The riders returned from a long summer break earlier today to race at the Silverstone circuit. Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) won his fourth race of the year, with his teammate Jack Miller finishing third. In second place was the Aprilia piloted by Maverick Viñales.
Points leader Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) was forced to take a long lap penalty, moving him from second to fifth position earlier in the race. Quartararo struggled with tire issues thereafter and eventually finished in eighth position. Nevertheless, Quartararo gained a single point over the rider who is second in the championship, as Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) finished behind him in ninth. Espargaró had limited mobility on his bike due to body soreness resulting from a massive high-side crash yesterday.
For full results of today’s race, take a look here. You can find additional details on the MotoGP site.
I’ll probably drop my MotoGP package next year. Been following GP since 1973. Have seen the peak of GP, and FOR ME, its no longer the spectacle it used to be. I found the race downright boring.
I miss Rossi, and Stoner,and Lorenzo,and Pedrosa, a healthy Marquez and Dovi in his prime.
Im sure if Ducati can figure out how to get a few more bikes in the line up, and hire a few more hungry young pilots, eventually they will get another MotoGP World Champion, until the horde of Ducati riders start turning on each other. I read Miller has seen the writing on the wall and is moving on to KTM.
Maybe Suzuki saw what was happening with the grid and decided the numbers were against them. Probably a smart move to get out at this point.
I’ll probably get out too. Maybe it’s time.
While I personally thought the race was exciting, the other races have been pretty boring this year. And last for that matter. Maybe my measure for what constitutes “exciting” has just been lowered a bit due to the races these past couple of years. I still enjoy watching, but I have to agree something is lacking. Perhaps the grid truly needs that one master-class guy that really sets the benchmark for other riders to chase each and every weekend. Nobody has stepped in to fill Marquez’s shoes yet. I hope Marquez fills them himself next year.
OK, so I only check the results and read comments like you see here. But I’m curious. Why doesn’t Q get the respect that I feel he deserves? This guy is doing master work on what all the commenters are calling a totally uncompetitive bike. On the fast tracks, I would call them poorly designed, he has to pass people over and over again to get the results that he does. But he gets those results pretty reliably doesn’t he? On the tracks that are more rider based, well designed, tracks he schools the crowd. But none of that seems to matter. People continue to pine for retirees or some has been with a knack for unsportsmanlike conduct.
There does seem to be a lack of regular epic battles between Q and Bags. One would think that those two guys would serve one up once in a while. But racers race to win. They don’t suit up to provide entertainment. That happens naturally, for the most part, or it is engineered carefully by a rule book. Right now the bikes and riders all have clear strengths and weaknesses. I don’t see how that it such a bad thing.
In the races I do watch, I’m just as happy to watch a good battle for dead last as I am to watch a battle anywhere else. I’ve done a lot of different kinds of racing and I have been every one of those guys. They’re all out there doing the best they can do with what they had when the flag dropped. Go ahead and care about win this and championship that. It’s what the announcers are paid to promote. For me it’s just racing. Go ahead and bail on MotoGP if you want. First the turned it into a lie, then they wanted you to pay them to tell it to you. There’s more racing out there.
You’re projecting. You’re the one whining/pining for 2-strokes. Few of us miss the retired bad sportsman, and they can watch him driving cars if they’re lonely.
Ha ha, I thought that the “bad sportsman” was that that usually ram into the rivals, and now is still recovering from an accident happened more than two years ago…
mickey, if you found the last race boring, you do need to leave. Tennis might be your speed.
Anytime aero comes to dominate (other than Can-Am, when Chaparral was robbed while Porsche allowed to dominate)(wtf were the politics THERE?) the racing ends up sucking.
That’s the talk but it isn’t really the issue. Motorcycles have always been an aerodynamic mess. They’re just experiencing tire heat problems now, reportedly due to tire pressure restrictions more than racing conditions.
The faster guys aren’t complaining of problems passing but recognize that everyone is so close that naturally overtaking is going to be more challenging. I believe last week’s race was the closest top-10 in the history of the premier class. That’s the very definition good close racing. The rules are working.
Yes, without looking, the top ten, were within 6 seconds or so, at the end of the race, it did look like Vinales Miller Rins all could have won, Bagnaia kept his cool and his bike didnt slide out like it has so many times. In the after race conversations, Miller mentioned they were all sliding out of the corners, in unison, on the last lap or more. It wasnt a runaway by any means.
Just when you think the normal crashers will crash, and the keep it up guys keep it up, they change. Of course, WHAT A RACE!, then Zarco crashes out of first, was it really just a wrong tire choice? and Bagnaia defends his first place from 2-3 riders, and WINS! without crashing? and an eye roll when you look at how the Honda’s finished… I’m not sure why Fabio, moved back and back and back during the race, time might give us more insight. What a day for Vinales!. so much to talk about, what a great race, I was on the edge of my seat the whole race. and what about the always competitive suzuki squad, who seemed fast, it just shows how competitive every team, every rider is these days. Can Bagnaia catch Fabio? Can any of the of the Ducati’s actually win the championship? I can only think MM93 is just jumping and yelling the whole race. Will he still be competitive when and if he returns? Will Mir be lost on the Honda like Lorenzo, and the others?
