Well it is finally here. Race 1 is Sunday @ Qatar. Dovi and Márquez skipped the one off laps all through preseason and worked on race pace, and development. The two title favorites in 2017 look to be continuing where they left off in 2017 with both Honda and Ducati improving their bikes for 2018. Lorenzo is up and down on the Ducati. The factory Yamaha’s still seem to be Jekyll and Hyde machines, and Zarco is still fast (mid preseason ditching the 2017 frame for the 2016.) Crutchlow on a full factory Honda this year.
The long winter is over, it ain’t coming it’s leaving.

I've been waiting (impatiently of course) for this new season. The new text system will be on all of the bikes this year and I hope it is used to its fullest extent and maybe see some humor along the way. As for riders, I hope that Lorenzo finally realizes he isn't half as good as he thinks he is and plays his role better this year. I am curious to see whether Yamaha can get their act together because I think the 46/25 combo could be devastating to most of the field if the bikes were sorted. If Rossi get's #10 (as I am hoping), I think that he'll retire and Zarco will get his ride. I am certain Zarco will make some more enemies but he is truly good at what he does. He does scare me from time to time, but hopefully he doesn't get himself or anyone else hurt this season.

Quite a few rookies (5 total) stepping up this year too. I haven't really paid much attention to where they came from as I don't normally watch the other races, but from what I've read, there is quite a bit of talent moving up.

Crutchlow can go either way. He did well for himself when he didn't crash out. Who knows, he may pull a top 5 or better off this season.

Was kinda let down by the Suzuki's last year in Moto GP. Hopefully, this year, they'll make a showing but I expect a few more years before they get it right.

I'll miss Folger and I hope to see him next season.

As for the rest of the field....meh. They're just traffic and filler in my opinion.

Taking the fam to COTA!! Can’t wait!

Muted, Suzuki have got their 2018 engine working. They knew they fukt up at the beginning of 2017 with their balancer and had to deal with for 2017. Suzuki has got their chit working good for this year.

Rookies, keep an eye on Morbidelli.

I will be at COTA this year also. I won’t miss a year any longer until Valentino retires. Currently they should change the name to COTM. Circuit of the Márquez because he decimates every year since they started going to Austin. I miss Laguna, and Monterey, bad.

So, I have had the chance to watch the races at Qatar. Don't want to spoil anything until everyone is up to speed, but it was a good race to the finish. Maybe not too stunning of an outcome if you were paying attention, though Zarco was a conundrum...

He burnt his tires up pushing that hard from the onset. Then he blamed the front tire had a defect

It was a good race, podium decided by .7 seconds. It looked like a Moto3 race for most of it. Excellent way to start the season.

Re-watched the GP and Zarco definitely pushed too hard on the front. I think he needs to bring his speeds down before entering the corners and keep those tires a little fresher at the end of the race...or choose a harder compound. Maybe he'll learn from that and put himself in a better position next time.

ETA: I wonder if getting smacked in the knee by Marc got into his head too? He seemed to fall off once Dovi and Marc got by him.

I think he just cooked his tires. And he is using the 2017 engine that Rossi and Viñales had such a problem with last year regarding tire wear at the end of the races. Yamaha needs to get their shit together. Rossi was over riding the M1 the whole race and was lucky not to put it into the litter. They’ve got tire wear issues remaining, as well as electronics to sort out. Honda Dan Ducati are a step ahead. Qatar is a one off, unlike all the other tracks on the calendar, and very much suits the Yamaha. Once back on European soil, we’ll know who has their bikes sorted and who doesn’t.

Any channel carrying this or do I have to go hunting online?

quote:

Originally posted by Georgeair:
Any channel carrying this or do I have to go hunting online?

They were airing on Bein? But most of us buy a yearly membership from MotoGP.com. I’ve been using the streaming service for almost 15 years now. Online subscription you can watch all practices, qualifying, races, press conferences, interviews, and after the flag discussions. They even show the awards at the end of the season. On cable, Bein/Bien, shows the race and that’s it. Online feels like you are there so worth the annual $100ish subscription fee. Speed used to be the channel that aired the races but their coverage sucked, and they’d cut to commercial during critical passes, etc. online is commercial free.

Anyone going to COTA?

Going to COTA all 3 days and doing the Ducati Island thing.

First off, I envy you guys going to COTA. Hopefully next year I can get my family out there. Already planning on it. Anyway, looks like the weather will be cooperating all but Saturday. Thunderstorms probable most of the day, so that puts a bit of a damper on qualifying. Wonder who is gonna set the pole in the wet?

Also, Dani Pedrosa looks like he's gonna try riding with that right hand of his. What kind of pain meds are they giving these guys?

Any predictions for this race?

Bittersweet. It sucked to see Marquez win but I LOVED seeing Vinalez and Iannone finish 2nd and 3rd.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Bittersweet. It sucked to see Marquez win but I LOVED seeing Vinalez and Iannone finish 2nd and 3rd.

Was cool watching Iannone taking it to MM93, even if for 1 corner for a tenth of a second. Otherwise, it was a snore fest. I thought I was watching a bunch of amateurs at track day following the MM93 to see how he does it.

Marc just busted ass around that track making sure nobody could complain about shit! He pulled up at the end resulting in just a 3.5 second finish in front of MV25, but if he didn't, he would have been 8 seconds clear of the nearest rider. That little fucker can RIDE THE ABSOLUTE PISS out of a motorcycle.

Hopefully, Dovi un-asses his head before getting back to Europe. These last 2 races just don't seem to be him....

Pedrosa ran a solid race. No issue taking the points and he made it look kinda easy.

Poor Rins. Checked out half way through the race. Was hoping to see a top 5 finish.

Still a bit jealous that I wasn't there to watch.....NEXT YEAR and maybe one of the others (make suggestions please) First hand knowledge and links will help me with the wife.

What a boring race. We were there, on the hill at turn 1. Everything settled in first two laps, and then riders just phoned it in. I need to find attendance numbers but subjectively it looked like less people were there then in previous years.

MotoGP needs to get more exciting.

The MotoAmerica superbike race that followed also had the leader take off and leave everyone behind.

I was at COTA again.
I wish someone other than Marc could be competition.

I mean seriously, how many years is this guy gonna dominate?

Ducati Island was fun, and it was good to see some of my Ducati forum faces.

Next year, I might have to just watch from home.

quote:

Originally posted by rainman64:
I was at COTA again.

Next year, I might have to just watch from home.

Yep, after watching the race, I have been rethinking the whole COTA thing. I'd much rather spend the money on a race outside of the US....Something that can be remembered for a great race and a nice vacation experience.

Stickman,

Tony Elias got out early and stuck it to everyone else hard. 10 seconds is forever He rode much better in race 2 than he did when it was wet

Just got home from the race. Moto2 race was much better than the premier class. Still had a blast though.

The track is fucked. I did a track day at Ford Performance a few weeks ago and one of my instructors had just raced COTA the previous weekend. Said the whole track is shifting, sinking. Then the bumps are real bad, few pot holes too. They cut the top layer off the track, where the bumps are, less than a month ago. Riders were throwing up dirt trails behind them all weekend. Pretty embarrassing, looked like a trailer park in practice. Track needs to be resurfaced and COTA needs to spend some money. I haven’t done a track day there since 2014 and I wouldn’t do one right now if it was free. I’d get the bike home and the whole thing would be fucked. Miller said they had to use different air filters as there was so much shit on the track it’d get into the engine and decrease reliability.