on the brakes.
Zarco's bike was shredded.

Pol out at GasGas

So far this is how the seats look


Monkey wrenches could be:

Mir snipes the Grisini seat (which at this point looks to be Marc's) or simply retires
A seat opens up at KTM (Miller to HRC and Marc takes a factory KTM )
A seat opens up at Aprilia (Aleix retires)

There's gonna be some shuffling at Honda after the news of Marc leaving. If Miller/Marquez don't swap bikes, I'd say Zarco gets the HRC seat and either Ogura or Di Giannantonio get his LCR ride (maybe Jake Dixon). If Mir leaves too, then who knows, Honda may just say the hell with it and quit.

Marc is supposed to be joining his brother and Zarco to HRC.

Marquez duo at Gresini seems very likely. Almost a 100% chance 93 wouldn't have left HRC without a definite seat guarantee for '24

Aleix still seems competitive, don't see him bailing
Hope Miller keeps the KTM seat, bike seems to suit him decently & he's had some good front runs, though quite a few without an upper finish.

Will really be interesting to see how many seasons it takes for HRC to redevelop a competitive bike, to a more rider neutral ability, rather than a 93 tailored ride.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Will really be interesting to see how many seasons it takes for HRC to redevelop a competitive bike, to a more rider neutral ability, rather than a 93 tailored ride.

Their problem is Puig. Until he's gone, the problem will persist. Can't build a bike for everyone if all of your focus is on 1 rider. It worked out for Marc, until it didn't. Zarco/Mir can only give feedback but ultimately it'll be up to the team boss to make any changes needed. Next rule change comes in 2027 so don't look for anything major before then.

Marc will ride the bullshit Ducati but the factory rider contracts are up after next year so 1 year for Marc to prove he can still win on the non-factory Duck. Then Ducati doesn’t give a shit. Whomever they think they can win the most with gets the factory seats.

I have been watching this sport like a hawk for 25 years. I’ve never seen HRC like this before. We’re talking Rossi, Doohan, Lawson, Spencer, lot of names. All of a sudden, 50 years of something and HRC CAN’T develop a bike? Hmmm, don’t think so. That’s on Marc Marquez. All the other riders binning it, injuring themselves, etc, is because like has been said, entire fucking thing built around one guy who can’t develop a motorcycle.

I have no idea if Marc will start winning again on the GP23, or what. I certainly wouldn’t doubt him I just hope he falls flat on his ass.

Marc officially signed with Gresini

Gresini story

What's the over/under on Alex outperforming his brother on the same bike?

About to watch the second practice of the weekend. Did FP1 earlier and the press conference. Simon Crafar covered that Marc was actually offered a 2 year deal with Pramac on a factory Ducati. IE the seat that went to Morbidelli. The thought was Marc will go to Gresini on a 1 year old Ducati, on a one year deal. Prove himself, and be ready for all the shuffling that will go on next year for 2025. Most of the riders are on deals through 2024. So perhaps Marc thinks he can prove himself, and get a factory seat at Ducati for 2025, or KTM, or wherever.

That was pretty intense. The wife and I were both yelling at the TV!

DVR set for 1pm TV broadcast

Like last year, Pecco gets himself in trouble with the points then bails himself out. Martin hopefully learned, it’s a different game leading the championship.

Really looking forward to next weekend. PI and Mugello are the best motorcycle tracks on the planet. PI always produces phenomenal races because the circuit wasn’t designed on a computer. Built into the natural land with dozers. And the race is live at 10pm Saturday night.

You were right Prefontaine. Rins not only came back this season from that horrific crash but he also managed a top ten finish (P9)! These guys are a rare breed.

Those throwback Castrol colors are just amazing. What a great looking livery!

I dare say it might be the best looking bike on the grid.

Nothing new. Colin was riding the Castrol VTR1000SP1/2 23 years ago in WSBK. Team colors. Castrol Honda WSBK team. I guess what is old is new again. Crutchlow was using same colors when he was on the satellite Honda as well.

Well duh dude hence the term “throw back Castrol colors”. I love them. Of course it’s “nothing new” that is sort of the point my friend.

Those colors are almost as good as silver and triton blue…..but in their absence I’d say they take the crown for best livery.

My favorite for HRC is the legendary Sun logo’d livery. Land of the rising sun. And for Yamaha, the red and white anniversary colors.

My point is they need to do something new and innovative.