Marc Marquez (Honda) dominated the Aragon MotoGP race from start to finish earlier today. Marquez quickly built a large gap to second place and cruised to the win. The Ducatis of Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller finished second and third, respectively.
Marquez is close to clinching another World title. Follow this link to full race results. For additional details and points, visit the official MotoGP site.
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It’s boring. Plain and simple. Marc is only 130 lbs. If the electronics are good he has less mass to push around. Most of the bikes on the grid suck. They need more competition. More guys on factory bikes. Three Hondas. Three Yamahas. Three Ducatis. Three Suzukis.
Honda should bring Alex on board. Once he gets used to the bike it would be interesting to see them both fighting for the World title and “brotherly love” flying out the window!!
Hopefully Papa Marquez is wise enough to never let something that crazy happen.
Alex doesn’t have the talent to make that a reality. They’re very different.
Boring race 🙁
Mav wasn’t restricted by power so much as by his rear tire. His late fade was due to either the wrong tire choice, or his over-using the rear earlier in the race, or both.
There were lots of good races within the field, but the coverage sat at the back of the podium for most of the race. We missed being able to watch Marc’s brilliance, or the great racing farther down the grid.
Does the MotoGP thingie not let you pick a certain “camera angle” (as it used to be on, say, concert DVDs) and watch different parts of the action? If not, that’s a hugely sad oversight.
You have to buy an additional package called the Timing Pass with the MotoGP site for that. The Video Pass is the basic one which shows all the practice and qualifying sessions. I’m happy with just the Video Pass.
The horsepower of the Ducati’s was so evident on that long straight. Poor Maverick nothing he could do.
Marquez is putting on a show on how to ride a MotoGP bike. Lorenzo is scared to death of that Honda. I would be surprised if Honda doesn’t let him out of his contract at the end of the year and offers the job to Quatararo
Well if that race doesn’t get Yamaha President Yanagi to order up 15 or 20 more horsepower for next year’s bike then nothing will. No one was going to catch Marc but Maverick rode well enough to deserve 2nd and I think only the lack of power kept him from that.
Tall order.
You don’t just “order up” another 15-20 HP. If Yamaha could make it happen it would already be there.
Well you probably haven’t spent your career with a Japanese manufacturer have you? Loss of face last season brought big changes to the Yamaha program this season. The way MotoGP locks you into a homologated engine at the beginning of the season means that you’re stuck with it for the year. So, with the company applying more funds and engineering talent this year you can bet that back home in Iwata they have been hard at work at pumping up next year’s motor and winter testing will finalize that work. Yep, 15-20hp may be a hard ask but Honda and Ducati have it so it may be possible. In any case next year will be a good one and Yamaha will bring an improved bike.
Yes, as superlight mentioned above, its not that easy to just make more hp, and still keep all the good stuff that came with the lower HP. Its more complicated than you think. Like asking why doesnt the Ducati’s just add more handling, so instead of finishing 9-12 on handling tracks they can win? that the Honda does it all, is amazing. its MM riding the bike.
The Yamaha is the best all round bike on the grid. The last 6 races show that.
For sure it lacks top end power, but they managed a podium in Austria (an out-and-out bhp track) and at Aragon, which has a straight that really bites them.
But the other manufacturers have bigger problems. Weekends where they are left scratching their heads.
Honda should be worried, as the only thing they have going for them is Marc Marquez. Once he has the 2019 & 2020 titles in his pocket, he’ll move on.
Where will Honda be at that point? Who could take it to Marquez on a Ducati or possibly KTM? he would even take a year on the Yamaha and give Rossi a less-than-friendly wave.
He’s a competitor and wants to show that he is the best.
I disagree with the idea that Marc should leave Honda to prove that he is a good/better/best rider. It’s sort of like telling a man that he has to get divorced to prove that he is a good husband.
The Yamaha the best all around bike on the grid? The best overall bike wins more races. In a world without Marc Marquez, I think the results over the past few years and this year have shown the most well rounded package to be the Ducati.
All bikes have their strengths and weaknesses, but Yamaha is leaving too much on the table. And their top rider, Vinales, being 5th in the standings demonstrates that well, I think. The power deficit is crippling, but they are also having major issues with wheel spin.
I do agree that the only thing Honda has going for them right now is Marc Marquez. Without him, Honda would be nowhere with their current bike. Three other pretty fast guys can’t seem to manage it.
Agree,
Yamaha/Rossi fans keep coming up with this schizophrenic message. One one side, the Yamaha is the best balanced bike and only the alien talents of Marquez is thwarting them. On the other side, the Yamaha stinks terribly and Rossi would be winning races and titles if he wasn’t being held down by it.
The truth just might be what the results and observations both indicate. The Yamaha is okay on tighter, technical tracks and hampered on others. Rossi is a declining great.
” Once he has the 2019 & 2020 titles in his pocket, he’ll move on.”
Nope. He’ll finish his career on an Orange Honda. Bet on it.
No entity in the world, and certainly not Ducati, knows more than Yamaha about making horsepower from normally aspirated, four cylinder, 1000 cc engines. They are also less likely than most to be handicapped by spec-electronics than some of their competitors. They’ve long focused on flow efficiency and valve timing. Honda invested in software tricks, which has been more to their detriment in the new paradigm.
If Yamaha isn’t employing the power, it’s likely to be because they haven’t figured out the chassis dynamics to stick it to the ground. The wheel-spin with less horsepower issue seems to substantiate this. None of these bikes are runnng HP/liter numbers that couldn’t be duplicated by much more humble engineering efforts.