The classic Assen TT was held earlier today and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) captured his fourth MotoGP victory on the year. Quartararo took several laps to work his way around early leader Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati), but then immediately established a pace that no one else could match, resulting in a gap of several seconds to second place.
Yamaha teammate Maverick Viñales eventually worked himself into second position, but Quartararo had an insurmountable lead at that point. Viñales finished second ahead of Joan Mir (Suzuki), who made an impressive charge from 10th on the starting grid to capture the final podium position.
With Johann Zarco (Ducati) finishing fourth today, Quartararo enters the summer break with a 34 point lead in the championship. The riders now have an extended break before the next round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria on August 8. For full results of today’s race, take a look here. You can find additional details on the MotoGP site.
i don’t get why Aprilia is so interested in having the Mav insult; them, their crews, and their bike for the next one/two years
Every crew of race engineers just know their bike is the greatest, if only they had a rider able to ride it properly.
And every rider knows he is the best there is… If only he could get the right team and bike behind him, he could win the championship.
Rather than jumping ship to go to Aprilia, Maverick would be better off angling for one of the eight Ducati seats next season. The Ducati is a proven race winner, with massive backing from the factory, and now Ducati is adding the endlessly deep pockets of Team VR46’s new Saudi sponsors. Aprilia is a tiny factory with only two bikes on the grid, and they’ve never earned a single podium in the MotoGP era. Aprilia has to go back to the 500cc two-stroke era twenty-one years ago to find their last podium, and it’s not as if they’re regularly threatening for podiums now, either. Despite their supposedly much-improved package for 2021, their best result this season is still only a couple of sixth-place finishes.
Maybe it’s already too late to grab a Ducati ride for the 2022 season, I don’t know, but if I’m Maverick and his manager I’m getting on the phone right away with old teammate Valentino and hitting him up with the idea of riding for Team VR46 in 2023, if not immediately next year.
and about an hour after you posted. He must have been reading MCD!
Doesn’t Maverick to Ducati make a lot more sense to you than Maverick to Aprilia, especially next season when there will be two more extremely well-funded Ducatis on the grid?
I can’t imagine how Aprilia can successfully pitch themselves to Maverick. They aren’t going to pay him (much) more than Yamaha or Ducati will, their bike hasn’t gotten a sniff of a podium in twenty years, they’re going to continue to have only two bikes on the grid, the fewest R&D resources, etc.
All they can offer him are open ears, personal respect, and the ability to make him feel wanted. Sure, those things are important to Maverick, but two or three weekends in a row of finishing twelfth, with no light at the end of the tunnel, and Bad Maverick is sure to rear its ugly head, and then they’re all screwed.
He needs to go to Ducati, KTM, back to Suzuki, or, god forbid, become Marc’s teammate at Repsol Honda. Before he resigned with Yamaha, Honda absolutely would have signed him, given the opportunity. With Pol predictably showing zilch so far, Honda really ought to find a way to get Maverick to cast his eye towards the famous blue and orange garage that houses all the big, shiny trophies.
Great comment till the Honda part. No way Mav could tame that steed, and no way Honda will be that flexible about it.
While I agree with you on both counts, Honda is still a better option than Aprilia is for Maverick, and he’s a better option than Pol Espagaro is for Honda. At least Maverick knows the Honda is capable of winning, and Honda knows the same regarding Maverick.
Honda and Ducati both wanted Maverick badly when it was his turn during the Silly Season. Neither were too particularly hot on Pol. Other than Fabio, Mir, and maybe Dovi, Maverick should still be at the top of Honda’s wish list.
I’ll buck the trend here and say that Aprilia is the right move for Vinales. I think the guy needs a relatively low-pressure environment where he isn’t expected to win right away. The bike is actually pretty close, Dovi has been riding and giving input on the 2022 package, and I suspect Vinales can bring a good bit of speed to the program.
He’ll sign a 1-year deal. That gets him out of a toxic situation and onto a GP bike for next year. If he podium’s the bike once or twice and consistently finishes pretty far up the order, he can increase his value for the 2023 market and make another move if he desires. He’s so blistering fast during practice and testing that Aprilia should gain a lot whether Vinales stays or goes in 2023.
Maverick is fast in practice. But then again, a lot of guys are fast in practice.
He disappears in many races. And then he complains about his bike, even though it was one of the fastest in practice.
The kid can’t race on race day. There must be a psychological issue going on.
Yamaha definitely made the right decision to give him the boot after his smoldering temper tantrum on the podium. How many people would be overjoyed to take 2nd place in a race?
How many crew chiefs did Maverick go through?
At the end of the day, Maverick is the problem.
Dude’s got issues. I don’t know what they are, but I think it was a hint, one time, when he said about his dissatisfaction with the team, “sometimes you just need a hug”.
