The MotoGP championship took a dramatic turn of events today when points leader Marc Marquez (Honda) was disqualified as the result of an error in changing bikes during the middle of the race. Tire safety concerns on the newly resurfaced Phillip Island circuit led to a decision to require the riders to change bikes (with new tires) no later than lap 10, but Marquez mistakenly completed 11 laps before pitting, leading to his disqualification.
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) won the race and significantly revived his dwindling hopes in taking this year’s title. Instead of trailing by 43 points, Lorenzo has narrowed the gap to Marquez in the championship to just 18 points with just two rounds remaining. Filling out the podium today were Dani Pedrosa (Honda) in second and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) in third.
For additional details, results and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
I’ve seen the race and two recaps on tree different TV channels over here in Europe. Every commentator realized Marquez missed the entry at lap 10. Moto GP Team Repsol Honda/Marquez did not? This is MotoGP and not some local county championship, right? If you can’t count to ten then I don’t know…….
Based on the last two races: If I had a match race against the Repsol Honda team I have a plausible chance of coming in second or even 1st. Just wait until Mark punts Dani out and gets DQ’d..result = I win!!!! When Marquez wins the championship what will be the surprise entertainment..Mark jumping into the cake!!!
the race was rigged
Aside from one fluke this year (Rossi/Assen), there are only 3 guys in the series with any chance of winning. In a sense, every MotoGP race is rigged.
Just like any contest..the best riders on the best machines have the best chance of winning. It has always been like this and it will always be like this.
Honda and Yamaha transparently outspend everyone else and vehemently oppose rule changes that control costs, allowing other teams to be more competitive. Dorna obliges them = fixed racing.
FIM trying to keep it close and add drama. Didn’t DP also get a penalty and still got 2nd place?
Pedrosa’s penalty was commensurate with his infraction as was Marquez’.
If Bridgestone could not supply tires that would last for the full race then they should have reduced it to a 10-11 lap sprint race for safety reasons. To add a mandatory pit-stop and change to BACK-UP bikes was ridiculous. Reminds me of the AMA/DMG, constantly changing rules. Sad to see what happened to Marquez.
What a joke of a race. To e disqualified was ridiculous. A ride thru, maybe.
but wait, what’s that new separate (but equal) penalty point system for then if they aren’t going to use it…?!?! LOL
guys you’re being duped, exactly like I’ve been telling you since the Austin round. 🙂
The rules were clear and justified. Did you see Marquez’ tire post-race? Did you see what the pot crew’s reasoning was for planning to keep Marquez out for 11 laps? It’s unsporting at best.
(Pit crew)
re: “The rules were clear and justified.”
the rules were fresh off the bar napkin.
(kudos to superbike planet)
Yep and so were Bridgestone’s latest findings – those blisters Soup reports they found when they cut into used tires. What was the alternative? Having a tire failure at top speed? They wanted nothing more than zero risk of yet another bridgestone tire hurting a rider – never mind if that rider’s Marquez. Everyone else complied fine, so why did Marquez’ team have to not only defy the very real (as that chunked tire pic shows @ Soup) risk of injury to at least Marquez, but also try cheap exploits of the new rule language?
Even if I agree this whole thing’s ridiculous, what I’m arguing above is correct. Those members of Marquez’ crew were at fault and Marquez paid for it. The penalty is on par with the risks the “rules” were meant to avoid.
Separate from these things is the other utterly ridiculous matter of Capirossi & co dropping the ball and setting the stage for the above deserved unsportsmanship and consequent black flag.
“for the above unsportsmanship”
re: “what I’m arguing above is correct. Those members of Marquez’ crew were at fault and Marquez paid for it.”
what you are arguing above is IRRELEVANT MINUTIAE.
Dude-
You seem awful convinced of thie enormous conspiracy that exists solely to deprive people of seeing honest racing. I don’t believe I fully grasp just what this conspiracy is trying to accomplish. Is this elaborate ruse all being played out just to crown Marquez as MotoGP champion? Or a covert effort by Repsol to pedal their sponsorship of the 2013 MotoGP champion into an economic takeover of the petroleum industry? Or to seperate hard-working fans (mostly Americans and Spaniards) from their money by delivering this series to their countries that is controlled by a master puppeteer and fool them into thinking they are enjoying a good day at the races? Help me out here…
New to the forum? Lol
Clearly. He and “M” are wasting an awful lot of keyboard strokes.
re:
A. Is this elaborate ruse all being played out just to crown Marquez as MotoGP champion?
B. Or a covert effort by Repsol to pedal their sponsorship of the 2013 MotoGP champion into an economic takeover of the petroleum industry?
