Moto GP

[Skalliwag]

34 minutes ago, Edge said:

Can't find it now but I read an interview with his team boss after the accident.
gist of it was that much as he would like to be able to wrap them in cotton wool, they have no control over how they train.

The big difference here is between enduro racing/training, (which is very unpredictable) and dirt track training, which is obviously much more controlled and safer (I know you knew that).

Now if you're suggesting that they could put clauses in riders' contracts covering dangerous training methods....maybe so, but it doesn't sound like it's the norm.

If they don't have them,they should.

Cant be spending all that money and have them side lined,over something as silly as trials training.

 

[PepeLePew]

They pretty much all train by dirt bike riding. It's accepted that it's good physical training that sharpens up their reactions. They do usually have dangerous activity clauses as well to cover stuff like parachute jumping (which Jack Miller recently ignored and did anyway ).

[PepeLePew]

 

9 hours ago, Skalliwag said:

That was so sweet.

You never grabbed a fellow racing competitors front brake lever going into turn 1?

 

Yep it was brilliant. It's a sport for men and if you are going to behave like a baby then you are going to get kicked off the track. It's another reason why Rossi is a Legend and Marc never will be.

[PepeLePew]

In other news Jonathan Rea wrapped up the 2017 WSB title in race 1 at Magny Cours at the weekend with 5 races remaining and making him the first rider to win 3 titles in a row. He is 3rd in the all time race wins ranking, 3 behind Bayliss, 9 behind Foggy, who incidentally holds the 4 WSB titles record.

Records apart I couldn't honestly recommend anyone watch WSB as Rea is so far in front most races it doesn't make for great racing.

[Edge]

Marquez “on another level” to rivals, says Doohan

Grand Prix motorcycling legend Mick Doohan reckons Marc Marquez is "on another level" compared to his MotoGP title rivals.

Defending champion Marquez had a relatively slow start to the 2017 season, dropping 37 points off the championship lead after six races.

However, strong subsequent form, including four wins and seven podium finishes in the last eight races, has elevated the Honda rider to a 16-point lead in the standings over nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso.

Doohan, who was unbeatable in the 500cc motorcycle world championship between 1994 and 1998, considers Marquez better than the rest of the field.

"I think he is too strong at the moment, he is above his opponents," said Doohan.

"He is on another level. He is as good as [Valentino] Rossi - he is strong and confident, has a good bike, and gets better at races where he suffered last year.

"Marc keeps building up his already big confidence. His advantage in the championship is not very big, but he will be able to increase it in the next races."

Doohan reckons that, unlike Marquez, main rival Dovizioso is not able to "dominate" the top riders in MotoGP.

"Dovi is not in the same position of level as Marc," he added. "He has been fighting with the top riders for many years, but I don't know if he can really dominate them.

"But maybe I am wrong and Dovizioso will show it to me."

[Skalliwag]

17 minutes ago, Edge said:

Marquez “on another level” to rivals, says Doohan

Grand Prix motorcycling legend Mick Doohan reckons Marc Marquez is "on another level" compared to his MotoGP title rivals.

Defending champion Marquez had a relatively slow start to the 2017 season, dropping 37 points off the championship lead after six races.

However, strong subsequent form, including four wins and seven podium finishes in the last eight races, has elevated the Honda rider to a 16-point lead in the standings over nearest rival Andrea Dovizioso.

Doohan, who was unbeatable in the 500cc motorcycle world championship between 1994 and 1998, considers Marquez better than the rest of the field.

"I think he is too strong at the moment, he is above his opponents," said Doohan.

"He is on another level. He is as good as [Valentino] Rossi - he is strong and confident, has a good bike, and gets better at races where he suffered last year.

"Marc keeps building up his already big confidence. His advantage in the championship is not very big, but he will be able to increase it in the next races."

Doohan reckons that, unlike Marquez, main rival Dovizioso is not able to "dominate" the top riders in MotoGP.

"Dovi is not in the same position of level as Marc," he added. "He has been fighting with the top riders for many years, but I don't know if he can really dominate them.

"But maybe I am wrong and Dovizioso will show it to me."

Doohan was pretty flash himself.

[Edge]

11 minutes ago, Skalliwag said:

Doohan was pretty flash himself.

Lucky he didn't lose that leg, but if anything he was almost too dominant at times for interesting races.

Sometimes it looks as though Lorenzo could do something like that, but thankfully the thing about MotoGP today is that it is so close.

[Skalliwag]

39 minutes ago, Edge said:

Lucky he didn't lose that leg, but if anything he was almost too dominant at times for interesting races.

Sometimes it looks as though Lorenzo could do something like that, but thankfully the thing about MotoGP today is that it is so close.

And back when they were Trex's with handle grips.

[PepeLePew]

I think Marc is probably pound for pound more skilled as a rider than Rossi ever was, I'm happy to watch him pounding the track on his own but most viewers wouldn't be and skills like that make stats, not greats, or Casey, Schuey and Vettel would be up there.

