A spectacular, if belated, start to the 2020 MotoGP series in Jerez earlier today saw 21-year-old Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) take his first win in the Premier class. Quartararo created a sizable gap to second place Maverick Viñales (Yamaha) and third place Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati). Quartararo capped a perfect weekend after setting a new lap record at Jerez on his way to pole position.
One highlight today was a breathtaking ride by Marc Marquez (Honda) who saved an early crash in the gravel trap, re-entered the race in nearly last position and worked his way up to third place (on the rear wheel of Maverick Viñales) with just a few laps remaining when he suffered a nasty, high-side crash that ended his day and sent him to the hospital. Honda has issued a press release stating Marquez broke his arm during the crash (humerus bone), and will undergo surgery next Tuesday. No word yet on when he is expected to be race-ready.
Another impressive ride was put in by KTM rookie Brad Binder who, despite some bad moments, recorded a series of impressively quick laps near the end of the race. He ultimately finished in 13th position.
The riders return to Jerez next weekend for another race where Quartararo will defend his points lead in the series. Take a look here for full race results.
So this time the incredible save by MM is going to cost him the season. It allowed him to charge through the field and arrive behind Maverick with a cooked rear tire that launched him to the moon. If he had only lost it in the gravel he’d be getting ready to race again this weekend and only 25 points down.
The high-side is really interesting. Maybe Cameron or someone will dissect it? Correct me if I’m wrong but high-sides are generally rear wheel breaks traction then regains it, snapping the bike – so were conditions just so weird that the advanced TC already mentioned in the comments here just couldn’t keep up and/or made a bad decision based on its programming/the data it was getting?
The racing was good, but it was a brutal weekend. Alex, Cal, and Marc all out with serious injuries.
Fabio got the win for which he has worked hard. I was a fan years ago, and he seems like a nice kid. The tats and the foul mouth don’t score points with me, however.
Marc had an amazing race. The first save, really two saves in one, was spectacular, and the comeback through the field was terrific. I’ve seen a few charges like that in the past, and this was among the best. These are among the best riders in the world on the fastest bikes, and Marc went through them like the proverbial hot knife through butter.
The crash at the end doesn’t quite make sense to me. The bike acted up just before the crash, so either there was a problem, or Marc didn’t recognize the tires going away. Either way, it was ugly to watch.
Unfortunately, crashes are part of the sport. Marc won the 2013 championship due in great part to Jorge’s injuries, and if Marc cannot recover in time, this year’s champion will owe much/most of the championship to Marc’s injuries. It’s a shame, but part of reality.
I’m hoping for quick recoveries for all the injured riders, and that they don’t get re-injured as Jorge did in 2013.
As for the kabuki theater television presentation, it was pathetic and even painful to watch and listen.
“As for the kabuki theater television presentation, it was pathetic and even painful to watch and listen.”….. solution: https://www.motogp.com/
NBCSN showed the same exact race video and commentary as motogp.com (minus a bit of the pre-race). So what was pathetic and painful, or did I miss something?
“NBCSN showed the same exact race video and commentary as motogp.com (minus a bit of the pre-race)”….
Seriously? I think the MotoGP.com guys do a great job and know their stuff. I’m confused too.
I think the spectacular charge was ultimately what caused the crash. That pace was not what they had planned for in their tire strategy and he took it too past the limit. The high-side is pretty interesting considering how sophisticated the traction control systems are.
I don’t see Marc’s 2013 or whoever’s 2020 championship as being credited to another’s misfortune. Like you say, crashes are a continual hazard and you can’t win if you are unable to finish the races and avoid the injuries that prevent you from starting all of the races. Credit to a 20 year old Marc for managing that in his rookie year.
Even though I firmly believe that Jorge deserved the 2013 championship, I’m not suggesting that we change history or that Marc didn’t win. I’m just saying that the races Jorge rode injured and the 1 race he missed completely is what cost him the championship.
Marc could still take the championship this year, even missing 2 or possibly 3 more races. My assumption is that Mav, Fabio, Dovi, Jack, and even Alex may take enough points off each other throughout the year to give Marc enough room to claw back the points needed to win.
That’s not a prediction, just my opinion as to what’s possible.
My last post disappeared/failed to post. I’m not disputing the 2013 championship, but remain convinced that Jorge was the better rider that year, and would have won were it not for the 3 races affected by his injuries.
