The MotoGP series returned from a summer break to race at the Silverstone circuit this weekend. Celebrating the 75th anniversary of GP racing, all of the bikes were decked out in historic livery.
Enea Bastianini (Ducati) emerged with a double race win. On Saturday, Bastianini took the Sprint win ahead of Jorge Martin (Ducati) in second and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) in third.
Sunday’s full GP saw Bastianini gradually work his way to the front, passing both Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Martin in the process. Martin again finished second with Bagnaia third.
Martin retook the championship points lead as he has a narrow 3 point gap over Bagnaia. For full results and points for Saturday’s Sprint race, visit the MotoGP site here. For full results and points for Sunday’s MotoGP race, visit the MotoGP site here.
For something completely different, a new street-legal 2-stroke with GP power/weight ratios. Langen. Terrific for ice racing and Caribou Coffee cruising.
https://www.motorcycle.com/bikes/manufacturer/2023-langen-two-stroke-250-road-test-44595496
Seriously 76 hp and only 262 lbs dripping with Langen lubricants.
If a $76K Langen is too much, then Aprilia has an economical 2-stroke ring-ding answer: https://www.cycleworld.com/story/motorcycle-news/aprilia-motorcycle-fuel-injected-two-stroke-concept/
I’ll be in MN riding my KTM 300XC (a two stroke of course) next month at Akeley, Huntersville and Nemadji. While there I always stock up on wild rice, Caribou Coffee and smoked pork chops. You can find smoked pork chops here out east. But you won’t be happy that you did.
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musta killed freddie to see those hondas so far back.
Martin has talent. They should hire him a personality coach. MOTOGP needs a reasonably “cute” guy with a grin and some mischief. He has shown that he can successfully shave from time to time too. Holy smokes! Many of the rest of those guys look like they need to experience dropping the bong long enough to move out of mom’s basement.
“to move out of mom’s basement.”
But they are much faster then riders were 5 years ago.
Why does a self-confessed hater of MotoGP care about the personalities of the contestants? Give it and us a rest Mick.
Closet Fan 😶
I have mentioned this.. ahem… several times. Thanks for picking up the torch/baton.
I guess I never mentioned that 500GP was a bit of a linchpin. I use to watch all sorts of races at bars with friends when I didn’t just saddle up and go to them myself. I started to lose interest in the motocross races a bit when the jump to corner ratio became ridiculous. But 2002, the year of infamy, came along it all, save observed trials, became a giant add for expensive, fragile, grenading race bikes. Well, I haven’t been to or watched a race that I wasn’t riding in since. 500GP is the only thing I really miss. Were it still here the DieselGP guys would be the guys riding them. Well, some of them anyway. So I check the results and read the occasional article. It’s not the riders fault the they have to ride those things. They’re just making a buck to get food down their neck. I got nothing against them, other than MM.
So how about you guys? You didn’t like my comment. I get that. But you guys actually watch this stuff. Got anything other than whining about me to add? Is the racing really that bland?
“They’re just making a buck to get food down their neck.”
Really Mick? Aren’t we ALL? You should look away from what you type for 20 or 30 seconds, then read it again before you post.
Read the occasional article?
That’s a joke Mick. You have more knowledge of the inner workings of MotoGP than many fans no doubt. This is what confuses and irritates people when you bash the sport you won’t ever watch.
I like MM. He is rather old for MotoGP, but still competitive. Dani Pderosa is also able. I wonder about Vale and George. So, “old brothers” can be of any use with modern technology.
“But 2002,… became a giant add for expensive, fragile, grenading race bikes. ”
Except this isn’t what happened. Bikes have gotten no less reliable. They’ve only gotten easier to ride, faster and cleaner. The specter of 4T top overhauls isn’t something amateurs generally need to worry about because hardly any of them can ride the bikes hard enough to need this with any regularity.
“Is the racing really that bland?”
No, it is objectively better than it has ever been. It has never been faster, or more competitive than it is right now.
Tom, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Moto seen any of those 50 and change minute Kevin Cameron videos an YouTube?
Art, few people ever know what you are talking about.
Dave, you obviously know nothing about dirt bikes. Last time I lived in Minnesota I made ice race tracks every winter. The occasional guy on a two stroke would fail to rejet for winter and burn up a piston. That would cost him about $150 and an hour or two. The four strokes, aside from make way too much noise, would fail much more often and cost more than ten times as much to fix. The lucky ones would have their valves go out of adjustment and simply get a bike that wouldn’t start.
The street bikes haven’t really changed save the electronics packages. GP going from two to for stroke hasn’t changed the availability of a light weight street bike with between 80 and 90hp at all. The current market for bikes in that power range is all budget bikes. So now you can’t get one with decent suspension and brakes. I did have a look at the new Ducati single. That one make 80ish hp with the race pipe. But really, it’s a compromised design slapped together to get just barely better numbers than the 690 KTM’s, which are a better overall package. And for a few dollars more you can buy a Kramer 690 and get a bike that is considerably lighter and with as much power with a much fatter powerband. You could say that the Ducati has a fancy electronics package. But I ride motorcycles. Not electronics packages. It will always be my opinion that a motorcycle that is well designed for its venue doesn’t need an electronics package. Sales of the Yamaha 700s seem to indicate that there are a lot of people with similar opinions. The CP2 engine (Yamaha’s 700 twin) has a good reputation for durability as well. Too bad they don’t make a premium version with a dry sump and a premium chassis.