[Palaeojeo]

I have been a fan of Valentino Rossi since his first race in 125cc, it will be sad to see his career end. 

[Edge]

 

[PepeLePew]

55 minutes ago, Edge said:

 

Marc took up the whole track and left Rossi nowhere else to go but off it. That's another reason they all train on off road bikes

Here's a better example from last weekends BSB at Assen (2 fantastic races, well worth watching)

 

[Edge]

Rossi planned to do exactly what he did  and cleverly lured Marc into making it look like he forced him to take the short cut.

Clever, but pretty obviously intentional unless you were very biased......Marc completed the course.
There was betting going on at the track and even some Rossi backers were surprised that they got away with it.
Good plan, well executed, clever fella.

Maybe there should be a thread  for Superbikes....suspect it might not go well though.

[PepeLePew]

12 minutes ago, Edge said:

Rossi planned to do exactly what he did  and cleverly lured Marc into making it look like he forced him to take the short cut.

Clever, but pretty obviously intentional unless you were very biased......Marc completed the course.

 

Yes, Rossi planned to be overtaken on the final lap at the final bend so he could go across the grass! You do realise how crazy that sounds?

It's clear where the bias is coming from, you mention this move so often. The footage clearly shows Marc used all the track and if Rossi had stayed on the black bit they'd both have crashed. Marc got beat this time, let it go, it'll happen again no doubt. It's racing.

That said lets for just one moment live in this alternate reality where a rider plans to be overtaken so he can go across the grass! Wow, if that was indeed the case it would be the move of the century. Truly only a legend could come up with and execute such a brilliant plan

[Edge]

I gave him all due credit for a masterful move....albeit a cheat move.....no legend points for those.

He didn't plan to be overtaken he just knew Marc would go for it cos that's what he does...just needed to time it right and he did....good job, he should get a drive in a Ferrari.

[Skalliwag]

I would've won a ton more races if I could've done that.

And if I didn't fall as much too.

 

[PR1977]

On 10/4/2017 at 14:50, Pepe Le Pew said:

In other news Jonathan Rea wrapped up the 2017 WSB title in race 1 at Magny Cours at the weekend with 5 races remaining and making him the first rider to win 3 titles in a row. He is 3rd in the all time race wins ranking, 3 behind Bayliss, 9 behind Foggy, who incidentally holds the 4 WSB titles record.

Records apart I couldn't honestly recommend anyone watch WSB as Rea is so far in front most races it doesn't make for great racing.

Be great to see Rea in MotoGP with a decent ride.

Its a real pity how far WSB has declined from the days of Foggy, Bayliss and Colin Edwards when I thought the quality of racing was ahead of MotoGP. British Superbikes is even actually probably better to watch than WSB these days.

[Edge]

What Wally said...the void is huge.

If someone thought Rea was one who could leap it I'm sure they'd be offering him a ride.

Superbikes used to be a great spectacle but nowadays it's sorta bit better than club racing but...? Pity Ron's boy couldn't do better. They've known for years Brit racing isn't structured towards getting riders into premier class but nobody has answers it seems....or the money...or maybe we just don't have the talent.

MotoGP is something very special now and WSB has simply lost touch.

[Edge]

The numbers smile on Marquez
Four rounds to go and the number 93 seems to have the best hand.

As MotoGP™ prepares for the flyaways and the last four rounds of the season, history and numbers say Championship leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) is the favourite.

Marquez is ahead of Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) by 16 points, and Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) by 28 – with only four races to go.

Two changes of leader

With the current scoring system – since 1993 – there are only two occasions when the eventual Champion wasn’t the points leader with four races remaining:

1998: Max Biaggi was ahead of Mick Doohan by four points after Brno – but in the end, the Australian won by a stunning 52-point margin.
2015: Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) left the Aragon GP with 263 points – 14 more than then-teammate and key title rival Jorge Lorenzo. By the flag in Valencia, Lorenzo took the title by five points.

The man in third never wins…

As much as the numbers smile on Marquez, they don’t make good reading for Viñales. The man in third by this point has never taken the title.

Marquez: leader = winner

Whenever he has been leading the Championship heading into the flyaways, Marquez has always won the title. When ahead, Marquez has only lost the lead in the Championship once – this season, when he retired at Silverstone following a mechanical problem.

