2023 MotoGP Discussion

3091 Views 90 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Dankotaru, 12 d ago

SRod321

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

The season is upon us, figured I'd start this one too.
Looking forward to seeing Aprilia and how they do. Curious to see if Yamaha did anything to help Fabio and I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing a healthy MM93 this season.
I've never been a fan of aero on motorcycles, I think for the most part it's made them look ugly even though I understand the purpose. They don't look as bad on production bikes anymore, i guess they've grown on me but, this Aprilia "F1 style" wing...I get it, motoGP is the premier class, like F1 for cars...but this?? On bikes?? I hated the stegosaurus aero that they started using last season, I dislike this even more...

the-race.com

Aprilia escalates MotoGP aero war as 'F1 wing' reappears - The Race

Aprilia's taken the MotoGP aero race up a notch with more new wings in testing, including the reappearance of a Formula 1 style rear device

the-race.com

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61 - 80 of 91 Posts

SRod321

Discussion Starter · #61 · 2 mo ago

What a race by Rins!!!! Wow!! I think Pecco could feel Alex pushing up in the corners and tried too hard to shake him off entering that turn where he lost the front. Man what-a-run by Rins. Poor Fabio, looked helpless as Marini just ripped past him on that straight... question....did Honda run the new Kalex Chassis at COTA? The bike looked real good.... but then again Taaki and Stephen Bradl both crashed out...hm....
Either way, nice to see Honda back on the top podium. Poor Alex Marquez, taken out by Jorge Martin....what a crash fest

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z00

· #62 · 2 mo ago

Rins on Marc's old bike rode spotless, made Pecco crash. Pecco cannot handle pressure. Crazy all Honda riders crashed, but Rins won; him, MM, and Mir are my favorite riders with opposite styles.

Fabio riding at the limit on M1, 3rd place pretty good for worst & oldest bike on grid.

So many crashes, looks like COTA still has bad spots since I rode it few years ago, the repave did not fix it well.
I don't get it with Aprilia & KTM, they qualify & do well in sprint races, but fade in main races.

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netaron

· #63 · 2 mo ago (Edited)

Great to see Rins and something from HRC to make things more interesting. Nice moto2&3 battle at the end as well.

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Baron Samedi

· #64 · 2 mo ago

I've always thought highly of Rins. He's sooo smooth. Very glad to see him win because I thought he made a big mistake going to Honda. I imagine he's likely to get the Kalex bike once MM's run it a few times. Hope he doesn't have to wait to next season. I'm not clear on what the rules allow regarding mid-season chassis changes.

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Darkhorse

· #65 · 2 mo ago

To be honest I was expecting the Ducati's to run away with it so I was pleasantly surprised to see Rins so strong. Shame Marc couldn't make it considering his track record. Nice to see a Honda at the pointy end though.

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Baron Samedi

· #66 · 2 mo ago

With COTA's long straights, I was expecting Ducati to run away too. It was great watching Rins catch Pecco in the twisty bits.

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netaron

· #67 · 1 mo ago

Great race overall. Did not agree with the call against Quat. KTM was very impressive sideways! Even though I don't care for KTM's customer care, great to see good competition on track.

SimonUK

· #68 · 1 mo ago

netaron said:
Great race overall. Did not agree with the call against Quat.

I also don't understand why Pecco got a "penalty" (drop one place) and Miller got zilch, his overtake on Martin cost JM88 2 or 3 places from which he never recovered!!!

Reactions: 1

netaron

· #69 · 1 mo ago

SimonUK said:
I also don't understand why Pecco got a "penalty" (drop one place) and Miller got zilch, his overtake on Martin cost JM88 2 or 3 places from which he never recovered!!!

Jack's move seemed retaliatory toward ducati somewhat, maybe the stewards thought Pecco was at the beginning of it all, but not certain, I'm in agreement, both should've been penalized or they should've let it go.

Alex_UK

· #70 · 1 mo ago

Most of the penalties are dumb atm

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karimak2

· #71 · 1 mo ago

Very impressed by Binder’s riding, right to the end…Fastest lap on the last lap!?! Very impressive. Never let PB get away. The way he brakes and handles that thing when its sideways soo much fun to watch.

What really got me wondering in the beginning was how the KTMs bolted off the line in both the sprints and the race. Like the they did/had something different.

Extremely entertaining race weekend.

