Moto GP

[PepeLePew]

Well the first 8 laps of Le mans were absolutely breath taking. The rest was a bit of a let down.

Good news though. Crutchache managed to make the finish without crashing. He even got a couple of points

[PepeLePew]

Cal's massive crash in Q1. Not only was the on board camera on at the time but he did it at the perfect spot for 2 trackside cameras as well. He's really getting good at crashing

 

[Wally Hotvedt]

Mir signs with Suzuki, couple of really good young guns on that team now

So in the game of musical chairs it looks like George is left standing and without a ride.  Ducati isn't going to keep him, which I get, BUT if they ever wanted to get the bike to ride/corner like the Yamaha then George is your development rider to do so.  It comes down to how much of his shit can they handle, and is he willing to work for min wage plus bonus for podiums.  Right now the thinking from Germany seems to be that this bridge is burned

Rumors that George will take Pedrosa's spot at Honda, but that would also be step 2 in career suicide for him.  Georges riding style isn't on a Honda, but then that bit about beggars and choosers...

So who gets Lorenzos Ducati ride - Petrux?  Miller? bring back the pr0n star AI29 since he is out at Suzuki?  Rumor is AI29 to Aprilla. 

Great Dear George: https://www.bikeme.tv/index.php/so-theres-been-lots-of-talk-about-you-fuckin-off-to-kawasaki-or-royal-enfield-and-me-and-danilo-fighting-in-a-pit-over-who-gets-to-sit-in-your-chair-next-year/

[PepeLePew]

Has he signed yet? Good move if he has. I heard Honda didn't renew their option so he was free. Also rumours that Ducati were sniffing around him.

[Wally Hotvedt]

havent seen official word of Mir signing.

JRea says he has interest from motogp teams for 2019

Every day that goes by Lorenzo has less and less options, and more and more pressure to perform in Mugello - and we know how well he deals with pressure /s .    Put a fork in him, he's done.  No where to go.  Even if he goes to Honda that bike stands a decent chance of being a Ducati Jr experience for him, not his riding style, but more potential for tuning given that Honda is dominating this season and doing well on the satellite team. 

 

[PepeLePew]

No, I think some Spanish paper printed it was a done deal but no confirmation so it's still a maybe.

J Rea. He says he's had interest from MGP Factory teams but I suspect it's more likely KTM than Honda/Yamaha. 2 issues with a Rea series swap. 1, He's only going to want to go somewhere he can win from, which is a big ask of a winning team because 2, although no doubt a supreme talent he is so moulded by now to SB type riding that he may not be able to convert, al least not competitively. You can see how different they are just by watching on TV.  I don't doubt he'd be up there with the best if he'd gone the MGP route from the start but....... That said he must be bored of winning WSB now, and rich enough, plus they messed with rules so much there thanks to his and Kawasaki dominance that he may well feel now is a good time to risk a change.

Jorge should go for a Suzuki ride imo. I think he could do good things there. Latest paddock gossip/rumour is he is looking at a satellite Yamaha deal...... 

[PepeLePew]

IanMoany has announced he is leaving Suzuki and Mir has said he is trying hard to get a deal with them

[Kim Jong Il]

This weekend sees the Moto GP boys go to Mugello in Italy.

With qualifying done the front row reads

Rossi

Lorenzo

Vinales

Some blistering lap times set with the the lap record being broken and broken and broken!

Rossi, 39 years old on pole....in the Italian GP....how many dreamed that would be the case.

Iannone, soon to be on the dole starts from 4th. I wonder what really went wrong at Suzuki who say it wasn't about results but attitude, at least according to the commentators today.

I guess it won't be long now and the who is signing where merry go round will be over and we will know what the team line ups are for next season.

[PepeLePew]

Don't forget Pirro's FP2 crash!

It was started by the tank slapper you can just catch at the very beginning of the vid

 

[Kim Jong Il]

^^^^^^^

Wow, that was a big off. Seemed to come out of nothing as well.

[PepeLePew]

29 minutes ago, Kim Jong Il said:

^^^^^^^

Wow, that was a big off. Seemed to come out of nothing as well.

The tank slapper (180mph+) as he crests the hill caused the front brake pistons to slide back in the calipers. When he then pulled on the brakes for the corner nothing much happened initially as they needed to be pushed back towards the discs before biting, this caused him to over react and pull extra hard on the brakes, which are now in the correct position thanks to the first pull, which caused the stoppie which caused the crash.

[Kim Jong Il]

Lorenzo

Dovi

Rossi

Lorenzo shows he can ride the Duke at long last.....or will it be a one off for Mugello.....never under threat and wins by a country mile. Dovi likewise very comfortable in 2nd, though Rossi did close the gap a lot on the last lap.

Cal finishes as the best Honda after Marc lays it down fairly early on. 10 / 10 Marc for holding on to it and trying to get it back up!

Iannone and his P45 finish 4th.

Not a spectacular race as such.....Moto 2 was better to watch, but Ducati certainly won't be complaining about that.

The title leader board close up quite a bit as Marc gets null points. Still can't see past Marc for the title at this stage..... but who knows!

[PepeLePew]

Great ride from Jorge, has he sussed out the Duke now? That win put him into the rare group of riders who have won with 2 manufacturers. Wouldn't it be funny if he had and managed to get a few more wins this season, then switches back to Yamaha and finds he can't ride that any more

Rossi scores 5005 total world championship points, more than any other rider ever.

