^ I recall the grid girls of F1 were quite upset when it was removed.
To them it was an income opportunity & likely that someone [likely unqualified to be a grid girl ] was offended for them & got it taken away.

Carmelo will still be running the series and he is owed a lot of credit. From spec tires, to spec ECU’s and software. It leveled the playing field so HRC couldn’t just outspend everyone else. For years HRC spent more than double per year compared to their closest rival, Yamaha. These days Ducati has Audi (VAG) money which is vast. And KTM is being funneled by Red Bull whose pockets have no lining. Carmelo as well as the FIM, changed the game. HRC had the overwhelmingly largest seat at the MSMA, and now it’s level. Ducati has at least an equal say to HRC.

Fabio re-signed with Yamaha. A lot of talk about it this week leading up to date 1 of COTA today. In a nutshell, Aprilia offered Fabio 4 mil Euros per year. Yamaha wants to retain him, bad, and they gave him a new contract for 12 mil Euros per year. So he is staying for the money.

Well the COTA race was the best race I’ve seen in a few years. Phenomenal race.

Maverick Vinales did the Quintuplet this weekend.

Lap record at COTA
Pole Position
Sprint Race Win
Sunday Race Win
First rider in the MotoGP era, to win on 3 manufacturers. Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia.

Anyone that had doubts about Maverick, bake some crow tonight and use some BBQ sauce!
What a race. It was like a Moto3 race at for the first half of the race. Trading paint, lots of passes. Yesterday in the Sprint Race, Maverick got an excellent start and was just gone. So much for the bad starts. Today, he just got in traffic, and ended up in 11th on the first lap. One by one he came back, picking everyone off, and nobody really had the pace to get anywhere close to Mav. This is as dominant of a weekend for a rider that I’ve ever seen. This COTA race was one for the ages.

And the rat led the first of the race, and out battled everyone but Maverick for 2nd. Pedro Acosta is a generational talent. 3rd race, two more podiums. Once he gets some more experience the entire field better look out. And congrats to the Beast for nicking Martin for 3rd.

Great race today. Mav is surprising me right now, but we'll see if he can keep it up. The weight loss seems to be paying off for him at the moment!

quote:

Originally posted by mutedblade:
Great race today. Mav is surprising me right now, but we'll see if he can keep it up. The weight loss seems to be paying off for him at the moment!

I believe a 7 pound weight loss = 1 HP on a motorcycle.

As always the season begins in Jerez. Over the next 3 rounds we will know who has their bike sorted and which riders are going to battle for the championship. COTA is the most demanding and technical track on the calendar, but the winner means little in the grand scheme of things. Beast won then Alex Rins last year. Neither has competed for a championship late in the season.

Ducati has some rear tire issues with the new bike. Aprilia looks sorted but need to be on European soil to really know. KTM, it really doesn’t matter as the rat was crossing that thing up more than Binder today and making it look easy, and regular. Acosta is just going to get stronger as the season goes on.

Biggest downfall of cutting YTTV & picking up F1TV.
Missing these races.
Will have to see if they put out a good highlight reel for COTA.

What a Jerez weekend. The Sprint was nuts with 7 riders going down. Then the race, was an all time Grand Prix. Pecco rode like a bull with its nuts cut off. The lap 1 pass of two riders on the brakes was very Valentino like, on the NSR. Back to back legendary races, COTA/Jerez.

Agreed Prefontaine!!! The sprint was great and then the main was absolutely fantastic!! Loved seeing Peco get his elbows out against MM. I feel like MM thinks he can just bully everyone out there and they all cede the position to him. LOL, not Sunday. When Peco's front wheel/fork rubbed up against MM I thought sure they were both going down. It was interesting because pretty much right after that MM never really challenged again at least not hard. Peco had a great ride. MM while I can't stand him, is certainly getting the most out of the GP23. Just a fantastic race. Haven't watched the Moto 2 or 3 yet. I hope they are as entertaining.