Round 2 at Misano earlier today (called the Emilia Romagna GP) saw more than its share of drama. Several riders crashed (generally unhurt, as we understand it), including Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) who crashed out of the lead after setting the pace for much of the race.
At the line, it was Maverick Viñales (Yamaha) taking his first win of the year over a hard-charging Joan Mir (Suzuki) in second (who again had the best pace at the end of the race), and third place Pol Espargaro (KTM). Espargaro was elevated from 4th place to 3rd place after a three second penalty was imposed against Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) for exceeding the track limits five times during the race. Quartararo was awarded 4th place.
Several riders are within striking distance on championship points. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), who finished in 8th position today, has a one point lead over Quartararo and Viñales. Mir is four points back from Dovizioso. You can find full race results here. For additional details, visit the official MotoGP site.
read a quote from Dovi this afternoon that said in effect that he can’t believe he is leading the championship by going slow. lol
Who missed MM? Have to admit that I do. He is the World Champ after all. Yes, the racing has still been great without his presence, and is fun to try and guess who is going to win. Could be anyone at this point. Felt bad for Bagnaia, looked like he was going to win, if he stayed on. Enjoyed the race!
Yeah, I miss Marc. Even with just 6 races left, I think he would have been a strong contender for this year’s championship if he were to return this weekend. 6 wins would give him 150 points, and the best of the rest are averaging 10.5 points per race, leaving them all around 147.
Alas, we’ll never find out. Marc has announced that he will not return at all for the 2020 Championship Season.
IMHO, the battle will be been Mav, Fabio, and Mir. I don’t expect Dovi to be a threat, and Pecco is just a bit too far back unless the others keep tripping over themselves.
At this point, it looks as though we’ll beat Nicky Hayden’s 2006 record for lowest average points per race for the Championship winner – he averaged 14.8 points per race.
“Even with just 6 races left, I think he would have been a strong contender for this year’s championship if he were to return this weekend. 6 wins would give him 150 points, and the best of the rest are averaging 10.5 points per race, leaving them all around 147.”
Wow. I hadn’t thought of that. That would be insane. But if anyone could do it, he could. And it would likely cause other riders to retire in shame. 😮
My math was off. 7 races down, 7 to go, instead of 8 & 6. Numbers are different, but the end is about the same. Marc could pick up 175 points, and the others would finish @ 168 (14 races @ 12 pts per race). It won’t happen because MM is not coming back in the next several races, but like you said, if anyone could do it, it would be Marc.
I wonder if riders are going to be jumping off certain popular ships to hitch a ride on a Suzuki next year.
Reports are that the Honda is very difficult to ride this year thus year, for instance, and the Suzuki seems to be finishing strong. The bike seems to be easy on both its rider and its tires. That is an attractive combo for a rider who want to make a name for himself.
It’s too bad that GP bikes aren’t subject to market forces. Wher the riders more choice in the bikes they ride.
I don’t know if it’s the bike or just Mir. His qualifying needs to be better but maybe the process of doing a fast lap in qualifying then getting off the racing line the next lap perhaps cools down the tires too much for the next fast lap. The bike does seem to be easier on tires over race distance but maybe that’s the problem with qualifying…it cools the tires down too much between fast laps. Perhaps Mir should blast out 3 fast laps at a time instead. If he can get a better starting position, surely he’d be fighting for more than the also-ran podium positions because even though he has the pace for grabbing 1st, he runs out of laps to get there. Good points are good points but top step points are better.
I doubt it. Suzuki is a small budget outfit who has room for two riders. Those riders are locked up and there is little reason for either side to want a divorce. There isn’t really much reason for anyone, but ride-less Dovi, to want to horn into there happy little situation.
In a season when both satellite and concession teams have won, Suzuki has only looked like they should. The inline engines haven’t been first or second in the championship for at least three seasons now. Wins have been increasingly rare. Few in the MotoGP community probably see Suzuki as being too far below what will be their high water mark for the foreseeable future. I do expect a win or two from them this year, though. For the relative size of their operation, that would be something for them to truly take pride in.
Would love to see a satellite Suzuki team with Dovi and Lorenzo as riders, but Suzuki likes young riders and would probably sign a couple lower class guys hoping for success down the road.
That is a bit of a conundrum. A satellite team would be supplied bikes by Suzuki and presumably do their own hiring but this arrangement would flip the traditional model on its head (like Rossi on a Satellite bike will) where the satellite team acts as a feeder to the factory team.
