Then Lorenzo went over to Honda and did absolutely NOTHING. It makes me wonder if MM is the only person who can ride the Repsol Honda.

Unless Ducati has made significant handling improvements and if MM isn’t back to his usual form on that Honda I see this year coming down to a battle between Yamaha and Suzuki again.

I’d put my money on Yamaha to win the championship this year.

It’s not that nobody can ride the RC213V but Marquez. It’s that the entire fucking bike development has been wrapped around Marquez and his riding style. Lorenzo did fuck all because the bike was developed for someone who does not ride anything like Jorge does, I mean polar opposite. Lorenzo was winning on the Ducati so even though I can’t stand the guy to this day, he wasn’t a one trick pony.

Lorenzo has an abrasive personality. I was reading that Suzuki was considering signing either Lorenzo or Joan Mir. I remember those rumors and hoping Suzuki could sign Lorenzo. When they talked to Mir you get the impression he won them over by saying all the right things. When asked why he wanted to join Suzuki Mir said something to the effect of how awesome it would be to win on the Suzuki as it isn’t the best bike.

I wonder how the Lorenzo negotiations went with Suzuki? I would love to have been a fly on the wall for those conversations. I’m guessing he didn’t want to go to a subpar manufacturer with a slower bike. I doubt it came down to money on his part, he already has a ton of that. I bet Suzuki didn’t want to pay top dollar for a potential diva when they could get a promising rookie for MUCH less money while continuing to improve their bike without the added drama. It looks like the cheap way to go but it paid off.

Honestly I miss seeing Lorenzo compete way more than MM.

Money. Lorenzo wants top dollar and Suzuki doesn't pay that. Repsol does.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Honestly I miss seeing Lorenzo compete way more than MM.

Hater

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Money. Lorenzo wants top dollar and Suzuki doesn't pay that. Repsol does.

Lorenzo is a washed up Bum.
When MM comes back, he'll beat everyone like a drum.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:


I’d put my money on Yamaha to win the championship this year.

I agree. Especially is MM is out of the picture.

I really hope to see a full season and let the chips fall where they may.

FP1 at Qatar is one hour to go boys.

They are on track for the first session of 2021!!!!! I got to see Valentino head out of pit lane for the first time on the Petronas M1. Let's go! FP1 and FP3 are largely useless as FP2 and FP4 will occur at race time. Night time in other words. FP1 and FP3 are held in the day time. Big changes in weather conditions in the desert.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
They are on track for the first session of 2021!!!!! I got to see Valentino head out of pit lane for the first time on the Petronas M1. Let's go! FP1 and FP3 are largely useless as FP2 and FP4 will occur at race time. Night time in other words. FP1 and FP3 are held in the day time. Big changes in weather conditions in the desert.

I would love to see the great Valentino Rossi win this thing.

Are both of the races at Losail going to be under the lights? I love that MotoGP starts with a night race.

Bags is on pole. Great qualifying to start the season. Looking like the Factory Yamahas and the Factory Ducati’s with Valentino maybe being a factor, and Zarco. And my hope that the testing race pace of Aleix on the Aprilia is there. The Ducati’s are fucking flying down the straights. I mean they are looking the other bikes look painfully slow. If the Ducati riders can manage their tires, one of them wins this.

First event of the season and BAGNAIA/Ducati set an all time track lap record?! Those bikes are missiles.

Looks like Suzuki picked up where they left off last year with lack luster qualifying. No surprise there. Yamaha is looking strong. Those damn Ducatis seem to have gotten a bit of their straight line speed back. How did they do it when engine development is frozen? Aero, tires and suspension seems to have made Ducati competitive again at least for fast lap qualifying sessions. I can’t wait to see if the Ducatis can preserve their tires and maintain that speed for a complete race.

The Ducati has so much aero now that high wind can really fuck with the bike. High wind changes that aero helping to keep the tires cool, etc. This was their race to lose and lose it they did. They got lucky at the end that Mir ran wide or else it would have been a single podium position. They had the opportunity to completely lock out the podium. And geez did you see the fucking things start? 1-4. Qatar is always a one off. Even after next weekends, whatever bikes and riders that win these races there doesn’t really mean shit. Only in the European tracks will we figure out who got it right and who got it wrong.

The race left me in a bittersweet mood. Great race! Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the hell out of it. I am really happy to see Maverick get a win and FINALLY put together a strong qualifying position along with a strong finish. (A win) Well done lad!!! Given the frustration and issues he endured last year it’s gotta be motivating for him to start off the season this way. Yamaha did this last year too.

I’d love to see a satellite Suzuki team on the grid. Hopefully next year. Both Rins and Aleix Espargaró showed amazing pace but faded unfortunately towards the end.

I don’t think the defending champ can feel too awful about today’s race.
MotoGP is back!!!!!!

It’s fun watching them race under the lights. MotoGP should consider adding another night race or two.

From the footage I saw the Ducati has straight line speed locked down but the GP21 still slides around and cannot match the edge grip and corner speed of the Yamaha and Suzuki. It’s not even close in the corners but when the track straightens out they just turn on the afterburners.

Night races are cost prohibitive. Only the sheiks and their oil money could afford to light up a race track like this for motorcycle racing. There are enough lights on that track to light a highway from Doha all the way to London.

The FN Ducatis looked fast in FP1 today.

The straight line speed difference between Ducati & Suzuki last weekend was pretty shocking.
Looked like a DRS pass in F1 between the Merc & a Williams/Haas.

There will be some tracks where the Ducati’s power will be a huge advantage. They will also fare well at Mugello BUT the Ducati’s corner speed is a big problem. I was shocked at how slow the Ducati looked last year in the top speed department. This year they appear to be back in their normal form.

The problem Ducati has is that their V4 (and V4 engines in general) is hard as hell on its tires and they cannot run that fuel map with that level power for a complete race without running out of gas. Though to be fair to the Ducati faithful it didn’t seem to slow em down much in the last race. Suzuki Ecstar needs to get creative with their aero or something because with engine development frozen Ducati found some speed somehow.

Personally I’m hopeful that it comes down to a battle between Yamaha and Suzuki again. Coming from a hardcore Suzuki fan, if the boys in blue can’t do it I want to see Yamaha win this year. I think their odds are pretty good. They have the talent needed and then some. It’s early and a lot can change but Mir cannot be unhappy, he got points and will surely encounter tracks where his bike can steal away wins from the V4 machines as the team has done brilliantly in the past.

Occasionally, if I feel like shit or I’m having an exceptionally bad day I will watch the last few laps of the 2019 British Grand Prix. That finish was fucking amazing. Instantly that bad mood vanishes and I feel amped.

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