C. Or to seperate hard-working fans (mostly Americans and Spaniards) from their money by delivering this series to their countries that is controlled by a master puppeteer and fool them into thinking they are enjoying a good day at the races?
whew, that’s a lotta options. i’m going to go out an limb in this age of TELENOVELAS and say the answer is…
D. All of the above.
The rules were clear and utterly stupid. Leave it to the teams to decide when to change tires. What’s next? Horsepower restrictions? “We know what’s best for riders.” Yapshore.
I don’t understand how you’re equating leaving that pit stop timing decision to the teams, and horsepower restrictions.
I don’t understand how imposing race distance limits adapted within the tires’ reduced durability is not best for riders.
Yeah, I gathered that you don’t understand. I don’t understand why you don’t understand. 🙂 Let the teams race. They all want to win, and will figure out things like tire durability on their own.
guys, it’s all a ruse. you can’t legally hold someone accountable for errors created by the “moving of goalposts”.
(THINK)
if you got pulled over for speeding…? but as the officer walks to your car, you literally see him PEEL A STICKER OF THE ROAD SIGN LIKE SOMETHING FROM AN OLD BUGS BUNNY CARTOON (lowering the limit by 10 mph), would you go for it…?
like hell, you’d get a lawyer. here in the context of racing, you’d file a protest. same as what Aprilia did regarding the incident with Kawasaki back at Monza earlier this season.
Mandatory pit? come on what a scam, let other tire makers in the series and let the teams decide rubber choices. It is obvious BS have their heads up their asses along with the FIM, I do not even want to talk about the black flag I thought this was a race most racers take risks is that not what Marc was doing, and if his pit crew screwed up…. complete gong show start to finish. Well at least the last couple races will be interesting even if Marc plays it safe (He won’t) Dani and Jorge will be out to win at all costs.
Ten years or so ago, the AMA was pulling boneheaded stunts like this (and worse). DMG made the AMA look like real professionals. Its unfortunate to see world class racing apparently making knee jerk decisions; 1.) a shortened race. 2.) a mandatory pit stop and 3.) a seemingly over reaction on a penalty. Wonder what role the riders had in the tire wear issues and decisions??
Unless Marquez has a mechanical, he’s still got the title locked up.
He only needs a 2nd and a 3rd to win it.
Who’s going to beat him, Rossi?
He might miss pit again?
Pressure got the better of him and now the pressure is greater. He could crash, he could choke.
It was the crew’s decision to go with what disqualified him.
if i were honda, i’d pull a Ferrari from F1 and say, screw you guys, we’re out…imagine if honda pulled out for a year? All bikes, all teams, all engines….
It’d be best for MotoGP is Honda did pull out.
They have far too much sway and dictate rules the whole way through. Don’t let this little one-off pantomime fool you otherwise.
For one, we had a rookie rule that was overlooked this year to suit HRC. More than they could’ve dreamed, as it’s turned out. Marquez on a satellite bike would’ve been no harm to anyone.
A much better solution to this would have been to run two regular short races like they do in WSBK.
oh no, can’t do that. that would break the illusion ezpelata is trying create between MotoGP and WSBK.
Let’s hope they don’t get any ideas and make pit stops mandatory from next season. I would hate to see this turn into F1 where races can be won in the pits. Races need to be won on the track.
I absolutely hate the “spec tire” rule. Open up the series to all manufacturers and let the teams use the best tire for their machine.
Indy F1 in 2005 didn’t benefit from multiple tire manufacturers:http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/world-class-formula-1-fiasco-at-indianapolis-feature
overruled…!!! this incident is not an opportunity engage in the spec tyre discussion. jury, I hereby instruct you to disregard this testimony. court secretary, please strike from the log. let’s proceed.
Kudos to Superbikeplanet.com?
Phillip Island MotoGP 2013 may one day be known as the race where the control tire rule showed itself to be a mortally flawed concept, one that needs fixing if not outright abolishing.
ENDS
re: “Phillip Island MotoGP 2013 may one day be known as the race where the control tire rule showed itself to be a mortally flawed concept”
someone’s not paying attention. Dunlop couldn’t cut it (pun intended) on the lesser powered M2’s.
that was from Superbikeplanet. I agree with you.
