[Fx14]

Originally Posted by parzival

But it’s funny that when entire grid is trying to get some fresh air and keep the tyre from overheating, there is one Marc Marquez who is trying to go behind a rider and heat up the tyre.

Possible that he would have started with a bit of lower pressures as a strategy, just in case Pecco led to the first corner from the front row. Last year both Pecco and Jorge were repeatedly getting the holeshot into the first corner from the second / third row on the grid.

[Suifuto]

Watched both sprint and main GP races this weekend. MM93 was unbelievable this weekend. Especially in Main GP race, where he was riding behind AM73 for a long time, but once he went ahead, I don't know how he created a 1.7 sec gap between him and AM73.

Good show by Franco Morbidelli. Always been a fan of him, especially the way he rode in 2020 season. Pecco seems to have new challenges, especially in the form of Marquez brothers. Probably he might overtake Alex Marquez in the long term, since he is known for consistent results, especially on Sundays. He probably needs to hold his horses, and ensure DNFs are avoided at al costs.

For a change, it was good to see Zarco getting P5. LCR Honda in that Castrol livery, is one of the best liveries in the current MotoGP lineup, and it is good to see a Honda in the top 5 for a change.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Suifuto

Watched both sprint and main GP races this weekend. MM93 was unbelievable this weekend. Especially in Main GP race, where he was riding behind AM73 for a long time, but once he went ahead, I don't know how he created a 1.7 sec gap between him and AM73.

Ya he just pulled away, seems the GP 25 has not got many upgrades to GP 24, or is not performing optimally. Alex was able to keep up to Marc for 80% of the race, and Morbidelli was also able to Overtake Pecco. Even Fabio Finished P5.

Originally Posted by Suifuto

For a change, it was good to see Zarco getting P5. LCR Honda in that Castrol livery, is one of the best liveries in the current MotoGP lineup, and it is good to see a Honda in the top 5 for a change.

He finished P6, he was overaken by Fabio in last lap, still a good result for Honda.

[parzival]

Originally Posted by AtheK

Ya he just pulled away, seems the GP 25 has not got many upgrades to GP 24, or is not performing optimally. Alex was able to keep up to Marc for 80% of the race, and Morbidelli was also able to Overtake Pecco. Even Fabio Finished P5.

Pecco is said be going back to GP 24 in COTA. It would be interesting if Pecco could find his mojo back with the GP24. That would also prove gp25 might not be as strong as they thought it was. And marc is always known to ride around problems. So looking at marc'c performance in GP25 may not be the best way to go about it, and we dont have the Marcs data on GP 24 to compare.

Its high time for Pecco to try something different during races if he feels he isnt catching upto the Marquez brothers. He should have perhaps tried out the soft rear like Morbidelli and DiGia. I dont think waiting out and merely avoiding crashes would give him any advantage against somebody like Marc, who is super consistent and blistering fast at the sametime and eats high pressure races for breakfast, unlike his opponents of the past.

I think the championship is getting more interesting that the races themselves. Hopefully Martin comes back in Qatar and he is quick right away, which is little too much to ask, but still.

[parzival]

What a chaotic race it was, at COTA. Had Marc won the race, it would have been epic. The starting scenes we just pure drama, chaos and hilarious at the same time. At one point Vinales was running around looking for his bike, how did his bike went to the pits without him seeing it in the first place though.

It was just bonkers and not everyone (except Pecco may be as in the post race meeting he said he was thinking about it) knew the rules or what should be done in such a situation and most of them just followed Marc to the pitlane. Even though Marc and the team got the ride through penalty part wrong( I may be wrong about this) but the entire plan was just brilliant. Shows the audacity, sheer confidence and the evil genius that Marc Marquez is, to think through all of these while sitting at the grid, with minutes to start the race. And it was just too entertaining to watch.

The crashing out of Marc has made the championship much more interesting now and with Pecco starting to find his Rythm and Jorge joining in Qatar, it’s gonna be exciting race weekend in Qatar. But going into Qatar, Marc should still be the rider to beat.

Btw this thread seems to be getting less active race after race. That’s sad.

[rajeevsulu]

Marc Marquez is a true racer who wants to win by using every hole in the rule book. Though I do not agree with half of what he does, have to appreciate his mind that ticks away.

Justice was served probably by him crashing out and thus the championship is wide open. Looking forward to seeing Jorge back.

Cheers

[parzival]

Originally Posted by rajeevsulu

Though I do not agree with half of what he does, have to appreciate his mind that ticks away.

Justice was served probably by him crashing out and thus the championship is wide open. Looking forward to seeing Jorge back.

Cheers

But he hasn’t done anything illegal or out of the rule book. May be he interpreted it wrong, but everybody did. And at the end of the day, doing what ever he did was the best bet to catch the guys who were already in slicks.

Even if nobody had followed him and he alone got a ride through penalty, it was still a better choice because he would have got a head start and others would still have to come in for a tyre change once they realise it’s not worth it to continue with the wets. The competition then would be with those 4 guys who were originally on the slicks. That’s an easy podium considered only 3 actually finished the race, he could have easily outrun raul Fernandez who finished 28 seconds off the race leader anyways.

If anything, it was those 4 guys already on the slick who were on a disadvantage. But that’s because race direction couldn’t give a ride through penalty to those 9-10 guys who left the grid.