[Edge]

Doohan style: Rossi used thumb brake after leg break

To compensate for reduced function in his right leg, the ‘Doctor’ used the technical solution first experimented with by the Australian.
Just over three weeks after he broke both the tibia and fibula in his right leg, Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) secured a front row start at the Aragon GP and came in fifth in the race – having also held second for 11 laps. Such a finish was unimaginable only a few days before the race, and was made possible through Rossi's incredible talent - and through a specific braking solution Brembo made available to remedy the problem of having a right leg working at less than 100%: the special thumb brake master cylinder. This enables the rider to control the rear brake without using his right leg to operate a pedal. Instead, he simply relies on a small lever mounted under the left handlebar that is controlled by his thumb.
The Italian had already tested the system after the Brno race. The configuration he tested was the “standard” version with a thumb master cylinder and a pedal connected to the same rear master cylinder. With this version it isn't possible to operate the rear brake with the thumb master cylinder and the pedal simultaneously, only one of the two can be used. But after the injury, Valentino wanted a solution with two separate circuits in order to operate the thumb master cylinder and the pedal at the same time. Technicians made this change in record time with a new rear caliper.
 

Even though this technical solution was conceived of and built 25 years ago, only recently has Rossi begun to use it. It was Mick Doohan who asked for it when he was the victim of a serious accident during test runs at the Dutch GP in 1992. Dutch doctors had operated on his right leg but there were complications during the night that put him at risk of amputation. The Australian made an urgent call to Dr. Claudio Costa, who loaded him on a stretcher and brought him to Italy.

The founder of the Mobile Clinic managed to save Doohan's leg, however it never regained the strength it once had. Doohan was no longer able to operate the rear brake with the right pedal. He needed a control on the handlebar that could carry out this same function, and this is how the thumb-controlled rear brake master cylinder came into being. As the months passed, Doohan developed increased sensitivity and went on to win five consecutive World Championships in the 500cc class from 1994 to 1998.
 

So the thumb master cylinder is by no means new to MotoGP™. This solution has been adopted, with varying degrees of continuity, by Maverick Viñales at Movistar Yamaha and by Andrea Dovizioso, Jorge Lorenzo and Danilo Petrucci with Ducati. The manner in which Brembo's thumb master cylinder is used changes only slightly from rider to rider since all of them rely on it to slow the bike down in overtaking and to balance the bike when accelerating in order to avoid skidding in the corners.

Practically speaking, the thumb brake works like a kind of traction control: It is activated mid-corner in order to stay close to the tyre traction point, straightening out the bike as quickly as possible. And on right-hand turns, riders with big feet find it easier to use in the peak lean angle because there is no risk of the right boot making contact with the asphalt.

[Wally Hotvedt]

Can also use the rear brake to decrease turning radius at lean, if you just lightly drag the rear brake the bike will pull in tighter towards the apex.   A risky move to be sure, and I'm horrible at it.  Interesting though, I never noticed it on Rossi's bike during the last race, but then I never knew to look... Makes sense why he went to it.  

Anybody think JackAssen will be back by the Aussie round?  There was a Borat-style photo of him the other day on IG on a stationary bike in some sort of slinglet, I couldn't look away fast enough... 

[Edge]

On 10/3/2017 at 11:45, Skalliwag said:

If they don't have them,they should.

Cant be spending all that money and have them side lined,over something as silly as trials training.

 

"After much talk following nine-time World Champion Rossi’s enduro accident ahead of Misano, ‘Uccio’ says he doesn’t expect the Yamaha rider to change his training – “Unfortunately, no!” – and that the same was true when Rossi suffered a broken leg in 2010. The message is a similar one to that which many on the grid repeated when asked the same question about training and risk in the aftermath: “This sport involves training and some training is dangerous. In my opinion he must continue to do it like he always has, as he’s done a lot of positive things throughout the years. This is his job, and to do it the best he can, he has to train – although sometimes that involves risk.”

[Edge]

"It is an interesting situation because all the three factories have a second rider that is fast and maybe can help the first rider..." - Valentino Rossi. 

Valentino Rossi says he has not been asked to assist or give extra room to Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales in the MotoGP title fight… yet.

"At this moment, no. Usually Yamaha don’t do [that], but it depends very much from the championship. If it will be very, very close, maybe is possible" said Rossi, speaking in the Motegi paddock on the eve of this weekend's Japanese MotoGP.

Honda's reigning champion Marc Marquez starts the opening 'flyway' round holding a 16-point advantage over Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso, with Vinales 28 points behind with four rounds and 100 points to play for.

[Wally Hotvedt]

have to say I'm surprised, thought Kallio was a lock for the seat, but Bradley stays on with KTM for 2018 : https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/smith-retains-ktm-seat-for-motogp-2018-964173/

 

and speaking of KTM, scroll down to see : https://columnm.com/photos-of-ktm-testing-motogp-machines-at-aragon-are-gorgeous/

Edited October 12, 2017 by Wally Hotvedt

[Edge]

.Hmmmmm it's wet.

FP2 12.05 Thai time.

Title leader Marc Marquez dominated a soaking wet opening practice session for the Japanese MotoGP, which saw a dramatic clash between Cal Crutchlow and Jorge Lorenzo in the closing stages.

Crutchlow lost control of his LCR Honda under braking for turn nine, harpooning the Ducati rider ahead of him. Fortunately, both were able to walk away, Lorenzo making his displeasure clear.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Edge