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Baron Samedi

· #72 · 1 mo ago

karimak2 said:
Very impressed by Binder’s riding, right to the end…Fastest lap on the last lap!?! Very impressive. Never let PB get away. The way he brakes and handles that thing when its sideways soo much fun to watch.

What really got me wondering in the beginning was how the KTMs bolted off the line in both the sprints and the race. Like the they did/had something different.

Extremely entertaining race weekend.

Binder's probably my favorite rider. He's such an incredible competitor.

I read somewhere he was asked what's different about KTM's starts and he said they've changed nothing. Right.

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SRod321

Discussion Starter · #73 · 27 d ago

Marquez will NOT be serving his suspension. Will return for the French GP. Thoughts?

SimonUK

· #74 · 27 d ago

SRod321 said:
Marquez will NOT be serving his suspension. Will return for the French GP. Thoughts?

A completely BS decision!

SRod321

Discussion Starter · #75 · 27 d ago

I get it, appealing it. It's competitive racing and if there's a chance to compete, you gotta try it right? BUT....I still think Marc should've served the penalty, enforced or not. He readily admitted that it was fully his fault, and he caused another rider to get hurt because of his irresponsible riding. I dunno if it was his call to appeal, or if he was on board or not on board with appealing it but either way, the RIGHT thing to do is to serve your penalty without protest. Bad look for both Honda and Marquez imo.

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netaron

· #76 · 27 d ago

I believe this is where Puig's ego and the sponsors' demands take over the right and wrong of it.

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Dankotaru

· #77 · 27 d ago

SRod321 said:
Marquez will NOT be serving his suspension. Will return for the French GP. Thoughts?

As expected, and the correct decision. The penalty was specifically called to be served in Argentina. If it was short-sighted on the part of the stewards to not account for injury postponing a penalty in the original rule text, they have since changed the rule to account for this. But a rule cannot be amended and then retro-actively applied, as that would invite all kinds of issues beyond Marc's penalty if such behavior was allowed, and the appeal simply verified this and ensured the rules are applied fairly as written at the time of enforcement. Which, again, was expected.

What I find interesting, is that according to Keith Huewen, all the riders agreed before the first race in Argentina that a penalty to be served at the next race would be carried out only if the rider was uninjured in the incident, because the riders all agreed that if the incident resulted in the penalized rider missing the next race due to the incident, then missing the next race was penalty enough. And apparently, not all the riders agree with changing that rule after Marc's crash, so it will be interesting to see if the rule changes again before the end of the season if certain riders not named Marc Marquez are penalized for an incident that also injures them and causes them to miss a race or two.

I'm glad Marc's back on the grid either way, but he has almost no chance to compete for the championship this season. The bike still has too many weaknesses to get the most out of the tires, and the competition is too good for Marc to consistently out-ride the bike to score enough to challenge for the championship. I think he can podium this season and be competitive in some races, but not enough to overcome the points lead and much more competitive bike/rider combo of Pecco, Marco, and even the KTM boys.

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SRod321

Discussion Starter · #78 · 23 d ago

What a crash fest.... holy cow....Pecco and Maverick, that was tough... just a racing incident but damn.... Alex Marquez' crash was tough too... great battle for second.... until..... the Honda just gave out under Marc.. that was tough to watch. I was really hoping he'd tough it out and keep Martin at bay. That Honda has issues man. You could see it getting squirrly under Marc. I dunno how he's able to still ride competitively with it smh. Congrats to Bezzechi. The way he was riding it was only a matter of time before he got up front and ran away.

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netaron

· #79 · 23 d ago

Yeah, I thought MM was just pure joy and horror to watch - I liked how he just handled his race when pushed out by Bez. I also thought Bez should've been the recepient of minus 2 spots, not one as that mistake cost MM 2 spots, but whatever and he had more than enough pace either way. Great scary race.

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z00

· #80 · 23 d ago

Funny how Maverick smacked Pecco after they got up from crash.
MM continues to prove he is an alien almost on podium on an unpredictable bike. Rest of Honda riders no where to be seen.

Poor Fabio, he is fading on R1M.
Bezzechi ran MM wide, that seemed a bit intentional. Maybe just for Rossi's revenege haha. But he rode the best, was ahead by 3sec.

European bikes continue to dominate. Not sure neither Honda nor Yamaha will have an answer any time soon.

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