As to 2020, I still think Marc has a reasonable chance of winning the championship even if he misses 2 or 3 more races. I suspect that Alex, Fabio, Dovi, Jack, and Maverick will wind up taking points off each other, rather than just one of them winding up clearly dominant. IMHO, Marc is good enough to take home the prize if the others are mostly evenly matched. Even more so if some of the other riders are able to mix it up at the front.
Just opinion & speculation on my part.
The race series sure did get a lot more suspenseful after this past Sunday. Marc’s chances depend on how well his bone heals and how much risk they will take in putting him back on the bike. The surgery reportedly was uneventful with the insertion of a plate and no radial nerve damage, so that outcome is very good. I will be very surprised if he’s racing again in two weeks, though. If he were to fall again on that arm?…
“…if Marc cannot recover in time, this year’s champion will owe much/most of the championship to Marc’s injuries…”
By what logic does someone separate MM’s speed (in both off-track race incidents yesterday) from his crash? By what logic does someone separate MM’s speed from the relative speed of the rest of the field, in particular that of Vinales and Quartaroro? By what logic is MM not personally responsible for bad judgement in attempting to pass Vinales? (Let’s not muddy this conversation; let’s keep the conversation focused on MM’s 2 off-track race incidents yesterday.)
There’s a certain logic to speeding on the street. If you are in a rush to travel 2k miles and shorten your ETA, and you managed to evade citation for the first 1800 miles, to continue to speed (at the same rate) is bad for 2 reasons: one is the ticket takes time and delays your ETA, 2nd but more critical and weighed higher and to our point w/MM, is that the time to be saved is minimal for the same risk of citation. For what would likely not affect the Championship outcome (we all saw him pulling away when he was in first), he likely tossed this year away.
One can more than reasonably argue that yesterday MM tossed the season (extreme risk) to finish one place higher. Because one has played Russian Roulette and not died does not mean death is not imminent. Similar one falling from a plane without a parachute; it’s not the fall, it’s the abrupt ending.
First MM entered the gravel run off for reasons specifically unknown, but to eliminate the hubris and the speed of the rest of the field is bad logic. He made it from 2nd to last up to #3, but further demanded even higher placement against a proven rider who already has beat MM prior (Vinales) on level playing field.
If someone not named MM wins the championship this year, why exactly does that Champion not “owe much/most of the championship” to his training, his experience, his speed, and the expertise of every single team member, more so than MM’s crashes yesterday?
Never mind, though. I’m sure after missing only one race or maybe none, MM will be back on his way to owning every race record extant. When you lookup “motorcycle racer” you’ll see only thousands of images of MM, and no other racer’s stats shall even appear. It’s inevitable. Nothing can stop it, not even God. The Titanic is and shall always be “unsinkable.”
Interesting post. The problem with your reasoning is that you forget that passing Mav was worth 4 points in the Championship. It might make sense to not try a desperate last-lap kamikaze move to take over 5th, but that wasn’t the case here. Marc was clearly faster, and didn’t make a wild attempt to pass Mav. He was waiting for a clean opportunity, and something went wrong with the bike/tires.
What the viewers could see, and probably Marc as well, was that Vinales was having to deal with worn front tire, and wouldn’t have been able to mount much of a defense.
Motorcycle racers do not just sit behind slower riders and leave 4 points on the table unless there is a very strong reason. This is racing, not parading.
Marc is not invincible, but the Honda/Marquez combination is proving to be very difficult to beat. No one ran Marc off the road this time. Whether it was a Honda error, a Marquez error, or a track issue, FQ won the race, Marc got 0 points, and was injured.
It was still a great race, and an outstanding performance by many riders, especially Marc.
Man, you must really hate Marquez for some reason.
Humorus – two months minimum even with a plate. Maybe Alex will speed up. But that bike ain’t the Yamaha. Will spit him right off.
used to be a front wheel slide meant crash and a rear wheel spin-up could be saved…
Hmmmm… not to sure about that. I remember how common high sides were BTC (before traction control). And Freddie Spencer in his prime seemed to defy the laws of physics on the front end at times.
I remember the days of those vicious highsides. Nowadays they’re rare, and I don’t miss them. Too often they result in a season-ending injury. Currently, when there’s a highside, it’s often early in the corner, somewhat different than in the past. Sometimes cold rear tires step out, other times???
Those old highsides were collar bone breakers. Glad they are (almost) a thing of the past.
