2018 Moto GP/WSBK/BSB etc thread

[adamp93]

Former 250cc title challenger and 14-time GP winner Ralf Waldmann passed away recently.

Many might remember him for his antics during the 250cc race at Donington Park in 2000.

I remember watching that. I was 6 at the time and it was probably the first time I really jumped out my seat in excitement watching bike racing.


Rossi has finally announced he's staying put until at least 2020 at the age of 41, which means he'll be against Pecco Bagnaia next year, Rossi made his 125 debut before Pecco was born! It also means me buying a ticket to Valencia was a waste of money

 

[Ryanswannell]

Awesome to see Suzuki having a good day today, always nice to see another manufacturer performing as well as the usual suspects. Hopefully they'll keep it together throughout the weekend.

Marquez was riding as flamboyantly as ever, I wouldn't be surprised if he is still holding back a little for qualifying though. Not a Yamaha in the top 8 of FP2, wonder how much they'll progress up the timesheet tomorrow?

Loving Rossi's new helmet design also

 

[adb]

Awesome to see Suzuki having a good day today, always nice to see another manufacturer performing as well as the usual suspects. Hopefully they'll keep it together throughout the weekend.

Marquez was riding as flamboyantly as ever, I wouldn't be surprised if he is still holding back a little for qualifying though. Not a Yamaha in the top 8 of FP2, wonder how much they'll progress up the timesheet tomorrow?

Loving Rossi's new helmet design also

Times were soooooo close today apart from top 3, 3 hundreds of a second would have Rossi fourth, might be a Ducati runaway though.

Hope rest of the grid can find something.

Vinales most likely in Q1 considering FP3 will be run at hotter temps

 

[Ryanswannell]

What a fantastic qualifying session that was! Zarco came out from nowhere!

Pleased for Crutchlow getting 4th place on the grid as well, Suzuki's also looking quality 👍

It should be an incredible race of that was anything to go by, overtaking will be tricky with the sand off of the racing line. Can't wait!

 

[adb]

Will be a great race, I think Petrucci might get his first win tomorrow

 

[adb]

Three great races, what a way to start the season
Dovi was great, but Marquez' last lap how many times did the front close, just wow
Hope Rossi can find that last bit and Vinales sorts fresh tires/heavy fuel combo.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Agreed, it's been a fantastic days racing!

Great ride from all of the top 5:tup:

It's a shame Zarco fell back in the last quarter, was hoping he'd get a win.

 

[spyrrari]

Yes,amazing race motogp!!!

We are in for a great season!!






Spy.

 

[Carbon_6]

It's a shame Zarco fell back in the last quarter, was hoping he'd get a win.

His single lap pace was evident from the way he smashed the qualifying record, but throughout practice his race pace never really seemed to be at the same sort of level as the likes of Dovizioso and Marquez. Although he led for so long, the gap between Zarco and 2nd was never more than 0.3s at any point before he was passed on lap 18, with the rest of the pack playing the waiting game until Zarco's tyres had had enough. By the end of lap 19, the gap from Dovizioso to Zarco was 1.9s. At the drop of the chequered flag it was 7.1s.

It was another great performance though from Zarco that no doubt has got the manufacturer teams thinking.

Dovi was great, but Marquez' last lap how many times did the front close, just wow

It was very much on the bleeding edge of adhesion. But what else can be expected from someone who time and again has pushed the boundaries of motorcycle racing, and done so pretty much at will?

Dovizioso is the complete opposite, taking the methodical approach to racing. This is the third time he's continued on the racing line out of the last corner whilst Marquez throws caution to the wind in a last gasp attempt at victory. It's one thing to go fast, but another to see the chequered flag on top.

2017 was an incredible season to watch. 2018... bring it on!

 

[adamp93]

Marquez up the inside at the final corner but Dovi squares it off and wins. Moto GP is getting too predictable

3 great races and some quality performances throughout. Watch out for Dalla Porta this year.

I was hoping for a late race charge from A. Espargaro like last year but he ran out of fuel

 

[adamp93]

Double post. Bugger

 

[Carbon_6]

Turns out Michael Dunlop has signed for Tyco BMW in the superbike classes ahead of the new road racing season.

