Marc Marquez (Honda), already crowned 2019 champion at the previous round, won Honda’s home race at the Motegi circuit earlier today. This was the 10th win of 2019 for Marquez, and the 54th MotoGP win of his career – tieing Mick Doohan on premier class victories.
Marquez took the lead early from Yamaha rookie Fabio Quartararo, and maintained a gap over second place Quartararo until the checkered flag, while Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) finished third. Quartararo clinched top rookie honors for the year today. Three rounds remain on the 2019 calendar with the riders heading to Phillip Island, Australia next weekend.
Follow this link to full race results. For additional details and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
Neil “The other thing is the bike is pre programmed for each corner of the track.”
The rules as of a year or two ago since the introduction of the spec ECUs do not allow for GPS to program the track corners. Yeah we are in a different era with digital bikes but how else are you going to ride a 300hp 300 pound bike? I suspect that the modern heroes would have had the skills to ride the analog bikes of the old days too and vice versa. Mike the Bike could ride anything.
Boring racing. They should switch bikes every two years or something. The other thing is the bike is pre programmed for each corner of the track. Any of us would be amazed at how easy these bikes are to ride at a fast but sane speed. On the limit of the tire it gets hairy but the computer does a ton when you can open it full throttle and not get tossed into outer space. It’s a different kind of talent. How would Rossi do on the Honda now. Or Fabio?
Neil – I know what you mean. I am going to be on the front row, alongside you next year at the series opener! Can’t wait to show those skinny, no-talent boys how those bikes ride themselves…..
Heh, I like the idea of switching bikes… in fact, they should dispense with permanent teams altogether: keys to all bikes should be thrown into a hat before each race and riders should just draw their ride for the weekend at random.
This would provide plenty of entertaining racing for the fans, even out the field for the riders, and motivate manufacturers to make the best bikes to suit the widest variety of riders – something that is more relevant to their consumer products than producing bikes tailored for each rider.
… just a thought 🙂
LOFL @ Fred! Yep, I’m pretty sure all the rossi-worshipers are hating on you for telling the truth right about now!
my god what a boring race track. Honda wins the mfg c’ship w/ only one guy? the yams and dukes seem more manageable for more riders than an rc 213v. gotta give it up to marquez tho, he rides the crap out of every track/session/other rider on a bike that no one else can ride.
“he rides the crap out of every track/session/other rider on a bike that no one else can ride.”
That’s what once-in-a-generation talent often looks like. He somehow is wired to have just a tiny bit more acute and sensitive feel for the very limits of tire adhesion and chassis behavior (and, compared to former Uber-rider Rossi, perhaps for exactly how modern traction electronics affect bike behavior…) than even the by-no-means-slouches he races against.
Which allows Honda to build a bike focused just a tiny bit more on outright mechanical grip and pace, without having to be as concerned about chassis feedback and communication as those stuck tuning for slightly less acutely sensitive riders.
Some of the almost bizarre lowside saves he performed earlier in his career, without them turning into violent highsides (like they easily could for darned near anyone else) hints at the same almost superhuman level of sensitivity for the most minute changes in tire slip, and chassis flex and movement, as well.
Maybe they should count the number of bikes in the top 10 and assign points that way, with tiebreaker going to best finish. 4 Yamahas in the top 10 would beat 2 Hondas.
Here’s hoping Fabio can keep the momentum going next year. He may even be on a factory Yamaha…
In the pre-race coverage Yamaha president Yanagi was seen in FQ’s garage. You can bet that they believe Quartararo is their next star rider and next year he will be on a full factory spec bike. For that matter I hope that Morbidelli gets the same treatment as he is finally showing his potential. With improved bikes they will harass MM next year but it will still be a tough ask to beat him. Rins and Mir may be right there too if that new Suzuki engine is strong. If Honda ever supplies Marquez with a bike that’s easier to ride then I’m not sure anyone else will win a championship while he is in his prime.
“next year he will be on a full factory spec bike”
The past few seasons, this hasn’t always been an advantage. Many times the satellite Yamaha has outperformed the factory bike, presumably by being more sorted and less experimental.
“Many times the satellite Yamaha has outperformed the factory bike, presumably by being more sorted and less experimental.”
The factory Yamahas are faster every year, so that presumption isn’t true. The satellite bike isn’t outperforming the factory bike. Faster riders on satellite bikes are routinely outperforming the factory riders. I think that is all it comes down to.
This is a meme that has no foundation in truth. It started with Zarco, this notion that the satellite Yamaha riders routinely outperform the factory Yamaha riders, when, in fact, the factory guys always finished every year ahead of the satellite guys. Even this year, with as poorly as Rossi is doing and as well as Fabio and now Morbidelli are doing, Maverick is still the top Yamaha rider on the points chart. Before this year, Rossi was nearly always the top Yamaha rider, and when he wasn’t it was Lorenzo, not any of the satellite guys.
“This is a meme that has no foundation in truth.”
Nobody is disputing that the factory bikes historically do better in the championship standings, but there’s no arguing that the satellite bike often outperforms the factory bike/riders in given days and it happens far to frequently to be considered “rare”.
At the rate they’re going, it is not unthinkable that Fabio will pass Maverick in the standings (3 races to go, 13pts. back) and be the highest placed Yamaha at the end of this year’s championship.
None of that changes the fact that the factory guys have been outperformed by their satellite many times. Vinales is fast and has been the number 1 Yamaha rider since he joined the squad and the only one to win any races in a while.