I think it maybe they should have run the race on their scooters. the tires would have lasted full race distance, but to make it interesting, give them padded javelines and make it a full contact race. as long as they were in full gear, nobody gets hurt.
I would have rather seen a normal MotoGP race, but at least it wasn’t cancelled, altogether.
If a major accident had occurred, then they would probably be wishing they had cancelled or postponed the race.
I am wondering about two things:
1) What makes this track’s repave job so hard on tires?
Is this not unheard of after a track repave?
2) I’m assuming that no pre-race tire test by a guy who can cut competitive laps was conducted.
Is this because, after your typical repave, nothing like this has ever happened?
Or, was testing conducted and the results showed nothing to worry about?
I didn’t have a good feeling about these new rules, it seemed rather ridiculous that we would be changing rules like this on the same weekend. Where was the testing prior to the event? I understand the rules were the same for everyone, safety is the number one concern. But I do not care to see championships won or lost like this. If we can’t have a tire that last’s the race distance, we should not have the race. Or, let’s have an agreement for regular pit stops to change tires. This should be figured out before the season starts,not near the end.
re: “Where was the testing prior to the event?”
this was never going to happen. repaves are not an automatic trigger for testing. especially not for fly-away rounds as distant as Philly’s Isle. OZ is the proverbial “last stop for gas” for those trekking to ANTARCTICA…!!!
Personally I loved the race. More excitement. More drama. I know my ideals are going to be unpopular but it wasn’t a cookie cutter race. Mix it up. Make it less predictable. See what happens.
re: “Personally I loved the race. More excitement. More drama.”
it’s all being done for you, and the countless others like yourself. you’re the script writer’s wet dream.
Now I’m not suggesting anything to make the races more dangerous or in any way NASCAR-ish. They don’t necessarily need more drama like that – crashes as we all know are awful for everyone and I’m not suggesting that type of “drama”.
But there seems to be room for closer racing and more unpredicatbility that we see. Almost any race is going to be heavily favored to win by one of the four same guys. Very few position changes at the front. Not a lot of suspense. Not a lot of *racing*.
So I thought it was a nice change of pace. Was certainly one of the more interesting races I’ve seen for quite some time, and I like interesting and exciting. Not sure how to get there and I’m not suggesting implementing pit stops, but… what? How?
I’ll continue to watch each and every race of the season regardless of how they are run or who wins. But if they want a broader audience…
re: “Now I’m not suggesting anything to make the races more dangerous or in any way NASCAR-ish.”
no worries, it’s pretty obvious they’ve got these bullet points covered. don’t call them, they’ll call us.
re: “Was certainly one of the more interesting races I’ve seen for quite some time, and I like interesting and exciting.”
SHHHH…!!! fergodsakes keep your voice down man… they’re listening. 🙁
script writer? is the motoGP or the Matrix? predetermination?
This was just stupid. If anybody is fired lets start with Bridgestone. Don’t people (e.g. Honda for one) test at Philip Island? Did the Bridgestone engineers on site just not notice the tire wear is testing earlier this year? The new surface shouldn’t have surprised anybody.
Next on people to fire list is the FIM. This “race” was a farce. If there was no better solution than shortening a 27 lap race to 19 laps (really two 9.5 lap races) I’d suggest they cancel the race. I’d then send the bills to Bridgestone. Then we have taking Bridgestone’s (no doubt lawyer driven) “we can only guaranty 10 laps” BS as gospel. So Bridgestone is telling us this surface is THREEE TIMES more abrasive than the old surface? If not why was 27 laps OK a week ago?
Finally, a time penalty or position penalty for Marquez (or anybody else who didn’t pit in 10 laps) would have been appropriate given the Micky Mouse “race”. A black flag was not. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Marquez gained no advantage, it fact he lost time on what were obviously shagged tires. I didn’t see the pit boards but I’m guessing the problem wasn’t the signals, Marquez just screwed up. The kid had two significant slides on the lap, he was in a dog fight with Lorenzo and just missed pit in.
Once Marquez missed the pit entrance he was disqualified, if he turns around and rides back to the pit in he will be black flagged for riding the wrong way on the course, if he finishes the lap he is black flagged for not changing tires. Just stupid.