He had been set to continue with Hawk Racing and Suzuki in 2018, but no official statement has been given as to the cause of the split. It's understood that Dunlop was seemingly disappointed with progress on the GSX-R, after parts promised by Suzuki did not arrive in time for the team’s test in Cartagena, Spain at the beginning of March. He had been in negotiations with Tyco BMW earlier in the year before declining their offer, and heading off to ride the MotoGP GSX-RR in Malaysia as a thank you gift from Suzuki for winning the 2017 Senior TT.

After the split from Hawk Racing however, negotiations re-opened with Tyco BMW, and the deal was done.

Dunlop enjoyed significant success with BMW in recent years, with victories in the Superbike, Superstock and Senior TT races in 2014 and Superbike and Senior TT wins in 2016.

 

[Ryanswannell]

The first round of BSB starts this weekend at Donnington, anyone else going by any chance?

Favourite for me is Haslam, followed by Mossey and Byrne. Should be interesting to see how newcomer Gino Rea does as well, he set some solid times throughout testing.

Weather looks a bit we to say the least, hopefully they let you take Bivvy's into the circuit

 

[Carbon_6]

Favourite for me is Haslam, followed by Mossey and Byrne. Should be interesting to see how newcomer Gino Rea does as well, he set some solid times throughout testing.

This, plus I think you can throw Brookes into the mix too on the Yamaha. The last time he had factory support, he went on to clinch the crown, and last year finished just 7 points off of Byrne with Anvil Hire TAG. No doubt McAMS will be hoping for a more prosperous year, and with Mackenzie on board too after his stint in Moto2, all things considered, 2018 might just be the season that 2017 perhaps should of been.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Timings for Fp1 at Donnington, Shakey Byrne leading the field by over 1.5 secs in wet conditions, obviously the gap should decrease as the track dries up (hopefully) and the riders gets more time on the circuit.

Weather forecast for tomorrow looks dry for the most part now, Monday is still terrible though which will make for interesting racing.

 

[adamp93]

The first round of BSB starts this weekend at Donnington, anyone else going by any chance?

Race 1 now tomorrow if you can make it.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Race 1 now tomorrow if you can make it.

Saw that earlier, correct decision to move the race as the weather for Monday still looks horrendous. Unfortunately I can only make Monday, so we'll just do our best to keep dry and fingers crossed the racing will go ahead 👍

 

[Ryanswannell]

At Donnington at the moment, chucked it down earlier but the rain has stopped for now.

I managed to get some pictures with Gino Rea and Taylor McKenzie in the meantime 👍

 

[Ryanswannell]

FP1 over at Argentina, properly dirty track and bumps in horrible places, probably not the best indicator of what's to come this weekend particularly with a wet few days forecast.

Lorenzo looked like he was going to break down in the Ducati garage, never nice to see from any rider.

 

[Carbon_6]

I think the circuit only hosts, at most, four race weekends a year besides MotoGP, so it's not surprising that the conditions are the way they are.

Compared to Qatar, that's a fully booked calendar.

 

[adamp93]

Aron Canet. If that's a racing incident then I'm a Dutch man.

 

[Carbon_6]

Aron Canet. If that's a racing incident then I'm a Dutch man.

Yeah, that's a bit of a head scratcher. Pulling moves like that with no repercussion... doesn't exactly send the right signals does it?

----------

Big thumbs up to Miller for pulling that pole position out of nowhere on slicks. The reaction from the Pramac team was priceless.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Incredible few laps from Petrucci, huge amounts of talent shown for staying on the bike through those wet corners, fully deserves pole position.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Incredible stuff today!

So pleased for Cal's victory, feel sorry for Rossi being on the recieving end of a silly Marquez decision, surprised he wasn't black flagged really.

Very entertaining from start to finish

 

[adb]

Well, that was a weird one
Great job by podium guys and Miller. Crutchlow was playing it smart.
Vinales' starts will cost him championships.
Marquez... combine what was probably one of the best rides in the history of racing (his pace) with those turn 13 incidents. While I believe he should be penalised, we have to look at it in a slightly different way. In such mixed conditions, some riders will get a better feel for conditions and there will be pace differences much bigger than they usually are. Moves Marquez did in T13 weren't brain fades, they were just a result of him braking as he did on previous laps. He had a crazy advantage going into that corner, he was pulling half a sec of top 10 (and more on lower placed guys) riders there.
Also honourable mention goes to Race Direction with that start - what in the actual hell was that? You could argue this led to Marc stalling and getting his first penalty, so blame RD for his accidents, not him