Cal manages to not crash

Marc, what can be said. Huge lead in the ChpShp yet still wild and some would say dangerous, well Petruci says lol but it seems to be most races now. This shouldn't be happening with a rider of his experience. Then he limps home in 16th. If he carries on the way he's going he'll be lumped in with Michael Schumacher ie he'll clean up the numerical records but his on track character will severely blot his legacy.

Ianone, clearly a huge talent but I'm not surprised the people who make decisions have become fed up with him. Aprillia? KTM? WSB?

 

[PepeLePew]

 

Jorge to Honda! That was a shock for me. I think it's a great move. For 1 it shows that Marc is not scared of a strong team mate, 2 it gives Lorenzo the chance to win on 3 different bikes, quite a feat if he manages it. I hope he banks a few more Duke wins before he leaves

Looks almost certain Petruci will jump up to factory Duke. A great move for him but I can't help but feel it was the best Ducati could do in the circumstances.

Where does Dani go. Yamaha satellite? I'm a big fan of his but he really hasn't delivered in recent years. I hope a change of bike will start a change of furtune.

[Kim Jong Il]

^^^^^

I think that move caught a few out.

[Wally Hotvedt]

so whats everybody thinking for this weekend's return to Spain?

Dani still unannounced

Jorge announced, but will he repeat his success on the Ducati?

Wherefore art thou Zarco?

Is the pr0n star IA29 back on the pace?

Will the Golden Boy Vinales find his groove this weekend finally?

Forza Vale 

These questions and more...

 

[PepeLePew]

Mir is confirmed at Suzuki

Ianone to Aprilla, it's his own fault!

Redding to ???? WSB/BSB?

Petruci to Ducati

Can't find any online confirmation but my little rumour mill told me Pedrosa is going to retire......

[Wally Hotvedt]

7 hours ago, PepeLePew said:

Mir is confirmed at Suzuki

Ianone to Aprilla, it's his own fault!

Redding to ???? WSB/BSB?

Petruci to Ducati

Can't find any online confirmation but my little rumour mill told me Pedrosa is going to retire......

Mir signing was the worst kept secret in MotoGP in years.  Iannone is a .05 head and a million dollar talent that is on his way out of MotoGP, that Ape is a turd, factory gives half measures, results on half results on race weekends, its a customer team.  KTM on the other hand, they refuse to be mediocre in any effort.   I know the Brits love Redding but he is so far off the radar....  Ryder promoting Redding for a chair in the TV booth, but as personable as the kids is, I have soap in my shower that seems smarter. Petrux is a good choice to take over for Lorenzo at the end of the season.  Solo press conf for Dani tomorrow, I'd assume the same about retirement.  I think Dani would be good in the media, but Honda should give him some sort of ambassador/evangelist position after all he has given them.  WSBK bores me to death, I'd rather watch F1...  

[Kim Jong Il]

Spain it is...

Lorenzo

Marquez

Dovi

Is this a born again Lorenzo now his contract is sorted out?

Strong front row, could be interesting tomorrow. 

 

[Kim Jong Il]

Lorenzo

Marquesz

Rossi

Not an overly interesting race but kudos to Lorenzo...slipped a bit off the start but got the lead back and then never threatened...the power of the P45 strikes again!

Dovi threw it away with 16 laps to go. Is that the end of his challenge.

Good result for Cal.

Only 13 finishers.

Rossi close to Marquesz at the end with Marquesz seeming to have some kind of problem.

Edited June 17, 2018 by Kim Jong Il

[PepeLePew]

Lorenzo's success has nothing to do with his contract deals. He's worked hard on that Duke and towards the end of last season and the beginning of this one he has been regularly leading races up until the halfway point. It was just a matter of time before he worked out (and Ducati helped him) how to lead the 2nd halves.

Cal decided to crash in qualifying for a change, nice of him to mix it up for us

No surprise really that once Lorenzo got a grip Dovi would start to look ordinary.

Dani threw a press conference which everyone thought would be his retirement announcement only he turned up and didn't announce it. The rumour I heard is that it was supposed to be up until the last minute. Clearly the Jorge/Honda deal has been in the making for months and months, they don't make those decisions quickly but the other deal being worked on for him was equally real, although they knew nothing of the Honda so they were getting the finances ready for a satellite Yamaha ride. Apparently this was the carrot that got Dani interested enough to postpone, possibly cancel his retirement.

Zarco to KTM is a disappointment, but shows they are serious.

I'm a bit meh about Mir but we'll see.

Redding as a commentator/pundit?? Terrible idea, i can't see it. He'd make Toseland sound interesting!

[Kim Jong Il]

Assen in Holland for this weekend.

Marquesz

Crutchlow

Rossi.

Not much between the top 2....only 0.079 of a second so well done Cal, lets hope he can keep it that way for tomorrow.

[PepeLePew]

Epic qualifying! Lorenzo put in a lap that should have been front row until the train following Marc pushed him from 1st to 10th in 5 secs!

And if the qually was good you should have watched the race. It was anyones until about 3 laps from the end when Marc pulled the pin and the tussle for 2nd and 3rd gave him that little bit of breathing space needed. One of the best races of the season.

[Kim Jong Il]

Unfortunately I missed the race :-(,  but reading the race report it sounds like it was very good.

[PepeLePew]

1 hour ago, Kim Jong Il said:

reading the race report it sounds like it was very good.

Awesome is not a word I use lightly...

Lorenzo went from 10th to 2nd by turn 2. Duking it out at the front over the duration of the race were Marquez, Lorenzo, Rossi, Rins, Dovisioso, and Vinales. Cal was bringing up the rear of the group but never really played any part, he did manage to stay upright though.