Whatever Marc did, it just made the whole race lot more interesting and I think that’s what the sport needs. And may be better race management by the fim
It would be have been one hell of a race if every one of those 9-10 guys were given a ride through penalty.

And yeah coming back if Jorge is gonna change the dynamics of the championship, and I think he is gonna be fast, let’s hope he is not gonna crash again.

[VW2010]

Justice was served probably by him crashing out and thus the championship is wide open.

Sour grapes is how I viewed this.

He had the acumen to interpret, figure out every possible way to win within the rules, and plan it with such precision.

He may have gotten a ride through based on the rules, but this is what champions are made of.

There should be no debate that Marquez is a prodigy and the greatest to ride a two-wheeler. His riding a Ducati is simply a match made to destroy the rest of the field.

2025 is a race for the 2nd position only. I do not see any reason for Marquez to lose this championship, and he will probably win it a few races before the end of the season.

Hail 93

[Porschefire]

Originally Posted by VW2010

Sour grapes is how I viewed this.

Well, their theory goes like - 'Whatever Marc does, is almost always wrong and if someone isn't winning, blame Marc'.

[Fx14]

Of all the Ducati riders, Franco Morbidelli is the only one who is continuing with the GP24 this year after using the same last year as well. Surprisingly his results are not better than the others who have all had to adjust to a change of model :

Pecco moved from GP24 to GP25.
Marc and Fabio moved from GP23 to GP25.
Alex moved from GP23 to GP24.

[parzival]

Originally Posted by Fx14

Of all the Ducati riders, Franco Morbidelli is the only one who is continuing with the GP24 this year after using the same last year as well. Surprisingly his results are not better than the others who have all had to adjust to a change of model :

Pecco moved from GP24 to GP25.
Marc and Fabio moved from GP23 to GP25.
Alex moved from GP23 to GP24.

The same can be said about Pecco as well, because the gp 25 is basically a gp24 with updated swingarm and suspension ( and electronics?). Pecco should be atleast in a position to fight off Alex.
The story may be different in the upcoming GPs, a hint of which we have seen in COTA.

[ads11]

Really enjoyed the first few laps of the COTA Sprint race. Some good clean tussling between the Marquez brothers and Pecco. Must say though that there were a few snaps where it did seem like Marc is still having to fight the bike in some phases.

Pecco really needed that for his confidence. He was clean throughout but I think he needs to know he can duel it out with Marc on equal terms and come out on top. Otherwise hard to see past MM for the title in the long run. But as someone said earlier, Pecco's real strength here has to be consistency. Just being in the right place to capitalise on errors by MM.

Couple of races in, does seem like Yamaha have made a solid step. Good to see that.

I must say Pedro Acosta is still riding very volatile. He's either pulling a blinder or sliding out. Man doesn't seem to have an in between setting.

Does anyone know what the longer term prospects are for the KTM effort? Isn't the KTM brand on financial life support? I'd imagine that doesn't bode well for both their teams (KTM and GasGas).

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by ads11

Pecco really needed that for his confidence. He was clean throughout but I think he needs to know he can duel it out with Marc on equal terms and come out on top. Otherwise hard to see past MM for the title in the long run. But as someone said earlier, Pecco's real strength here has to be consistency. Just being in the right place to capitalise on errors by MM.

COTA is a gift from Marc Marquez to Pecco with his mistake. He was obviously very happy with the win and getting one demon off his back (Alex Marquez) fair and square.

However I believe he cannot do this on a consistent basis and this championship should be Marc’s barring some horrendous luck.

Let’s see how Qatar goes, can’t wait

Cheers

[parzival]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

However I believe he cannot do this on a consistent basis and this championship should be Marc’s barring some horrendous luck.

Let’s see how Qatar goes, can’t wait

Cheers

Qatar should give a glimpse of how the championship is gonna go. As the track favours Pecco, and if Pecco is able capitalise on the advantage, despite Marc being quick, I think we are gonna see a lot of close fights once we go to Europe.

Though I think Pecco is not there yet and he still needs a lot of improvement to catch up to Marc even in tracks like Qatar, and not to forget Marc had a 4th on his rookie year with Ducati last year on a year old bike. But then you never know.

[AtheK]

Marc was amazing again yesterday, and has been clearly a cut above everyone else till now, pecco really needs to up his game. Another round of sprint and race Victory for MM93.

Alex had a collision with Marc in first lap and then later again with Fabio Di Giannantonio and did not finish P2 first time in this season. He was also handed a long lap penalty later when he collided with Fabio Di Giannantonio. He finally finished 6th.

Vinales finished second in an amazing race but unfortunately was handed a penalty because of tire pressure.

The FIM Stewards subsequently confirmed Vinales failed to reach the specified minimum pressure for at least 60% of the race laps and he was thus given the standard 16-second time penalty.

That demotes the Spaniard down to 14th place while moving early race leader Franco Morbidelli up to third behind a Ducati Lenovo one-two for Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

Morbidelli showed a lot of pace and led the race for quite sometime, with finally finishing 4th and then being promoted to third.

Jorge returned but did not look fully ready and then tragedy happened as he had a crash.

MotoGP champion Jorge Martin suffers six fractures in Qatar GP crash

With no chance of defending his title anyway, I think he rushed his return and paid a heavy price. We might not see him back on track for quite sometime, he should ideally take his time and come back when fully fit.

Top moments of the race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T3sqL8U_P0

This is how the Top 10 Finished.



Rider Standings