Oh, also... very classy of Uccio, that's the spirit

 

[Ryan Sandall]

My opinion on several parts of that weekend

Firstly the canet incident was awful and how he got away without a penalty is beyond belief so I hope he brought a lottery ticket too with that luck
Even if it is regarded as a mistake irrelevant to anything else it’s fp1 and you’ve just taken someone out you should not be risking that much let alone Knocking him off then blaming him



Next the start as chaotic as it seems I think they got it right because this is different to what happened in sachsenring. Because in sachsenring everyone came in at the end of the warm up lap so they could only start from
The pits.
As this was before the sighting lap it is different, if one rider did it he would have started from the back of the grid cos he could jus join the track during warm up lap and start last
If everyone does it then where is last
So the decision was correct but it wouldn’t have been easy to sort out in the moment

Marquez.... firstly I think we can all agree he would have won by a mile if he hadn’t ballsed it up at the start
And he was wrong if you stall you get pushed into the pits and he probably could have won from there also.

Next his moves like your not meant to have any contact and he’s hit at least two maybe more off camera from the back aswell so nothing they could have done
Also luckily that only one crashed
If you managed to get three severe penalties in one race you should be disqualified tbh like the top class motorcycle racer can’t avoid contact penalties and all sorts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is looked into further and Marquez is penalised further by Austin

Zarco in my opinion was lucky o avoid a penalty for doing an extremely bad mod on pedrosa, yes he would have stayed on if it was a dry track but also he was lucky not to just be taken out in the initial contact but instead in typical pedrosa fashion launches himself in an awful way thankfully seemingly uninjured.

Also I don’t agree with what uccio did not letting Marquez apologise but in the heat of the moment an apology away from the track would be better in my opinion

This race is frustrating as everyone was in good spirits getting along now we have another hugely sour Marquez vs Rossi debate and it’s going to put an awkward spell over he next few races for sure.

 

[adamp93]

Moves Marquez did in T13 weren't brain fades, they were just a result of him braking as he did on previous laps. He had a crazy advantage going into that corner, he was pulling half a sec of top 10 (and more on lower placed guys) riders there.

But surely he has to expect the rider in front to come across since it's a double apex corner. It looked like he bit off a bit more than he could chew and unfortunately Rossi went down, Aleix was a bit more lucky.

If you managed to get three severe penalties in one race you should be disqualified tbh like the top class motorcycle racer can’t avoid contact penalties and all sorts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is looked into further and Marquez is penalised further by Austin

I don't think there's a specific "3 strikes and you're out" rule but I do remember Rins getting something like that at Misano in Moto 2.
I can't see any additional penalty for Marquez as they've already penalised him, although he should start from the back of the grid to make it interesting.

 

[Ryan Sandall]

I don't think there's a specific "3 strikes and you're out" rule but I do remember Rins getting something like that at Misano in Moto 2.
I can't see any additional penalty for Marquez as they've already penalised him, although he should start from the back of the grid to make it interesting.[/QUOTE]
Not a rule but what I’m saying is to get that many in one race you need to be parked because as a world championship rider you shouldn’t be breaking that may rules going against officials and others
You just can’t be have like that

I don’t know if they still use the penalty points system which famously put Rossi at the back of the grid but I’d like t see how many points Marquez could rack up

 

[Carbon_6]

If the weekend could be summarised in one photo, this would be it. It has to go down as one of the most bizarre yet enthralling in recent memory.

Whilst everyone was focused on the headline grabbing stuff, the one image beside the one above that wedged itself firmly in the memory hard drive was watching Miller, Rins, Zarco and Crutchlow power-sliding in unison through turn 6.

 

[twitcher]

And the 2-wheelers deliver again. What a race.

The top 4 at the front were fantastic to watch, literally had me on the edge of my seat. I kind of wanted to see Miller take it, but that was a very calculated ride by Crutchlow.

As far as MM, I don’t think there’s any excuses for those incidents. Yes, he was much faster than they guys he was passing, but that means it’s his job to get by cleanly, and with that much speed differential, he could have executed those passes at any number of locations.

His pace was jaw dropping, but his mental game seemed lacking.

The war of words afterwards is pretty rubbish. I do agree that it was a wrong move to try to talk to Rossi emmediatly afterward, given their history, but the two should have talked privately. I really can’t stand it when grown men talk at each other through the press, it’s a terrible look.