I am disgusted by this mess,
Goose
A race can’t just be cancelled and nobody can pick up the bill if it is.
The penalty was made clear to everyone before the race. It was a safety issue so the punishment was made to be severe so nobody would be tempted to break the rule. Maequez lost more than a bushel of points, now Lorenzo knows he’s buckling under the pressure. These next two races should be VERY interesting.
re: “The penalty was made clear to everyone before the race.”
not the same as being “understood” clear. transmitter and receiver. in real life it’s actually a 2-part equation.
If you can’t understand the rules you can’t compete. Just how much hand holding would you like ?
re: “If you can’t understand the rules you can’t compete”
i can come up with a better “can’t”…
can’t realistically expect to change the rules on the fly in a sport like roadracing where there’s a real chance of injury or death.
how ya like that chestnut…?
Re: “not the same as being “understood” clear. transmitter and receiver. in real life it’s actually a 2-part equation. ”
Just about everybody else got it, even his teammate.
<>
I don’t know how to parse that. The chances of some fluke happenstance that results in something like Simoncelli’s death is part of racing. In that case unpredictable. In the case of tires failing like they were running up to this Sunday, the danger was predictable and was not just a challenge for riders to overcome, like they do the regular dangers that are part and parcel of racing – such as not highsiding yourself into an armco or into another rider’s path or something.
The tires were inevitably going to fail somewhere on or not long past lap 11.
The formatting on this website’s comments is borked, and you can’t edit your comments. I give up.
re: “I am disgusted by this mess”
you should be.
Nakamoto’s going to roll some heads. Oh boy, somebody’s arse is going to get smoked!
And nary a peep is heard about Marquez running into JLo coming out of the pits. Hmmmm, what’s up with that?
Later Lorenzo said he braked too late so the incident was 50 % his fault but that Marquez should have looked better and that the rider on the track should have priority.
Reportedly when Marquez looked back before WFO, Pedrosa and Lorenzo weren’t in view yet.
this is why there’s no crying in baseball, and no pit-stops in sprint racing. rejoining a hot track is as much a safety hazard as delaminating tyres.
Dungey, Villapoto, and now Marquez, all forget to take the Joker lane.
Re-chill the champagne.
I wonder whose head would roll for that mistake.
That was one crazy ordeal. Certainly tightened up the race a little bit. What was Marquez thinking?
Marquez was thinking he needs to do whatever his pit tells him to do. They tried to pull a quickie and it backfired. Marquez takes the heat.
Just hard to believe every other team but one understood the rules and Marquez’s team with so much on the line did not. Pedrosas team understood the rules.
even harder to believe is that nobody in the paddock has ever watched an F1 race…? nor is familiar with F1 strategy…? like FIFO rules (first in, first out) in accounting, logic dictate whoever pulls into the pits first is going to be by default the first back out on track and thus have the advantage. dani went rogue and broke from the script, hence the BS of telling him to drop a position.
So you’re saying he did not exceed the speed limit at entry? That Support and Kanamoto etc wouldn’t be grilling the referee team for it? We’d at least have heard of them appealing..
Motomatters has the exact sequence of snafus that led to his black flag. The or the few crewmen responsible are definitely gonna get whupped hard.
oh okay, now I see the problem. you’re one of those motomatters guys…
motomatters…!!! the site voted most likely to be populated by individuals keen on keeping their heads in the sand.
re: “So you’re saying he did not exceed the speed limit at entry?”
no, i’m saying the entire round was a CLUSTERF*** and attempting to hold anybody accountable for anything is any abuse of power. a dubious proposition at best.
for the business obligations, the round has been run and done. great, everybody got out alive. Pi’s happy, bridgestone’s happy, Fox 1’s happy, sponsors are happy, Eurosport, the Beeb, or whoever…? they’re all happy.
however (comma) in terms of scoring he championship, everybody’s results should simply be THROWN OUT. everybody from Marky’s Machine all the way down to whoever CRT’s was seen wobbling across the line 15th for a single point. everybody goes IN to motegi with the same points they left OUT of sepang with.
(click/click) sound of Norm G. pressing the EZ button.
Norm FYI
To understate it, I intensely dislike D.Emmett. But the facts are the facts. So I’m all ears to what is false in his factual report of the situation.
re: “But the facts are the facts.”
yup, and the facts are… wait for it, wait for it…
they moved the goal posts.
’tis the ELEPHANT in the room.