But to say that the meme has no foundation in truth? That’s just fantasy. Fabio has finished as the top Yamaha for five races this year, all of those in the last 10 races I believe, so possibly more to come. He could potentially even catch up to Vinales in the points. Zarco finished top Yamaha ten races during his stint with Tech3. I certainly never meant to imply that they dominated the factory squad, but the fact remains that they have a habit of beating out Mav and Rossi with some regularity. Morbidelli rides like a good satellite rider. Zarco and Fabio rode/ride the bike on a different level.
“next year he will be on a full factory spec bike”
FQ has done better with his bike than the Yamaha factory racer’s have done with their full factory bikes.
also Lorenzo is now riding the 2018 Honda.
food for thought.
Time marches on and all the bikes will be improved next season even the KTMs and Aprilias so having a Yamaha with more power and better electronic aids will be necessary for any of the team or satellite riders to challenge Marquez. Yamaha has been working on the power thing and recently hired away a Magneti Marelli tech to help them fix the electronics.
Again, no, he hasn’t. Fabio is sixth in the standings. Maverick is tied for third.
What happens on Sundays is all that matters. There are no points awarded for being fastest in P2, or even for qualifying on the front row, ahead of your teammates. Every year, since the dawn of time, the top Yamaha rider has always been a factory guy, not a satellite rider. With only three races remaining, a factory rider is again set to lead the points tally for Yamaha.
well i stand corrected…at least until the end of the season though right?
fabio’s team has done better “as of late” than the factory yamaha teams?
Other then Dovi working his way up to the podium,the race was a snooze fest.Thankfully,Moto2,& Moto3 where quite entertaining.
This is not the race you are looking for, move on.
Since there’s no comments yet I’ll start it off… I don’t like Marquez.
Fair rider tho.
I’m not convinced that your lack of support will make Marc unhappy or keep him from winning races.
The last 7 years have shown Marquez to be the best racer in the game. Fast, fit, pleasant, and professional.
You may not like someone who is hard-working, gets along well with his team, loves his family, smiles a lot, is kind to his fans, and doesn’t use foul language, but I find him quite likeable.
Dude! He rides a four stroke. How wonderful could he possibly be?
There! Now I’m one of the crickets.
Uhh, they ALL do.
That’s why the series is irrelevant.
to you maybe, but thankfully you are in a vast minority. MotoGP has never been closer or more popular
Oh, I’d say that MotoGP has definitely been closer than it is now. Pretty much, every previous year boasted a closer points chase than we have this year. Perhaps the 2014 championship was equally lacking in suspense, but that would probably be the only one.
Heck, even if we go back to the 500cc two-stroke era, I’m hard pressed to think of a champion that was crowned with four races still to go, as we witnessed this year in Thailand.
No I mean the gap between 1st and 2nd, or 1st and tenth and 1st and 15th. Just saw a chart the other day showing the gaps from 2005, 2015 and 2019 and the gaps between all those groups is smaller than ever meaning the racing is closer than ever.
You’re just going to throw it out there that you don’t like him? How about explaining why?
That last year Rossi had the chance at the championship (I forget the year), Marquez, Lorenzo and the rest of “them”, regardless of the team, ganged up to block Rossi from winning. Short of knocking them down in dirty fashion Rossi couldn’t win. That wasn’t racing. That was cheating. Rossi took like the GOAT he is tho.
That’s why.
LOL! Guess you know where Jimmy Hoffa’s body is buried, who REALLY shot JFK and what’s in Area 51, also! Unless Rossi and you are VERY close friends or relatives, you should get over your hero worship. He is just a motorcycle rider; does not serve something bigger than himself, no defender of freedom, life saver, etc.
Well no but, if you want to discuss Bldg. 7 I’m all ears. 🤔
2015. The year Rossi went totally insane. And took his fans with him. He couldn’t win races on his own, so he wanted all the other riders to park on the track so he could finish 2nd behind Lorenzo and win the championship by default. Lies, slander, and innuendo. Yeah, I remember Rossi going nuts in 2015. Sorry he took you with him.
LOFL! Yep, I’m pretty sure all the rossi-worshipers are hating on you for telling the truth right about now!
Simply amazing. In a season with twelve factory team riders, Mark has absolutely dominated.
The kid is certainly talented and determined. Would hate to have aspirations to be a champion while he is still riding.
Loved the announcer when he said you Lorenzo fans may want to plug your ears, but he was just passed by Karel Abraham lol. How sad is that?
I really did laugh out loud when he said that!
I have to point out the obvious … Lorenzo broke a vertebrae in his back. I broke a tiny bone in my wrist about 40 years ago and for over ten years, I could tell about a half hour ahead when it was going to rain. I just can’t imagine him ever being competitive again for two reasons. One, I don’t care how much care he gets, and I’m sure it’s excellent, a broken vertebrae has got to put some limitations on what you can do no matter how great an athlete you are. And two, a broken leg, arm, rib, whatever, you can kinda quickly get over ( I seem to remember Rossi riding rather well with a cast on his leg ) but, your spine, it’s got all of those nerves and crap running through it always reminding you … “hey, you too can be an invalid”. I don’t know, maybe he can recover, but I just can’t imagine him being competitive again. Best of luck to him, he’ll need it.
The broke wrist bone would come in handy because you would no ahead of time the precise moment to put on your waterproofs. 👍