Stick, it’s gonna be Mir or Quartararo that replaces Marc. I suspect it’ll boil down to who they think will be better suited to tame the beast. As far as Marc is concerned, I feel like his career is about over. Another bump or two to the noodle and he’s blind forever if not dead. The clock is ticking and HRC needs to find a solution whether Marc likes it or not

Marc has a long term contract with HRC. The longest I have ever seen in 25 years watching the sport very closely. He will not quit. He'll permanent disable himself whether that be his sight, limbs, whatever. And I can't see HRC dumping him. Contracts for next season are going to be possibly the most silly of silly season ever.

Part of what makes Marc so potent is his complete and total lack of fear and his unshakable confidence. Livio Suppo was recently asked who was the best rider he ever had the opportunity to work with and why. His answer was incredible and quite thought provoking.

Suppo answered Marquez almost immediately. When pushed to explain why Marc was the best rider he ever worked with Livio explained it was not just because of his results but rather his mental toughness and unique ability to believe in himself against all odds. His ability to see optimism and project it when there was no reason to do so is probably a big part of his multiple championship wins and seemingly unbeatable or undefeated record in some tracks. Love him or hate him you have to admit the man is mentally tough as nails.

I don’t think we have seen the last of Marquez. I’m not saying this because I don’t want my fav manufacturer to lose a star I am saying this because I truly believe and hope I am right. When he is on his game it is truly something to behold.

I agree that Marc isn't gonna be tossed aside by HRC, but a broken Marc just isn't gonna be able to ride a Honda. I believe that his body is giving him signs and everyone around him is pushing him to continue which will eventually lead to disaster for himself and Honda if they don't have a backup plan. Can Honda afford to not even podium, much less win if Marc is out for an extended amount of time? Can't win a constructors cup if you're never getting any good points. He may be locked into a contract, but as we saw a few times over the last couple of years, they really don't mean much.

I also agree that a fit Marc is an absolute beast, but we haven't seen that since he went out in 2020. Watching how emotional he was when he did get back on the bike, he may not be as bullet proof emotionally as most think. Sitting out watching others get points and losing the championship because his body is letting him down wears on him. I don't think we've seen the last of him, but his days are numbered.

He is human after all but I will never cast doubt on his mental toughness. The man has earned my respect. Yes, I know his ego and on track shenanigans rubbed VR46 fans raw & if he hit Mir or Rins I’d be testing the limits of my embrace of stoicism to the max but all that said I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he has overcome and what he has achieved.

Hell, In an odd sort of way I suppose you could say I’m rooting for a MM comeback. I’d love to see a healthy #93 get stomped by Rins one more time.

A painting I commissioned of that magic moment. (my brother took up paining during the year of the Covid)


For any new fans of MotoGP lurking here this is David beating Goliath!

And Davide Brivio celebrating. Sucks that he left for F1 but I am super happy with his replacement & I hope Davide finds success in F1.

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

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! WHAT A RACE!!!!!!!!

History was made today!!!!!

I can honestly say this was one of my favorite races. The end result was beautiful, historic, and watching one of my favorite riders have to hold on to a bitter fought 1st after hanging back in 2nd for sooooooo long was amazing. I love the guy he beat too WHAT A RACE!

Hats off to Maverick & Rins too…BRAVO LADS!!!!!

On his 200th race in the premier class he did it! Aleix Espargaró got his first win and what a great back and forth battle it was with future MotoGP susperstar Jorge Martín.



His post race interviews were very good. When Aleix was cut by Suzuki and only had interest from Aprilia it would have been easy for him to quit and do something else. Espargaró has been recruited more than once to become a professional cyclist. Not giving up and working hard with what everyone considered (and still does to some degree) to be a subpar racing manufacturer finally paid handsomely.

I loved the respect from his peers and the subtle jab at Márquez when he said “passing can be done clean, I showed you didn’t have to hit the rider in front of you to pass them”

It was pretty damn cool right after the race to see Aleix hug Shinichi Sahara, the manager of the team that cut him for greener pastures years ago. (Suzuki)

Great race yesterday. I’m happy for Aleix and I knew it was gonna happen sooner rather than later. Towards the end of last season, it seemed to start clicking for him and the team. Hopefully he can keep toward the pointy end for the whole season.

Finally watched the race last night.
Definitely a shake-up from the 'norm' at the front.

Bummer the brothers couldn't share the podium.

Top 5 lockout of the grid for Ducati. That’s a first. Austin should have 20 mph winds tomorrow so COTA is gonna be all about attrition. Riders said the bumps are better but there are still some nasty corners where if you’re off line, and hit a bump (more like a damn dip) you are going down. Every mfr. but Ducati is struggling with the front end of the bike. Somehow, not even bothering Ducati. Could have something to do with the front ride device mechanism. It’s not fully operational but some part of it is mounted to the bikes.

If people push during the race and get off line, well it’s going to be a show. Hope nobody gets hurt. COTA did resurface some sections of the track but it’s barely acceptable to race on and the track is by far the worst surface on the calendar. I hate the owners.

It looked bumpy yesterday in the onboard footage.

Another issue is braking on the section of old track verses the new surface sections which stops and grips a bit better.

With nearly 1/3 of the grid being Ducati and their bullpen so full of talent a starting grid like this was inevitable.

Here’s to hoping Aprilia and Suzuki can give those Ducatis hell today.

It looked like absolute ass out there. I'm ashamed that this track is what represents the USA in Moto GP. I can't wait for them to find a different track to race. It sinks more and more every time they go on track. Jorge Martin had a helluva moment in PF2 that made his bike buck so hard, I thought it was gonna split in half. It's embarrassing

I think it's gonna be hard to beat any of the Duc's on this track unless Marc was sandbagging (which I doubt).

Gonna predict that Zarco and Miller tangle at some point taking each other out and Martin, Bagnaia, and Bastianini are on the podium in that order. FQ will try to show a wheel during laps 1 & 2, but after that he's gonna get sucked up by 2 Suzuki's and 1 HRC Honda, putting him somewhere around P10 at the finish. He can't run to HRC fast enough and Yamaha knows it. I imagine sometime within the next 4 weeks, we'll have an announcement that he's going to HRC for '23.

Well that was exciting!!!

Enea, again! Fucker is the master of managing the tires.

Beautiful to hear my favorite national anthem outside of my own.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Enea, again! Fucker is the master of managing the tires.

Beautiful to hear my favorite national anthem outside of my own.

It was exciting, and the one thing I missed about not going this year was Ducati winning.

Otherwise, I didn't miss anything else.....

Finally caught it last night. Fun race, with some good scraps.
MM drove the wheels off to make up that much ground after the botched start.

The Ducs still have some decent straight-line advantage, the way they just pulled away on the back straight

Good result for Suzuki

The interesting thing about COTA is how unaffected the Ducatis front ends were compared to others. Gigi's front ride height device mechanism, which the MSMA (cough Honda!) got banned for 2023 must provide some auxiliary benefit. These first fly a ways are not the tell tale. We always know whose gonna be competing for the championship after 3 or 4 rounds in Europe. And actually the next 12 races are all in Europe. Whatever ends up working well in Jerez, LeMans, Mugello, and Catalunya usually tells us who has got it right for the year rider/bike.

The resurfacing of COTA seemed to be quite noticeable, in the race at least. I didn't notice any major incidents like there were last year.

MotoGP returns to one of the most entertaining tracks on the calendar! Free practice Friday from the roller coaster also known as Portugal!!

I'm with you stickman, Portimao is one of my favorites. So fun to watch the bikes there.