They were so bad. And the wrists and ankles! So bad. I’m glad to see them greatly reduced, though the high-side remains a vicious way to dismount.
Yep good ride by Fabio, and almost a miracle comeback for MM after crashing out of the lead. He could have settled for the 3rd step, but that’s just not his style.
Amazing that they are taking Covid so seriously. Glad to see it. They aren’t that good at my local grocery store with a mandatory mask order.
Honestly, MM looked pretty calm sitting behind Maverick, seemingly just waiting for the right moment to pass him. Mav’s pace was a second slower than Marc’s, so Marc was likely less on the limit tucked behind Mav than he had been the whole race. It looked the rear tire just totally gave up on him at a pace he wouldn’t expect it to. It just stepped out so fast.
That was an absolutely spectacular show by him up to that point. Unfortunately, he looked pretty hurt. I don’t know his condition, but I can’t see him being ready to race in a week. Vinales, Fabio, and Dovi must be licking their chops.
Jeremy he got a broken humerus (long bone between shoulder and elbow) of right arm when his bike hit him. Going to be out for awhile.
Honda is in deep doo doo this year. Cruthlow also broke his wrist and needs surgery, and brother Alex isn’t exactly tearing it up, back there fighting with Takagami near the bottom of the pile.
There are two factory Honda’s available to ride. I wonder who will keep them warm? Maybe they’ll pull Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam over from WSBK?
Probably Bautista but he’s never finished higher than 9th in the premier class to the best of my knowledge.
He’s done much better. Has 3 podiums and finished 5th and 6th in the championship earlier in his career.
Check his wiki page. All the motoGP guys have a big results table/matrix. It’s pretty interesting to look at.
Does MM running 1S quicker laps prior to running #3 behind MV @ #2, by definition mean that MM could continue that same pace to pass and pull away from MV?
We know the answer now.
Past does not equal prologue.
Past does not equate to prologue, agreed, but the fact that he didn’t does not mean that he could not have. So, no, actually we do not know the answer. We just know the answer to “what happened?” which isn’t the same thing as knowing what may or may not have been possible.
I know that if this same thing were to play out later this season, I’d be reluctant to bet against Marc, seeing as past does not equal prologue and all.
Agreed. Marc didn’t need to do anything spectacular to get past Mav, and didn’t try anything heroic. The crash was not due to a crazy move on Marc’s part.
Majestic performance by Marc. The guy is an absolute animal. His maniacal recklessness finally caught up to him today, but anyone who witnessed this race will never forget the sheer spectacle of #93’s crazy save, his red-mist blitz through the entire field to get back onto the podium, and, finally…huge slide…blue sky…horrific landing, tumbling, tumbling, front tire clobbers him, more tumbling…on his knees, gathering his breath, cursing the gods.
Then those images of him sitting behind the tires, holding his arm, his face a roiling kaleidoscope of anguish, anger…sociopathic intensity.
Awesome. Simply awesome.
Fantastic result for Fabio, to be sure, but the biggest winner of the day was clearly Andrea Dovizioso, who now has a clear path to that first elusive MotoGP world title.
There it is the first win for FQ. Amazing ride by Marc until it wasn’t and that is likely the çhampionship going away from him for this year.
There’s talk on another moto-site of nerve damage relating to wrist control bing a risk with his type of injury. Don’t know how much risk he is facing there. Hopefully he avoids that.
+1
And also that he doesn’t start getting more timid after crashes like that. While almost superhuman on a bike, he is getting older. And the combination of nasty crashes and less of the immortality of youth, can quickly add up in a sport where everything is won right at the ragged edge.
Update: successful surgery and no damage to the radial nerve. Now it’s just a matter of how the bone progresses and how much risk they want to take in returning to the track.
Watched the full race yesterday and it was really good. The talk is of how Marc was almost 1 sec./lap faster than Fabio but I think Fabio had them all covered. Had Marc not crashed, he could not have had enough tire left to challenge.
Was cool to see 2nd through 6th so close, too.
Also, Marc was riding like a maniac, on the very edge, playing catch-up. Fabio had the race in the bag. He was cruising along in bring-it-home-safely mode. There is no way to know whether Fabio had another second-per-lap left in his bag, if he’d needed it. We do know that he didn’t need it, and like a wise man once said, the best way to win is to do so without pushing hard and taking risks. Win slowly, if possible.