Does anyone know the status of the rookie/satellite rule (the one Marc Marquez got an exception to in order to go straight to HRC/Repsol)? Suzuki would be challenged by that rule for not having a satellite team. Aprilia too, I guess. Can they not hire rookies?
From beginning to end I am constantly amazed at the quality of the Dorna video feed (today in the MotoGP wrap up a brief exception was a Moto2 crash shown in error).
Video quality is fantastic; the announcers are similarly excellent. Next race I plug my laptop > 92″ front projector screen (full light control; finally swapped in a new bulb at least twice as bright as the old bulb). If you’re on the fence buy Dorna’s video feed and thank me later.
Does anyone actually miss Marc Marquez this season? Who on earth besides MM, Honda, and their fans is not jacked about 4 points separating the top 4 MotoGP riders? One of the greatest benefits this season is getting to know so many new and promising riders; the MM show was and remains stale, moldy bread.
Surely, based on the wide open championship frenzy without MM, Dorna is cashing in video feed chips in a huge and unexpected magnitude.
Felt bad for Pecco Bagnaia, but was not surprised considering he needed assistance walking Friday to practice. I presume Maverick’s pressure just wore him out mentally and physically; the pain was likely immense. I wonder if it occurred to Pecco and/or his team to lighten up and just finish the race, minimizing the likelihood of a crash and zero points. Plus he may have aggravated the earlier injury, further setting him back in the championship race.
If Rimini is not the most beautiful place on earth, please post your preference. Only seen the images and video, but oh man, are there words to describe that place?
I’m continually amazed by Dorna’s video feed as well. Announcers and Crafar in the pits (world champ caliber racer himself) are excellent too.
The premier class announcers have been great, always.
I would agree with that and did not mean to say they weren’t. Although Nick Harris (retired 2017?) was getting a little forgetful in the last couple years I still think he did good.
Rimini is great. I went to the race there last year. I live in San Diego county and it reminded me of home.
Bagnaia wasn’t pressured by Maverick. Pecco ran consistent 132.XX from lap 2 until he crashed. These guys are on the very edge of crashing all the time, and sometimes front ends just go. A bunch of them lost the front ends from Bagnaia on back to Rabat.
yes I miss Marquez (and Lorenzo, and Pedrosa and Stoner), but guys like Bagnaia, P Espargaro, Mir and Morbidelli are making this season entertaining. Would like to see A. Espargaro doing better.
Sorry to see Rossi crash out. Tough last season on the factory Yamaha for Val.With Marquez out and Dovi, Quatararo and Vinales not doing particularly well, this could have been his year to shine.
Before you say wait, Dovi, Quatararo and Vinales are 1st 2nd and 3rd in the championship how can you say they are not doing well?
Well, in 7 races
Dovi has placed 6th ,11th, 6th 7th and 8th
Quatararo 7th, 8th, 13th and retired one race
Vinales 14th, 10th, 6th and retired one race
Not exactly stellar performances.
The fact that those 3 are leading the championship, shows what a poor season this has really been.
Unfortunately for Rossi he has had a 5th, a 5th, a 9th and retired two races
Because of Vin’s pressure, Pecco had to run 1:32:xx. Without that pressure he could’ve backed off to 1:33:xx and not risked the crash.
…even though his telemetry/data said he was going same speed, same lean angle, same gear in that corner as every other lap.
He said he felt no pressure from Maverick and was controlling the gap. He claimed either hit dirt or a tear off. Sometimes they just lose the front end. A lot of them did that race.
Rimini is achingly beautiful, I have had the good fortune to visit twice including a three night stay for the 2016 GP; if you have any inclination at all I would say do not hesitate once this blight has passed. And the track is an easy 40 minute walk from the sea…
What a late show by Mir with yet another picture perfect pass. I’m starting to believe in this kid and the Suzuki.great combo.
I really expected Vinales to fold like normal. He suprised me this time.
KTM is proving they belong there. Wonder if Pol is going to regret going to Honda.
Loved the back of Dovi’s leathers
Mir fan here also. Plus the bitchin Suzuki paint scheme should be worth 20 championship points, no?
No
“Wonder if Pol is going to regret going to Honda”
That ^. The Honda is a HOT MESS. To be fair, it hasn’t been good for anyone but Marquez in a couple of years. I hope he’s getting a big cheque.