Rossi is not having a bad year.
Rossi had a great career but it’s over.
He stayed on one, maybe two years too long.
And, while we all have our moments, throwing away his last real chance in a failed psych war against MM was particularly ignominious.
As long as people keep paying you to ride the fastest bikes on earth, I’m not convinced putting off retiring to become just another old fart, is “staying on too long.” It’s an opportunity to do what he has clearly loved his whole life, for as long as he can.
Quatararao is certainly looking like he could be WC this year.
What’s with Vinales dead last last week, pole and second this week?
Mir rode well, but he’d better up his qualifying game if he hopes to repeat as WC.
Poor Nakagami, so fast then wham back to 9th. Seems like a nice guy. I hope he gets a podium before years end.
Miller is having a rough year, just when it seems he’s in it, he’s eating dirt again.
Marquez didn’t do too bad considering starting 20th. At least he didn’t crash today..uunlike Rossi. Another guy having a bad year.
Now a break in the action.
Quartararo looks damn impressive. Given his Moto2 and Moto3 performances, I honestly never expected this level from him.
Miller is kind of riding like he did with Pramac. Threatening, but inconsistent.
Maverick is a puzzle, has been ever since joining Yamaha. Best of luck to him next year on his new bike. That is a pretty shocking move and shows the level of his discontent. Even Dovi, who’s unemployed, wasn’t willing to commit. (Wonder if Dovi is regretting staying on the fence for so long? I bet he certainly has been lighting up Jarvis’s phone since getting the news while Jarvis has probably been lighting up Raul Fernandez’s phone.)
Marquez’s ride from 20th on the grid was pretty impressive. I didn’t expect that.
can you see Dovi on a Yamaha? A bike that actually handles in a corner!
I think the move is give Morbidelli Rossi’s factory bike and prep him to fill Vinales’ vacated seat next year. Re-make the Petronas team with a couple of Moto2 hotshots.
Up until this year the Yamaha has been the most steady and consistent bike in the paddock. Seems like a big roll of the dice to go to Aprilia for him. I wish him luck.
It blows me away that guys are willing to sign a 2 year contract with a company without even test riding their motorcycle to see if it’s a good fit.
Zarco couldn’t stand the KTM after signing with them, and baled halfway thru his contract, almost ending his career.
Pol finally got the KTM to work, then signed with Honda which he can’t seem to come to grips with.
I don’t think Yamaha is too keen on Franco. That is just the impression I get, and I could totally be misreading what appears to me an apathetic attitude towards Franco I suspect due to inconsistent performances this year. I think Yamaha will make a play for Raul Fernandez (or some other Moto2 or 3 star) and take a risk on another young potential superstar. Rumor has it that Fernandez was already very keen on the Petronas seat that will be vacated by Rossi, but apparently Petronas doesn’t have enough in the budget to buy him out of the KTM contract. Perhaps factory Yamaha does.
Did you actually watch him race in M3 & M2? I don’t normally watch M2/M3, but the kid was quite impressive. He had a run of bad circumstances – injuries/bike/etc, but his talent was evident watching him ride. Looking at the stats, not so much.
I follow Moto2 and Moto3. I’m pretty sure Morbidelli never raced in Moto3. He went straight from Euro Superstock to Moto2 in 2014 if I remember correctly. His first couple of years in Moto2 were a little rocky. He had a good year in 2016 once he moved to one of the best teams on the grid, finishing pretty high in the points. Then Zarco, Rins, and Lowes graduated to the premier class leaving Franco to dominate 2017 in their wake.
He may or may not be not be a super-alien like Marc or Fabio seem to be, but he has championship winning potential, in my opinion. He just seems to get snubbed a little by Yamaha. Maybe that’s just because they have the hottest ticket in MotoGP in their camp right now as well as a MotoGP legend and didn’t have enough spotlight for poor Franco. He deserves the factory seat in my opinion, but I get the feeling there are a few higher-ups in Yamaha that don’t feel the same way. The poor guy is on a 2-year-old bike for crying out loud despite being 2020’s winningest Yamaha and finishing just 13 points off of the championship. That’s not how you treat that kind of talent if you are trying to keep him around. Hopefully good sense will prevail, and he’ll get the offer. I’m not so sure though.
Thanks. We may be talking past each other. I was referring to Fabio as “the kid” in my post.
I was impressed w/ Fabio before he came to MGP, but Franco was never on my radar.
Yes, I misunderstood and thought you were referring to Morbidelli. My opinion of Fabio in Moto2 and Moto3 was similar to your impression of Binder in GP. Flashes of brilliance, but nothing solid that could be put together to make him a title contender, much less an alien. I was surprised when he got called up to MotoGP, and I was even more surprised at his performance. I can honestly say that I never saw Fabio Quartararo coming.