” Will Mir be lost on the Honda like Lorenzo, and the others?”
Stefan Bradl was recently quotes as saying he’s not spending any of his energy on the 2022 bike, they’re already focused on the 2023 machine. They’ve given up on this year’s bike.
Johann…Johann…Johann….
How many times are you going to crash out of your best opportunities? Fast all weekend. Led a couple of practice sessions. Qualified on pole, obliterating the existing lap record. Got the hole shot in the race. You’re leading the race, never putting a tire wrong, never challenged by Fabio, who was always going to have a major hill to climb due to that long-lap penalty, and you inexplicably toss it down the road anyway…again.
So disappointing.
“Are you not ENTERTAINED?!.!”
What a race. If you didn’t enjoy that, motorcycle road racing just isn’t the sport for you.
Well, according to your rule, motorcycle road racing just must not be the sport for me. Best rider still recovering from surgery. Championship leader given a nonsense penalty, then having a terrible ride. Main challenger injured and suffering.
When Zarco fell, much of the joy went out of the race. Maverick did put in a superb effort.
All said and done, perhaps you are right. MotoGP is losing a lot of its shine for me.
All in all though, easily the most entertaining race of the season with many passes and the top three finishing neck and neck. Finally, a battle for P1, and a last lap pass for the lead ! (and an immediate re-pass). The first 11 races of the season had not one battle for P1, all the racing action was further down the field. Bravo.
The glass IS half full.
Wicked high side by Espargaro, alot of grit shown to get back out there and keep the points tight. Bagnia also gained massive points back… 17 on Quartararo, I recall hearing. Sure loved seeing Maverick back in TOP GUN form trading passes for the lead at the end on a bike he seems to finally be gelling with.
Well, I sure enjoyed it. Yes, I would have liked to have seen Zarco hang in there. Yes, I think the championship is more complete with Marquez in it. Yes, I would have liked to have seen a healthy Aleix start the race.
But, regardless, that was an exciting race! It is good to see Maverick coming back on line. He may have well won that race had Quartarato not crossed his line during the start.
I personally thought Quartararo deserved the penalty, and I’m pretty sure even he thought so as well.
Interesting perspective. Road racing is twenty years in the grave for me since they embraced retrograde technology. The Brits can buy a street bike with more specific output, 300hp per liter, and it runs on pump gas and passes emissions.
“Best rider” is “Biggest Jerk” who seemingly never got penalized for anything and hasn’t done anything for years. Stick a fork in him. And shame on the people who are penalizing the current hero who are the same people who never penalized Biggest Jerk. Going retro is bad enough. Blatant favoritism destroys all credibility in the series.
Races are singular events. The riders who show up do their best to win within the rules which should be, but are often not, evenly applied to all of them. I think you might enjoy the races more Fred if you just watch the bright colors move fast and worry about the stats later.
LOL “tell us you hate 4-strokes without telling us you hate 4-strokes” (again)
“20 years in the grave” yet you’re still saying this, too
Four strokes are fine for mundane tasks. What I don’t like is being sold the lie that this is the premier class in road or motocross racing. If Yamaha was allowed to run a 1000cc two stroke, the Ducatis would be laughably slow. Same deal with motocross.
You would probably not like GP if they instituted a steam engine rule and still sold themselves as the premier class. For me a four stroke rule is no different. So I refuse to support them in any way. I even stopped buying any new motorcycles with four stroke engines. I still buy new two strokes. I’m only one guy. But I’m doing what I can.
“If Yamaha was allowed to run a 1000cc two stroke..”
Nobody would sign up to ride it. It’d be slower, very much harder to ride and wouldn’t even make race distance on the amount of fuel they’re allowed to carry, assuming a rider could ride it for that long without crashing.
Yeah right Dave, you run with that. Heavy bikes with lots of gyro racing a lighter bike with at least 100 more horsepower and less gyro. You seem to have missed what happened to the four strokes in the past. It’s not like they couldn’t adopt the same electronics that keep the current scows afloat. They would probably also work better on a two stroke.
I will run with it. The rest of the industry has. I remember when 4-strokes were introduced into GP and MX. They won.
maximus was wrong when he asked this. proximo pointed out that the best rider is a distant memory. the gods struck the two championship leaders equally. zarco’s folly was balanced by bastianinni, who,like his namesake, carried his crippled bike thru the flames to finish only 1.6s down to the guy that thanked his trainer and his mentor. mav said he still doesn’t trust the “rear device”, and dovi wasn’t dead last. but yes, i was entertained.