I’ve been around dirt bikes since he 80’s. 2-stroke piston/rings were a regular wear item for MX racers, often requiring replacement twice/year, expect 125cc & smaller.
Like dirt oval, ice racing taxes engines in ways mx weren’t designed for. I believe this is why Roland Sands’ good idea to convert 450cc 4T dirt bikes for road racing didn’t take.
And one more time, Kramer’s are track only bikes, not street bikes. The Duke 690 best delivers what you say you want. Why didn’t you buy one?
I’ve had six street bikes that were based on motorcycles that were supposedly not street legal. Do you really think that I would stop there?
And why would you buy a Duke when you can get a SMR?
You don’t have to ice race a four stroke the grenade it. They’ll do that eventually no matter what. They are money pits on wheels.
“I’ve had six street bikes that were based on motorcycles that were supposedly not street legal. Do you really think that I would stop there?”
Like we’ve long since established, you’re happy riding dirt bikes on the street and are comfortable with all of the compromises that brings. Like you’ve pointed out, there are a few supermotos available to satisfy that need. They’re also not street bikes, which is why you’d buy a Duke. That model is no longer available because street riders almost universally desire a multi-cylinder engine, regardless of how smooth KTM has managed to make their single run.
Valentino Rossi rode both types. 500gp two strokes and 1000gp four strokes. So what? Competitions happend altogether those times. Four strokes 1000 were faster and not that angry.
I would love to buy a lightweight twin. Unfortunately there are none. You look at the Kramer twin and see that it has about 130hp and weighs under 310 pounds. What’s up with the street market? Give me a bike with 40 less horsepower at the same weight and I’m happy. Expect me to accept a bike that weighs 100 pounds more and I am not. It’s really quite simple.
Wow Art. Really? A bike with twice the engine displacement goes faster. Go figure.
Yes. Two strokes have to have two times power from four strokes because of physics. But they do not. 2-strokes had 180hp around 2000 year, 4-strokes had 200hp. That is not pure physics. This is because of mechanical opportunities of 4-strokes developement.
Again, the Kramer is a track specific race bike, not a street bike. Tacking on minimal non-DOT compliant lights does not make it a street bike, not one a manufacturer can legally sell.
The Kramer is based on KTM’s street twins. Buy one and strip it of everything you think it doesn’t need. Let us know how close you get to 310#. Money where your mouth is, yeah?
Actually Kramer engines are build tto a more robust spec than the street bikes. And I have no idea why you feel the need to keep reminding me of what are and are not street bikes. I see street bikes as third rate products. Why would I want to buy one and attempt to improve it when I can buy a better product and adapt it for my use? You have this fascination with the discontinued Duke, probably because it looks more like a street bike. Ever wonder why it was discontinued when KTM still sells supermotos with the same engine in several flavors? Well Dave, that’s because the supermotos have better suspension. The dirt bike types who buy them demand things like that. People eventually figure that out. You have this idea that street bikes need to be purchased from the street bike market. You have made that very clear. I am not so encumbered. It has become abundantly clear to me that the street bike industry refuses to build what I consider to be a proper street bike. Heck, they’re in to five and six hundred pound dirt bike looking things now days. Unbelievable. You do you Dave. I’ll do me.
“Ever wonder why it was discontinued when KTM still sells supermotos with the same engine in several flavors?”
No, I don’t. The Duke 690 is much more likely discontinued because both are very low volume bikes and the SM shares a lot of parts in common with the other dirt bikes they make, ergo easier to make in small numbers and better profit margin.
Sorry Dave. The 690s do not share many parts with the dirt bikes. I was really pretty surprised by that when I was working on one in a garage full of KTM dirt bikes. Swing and a miss bud. Different animal. They do weigh 100+ pounds more than a dirt bike. Have a gander at a couple of 50 steel dumbells. Aluminum would be three times that volume. We’re talking about a huge volume of metal here.
Side note to Artem. Your English is improving. Good on you for speaking and writing in more than one language.
Artem. A two stroke may have twice as many power stroke per PRM. But they also have a whole bunch of giant holes in the cylinder walls. So those power stokes are half as long. The standard thought is that the exhaust pipe designs can give a two stroke about a 60 percent advantage while on the pipe. But you’ll note that when the many racing series went four stroke the often went double displacement or at least we’ll in excess of 1.6. In MotoGP, just to jerks, they actually went to 1.6 displacement when they banned two stokes. In motocross a lot of the top riders would like the displacement lowered from 450cc to 350cc. Which again would be about 1.6x the displacement of a 250 two stroke.
“they need to experience dropping the bong long enough to move out of mom’s basement”
Projection
Still not quite sure what happened to Binder. He got lucky not getting hit.
Binder’s clutch blew when he took off. He said he knew something was up after the warm up lap when he couldn’t get it into neutral on the grid. He had no time to go and grab the back up bike.
“He got lucky not getting hit.”
Indeed. I remember seeing this happen to Scott Russell, I think? One of the scariest things I’ve ever seen a guy survive on a motorcycle.
Nice to see Bastaini finally delivering on his potential. How frustrating it must have been to arrive at the factory team and then face immediate large setbacks.