2018 Moto GP/WSBK/BSB etc thread

Ryanswannell
The same can be said for most of the GP grid really, but the key to being the best in the championship is making the most of a weekend when the bike isnt perfect. Happy for Lorenzo nonetheless, hopefully that result gives him a much needed boost of confidence.
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To be honest I think only Jorge and Marc are capable of gapping the field when they have their bikes sorted. But that's just an opinion
 
adb
To be honest I think only Jorge and Marc are capable of gapping the field when they have their bikes sorted. But that's just an opinion
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Personally I think Vinales would put up a good fight if the electronics are indeed the issue with the Yamaha M1. It would be interesting to see how he would do on a factory Honda/Ducati.
 
Ryanswannell
Personally I think Vinales would put up a good fight if the electronics are indeed the issue with the Yamaha M1. It would be interesting to see how he would do on a factory Honda/Ducati.
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Viñales might be up there, agree, his Suzuki win was rather impressive. His pace on the first laps is at least worrying though, no excuses there
 
I can't get my head around any of this. Dani is by far the best candidate for the job but it's too late for that. However the rest of it is confusing; there's no way this is announced without a replacement already sorted and out of the names @Ryanswannell suggested I don't think anyone has the style to suit the Honda.
It should be Cal since he is contracted to HRC but it will probably be Lorenzo and then how does the development of the bike work? They are absolute chalk and cheese.
This might only be good news for Dani since he will almost certainly end up on the satellite Yamaha that Zarco can get to work.
 
Well, according to Sky Sports Italia and Autosport, Lorenzo has signed a 2-year deal to partner Marquez at Honda.

https://sport.sky.it/motogp/2018/06/05/motogp-dani-pedrosa-lascia-honda-jorge-lorenzo-petronas.html
https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/136537/lorenzo-agrees-twoyear-deal-with-honda


Autosport has also "confirmed" that, perhaps unsurprisingly, Petrucci will replace Lorenzo at Ducati. The last lines of text from their article also seem to shed some light on what might happen to the ex-Tech 3 Yamahas:

It is believed Lorenzo secured the Honda deal before Ducati made a final decision not to keep him, but he had also been working on a potential satellite Yamaha option in anticipation of losing his current ride.

The satellite Yamaha project could still go ahead, with Pedrosa now an option there.

Marc VDS had been expected to replace Tech 3 as Yamaha's satellite outfit next year, but question marks remain over its MotoGP future following Michael Bartholemy's acrimonious departure from the team.

Malaysian oil giant Petronas has been linked with taking over the vacated Marc VDS grid slots, but there is also the potential for it to link up with the Angel Nieto (formerly Aspar) team.
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https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/136541/ducati-picks-petrucci-to-replace-lorenzo
 
Also Marquez drove a Red Bull RB8 in 2018 Toro Rosso colours at the Red Bull Ring today.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/136535/motogp-champion-marquez-tests-f1-car

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Didn’t see that coming, ballsy from Jorge, Honda and the same team as Márquez, impressed.

But I can see it working, it’s a nimble bike, with good engine so you are not as setup limited as they were in 2015-2017, and they have most resources so they could chase two vastly different setups and/or chassis

On top of that, Dani is a relatively smooth rider and he still can sneak a win or two over a season, so it could work.

Also, it’s a very important message to Márquez/Alzamora, they will get whatever they need to win but Puig won’t let it become Márquez team, which also is brave but could backfire

Oh, and I have a feeling that Jorge will start beating Dovi more often and Ducati management will look like fools by the end of the year, imo their only good signing this year will eventually be Bagnaia
 
Petrucci to Ducati Corse next season, thoroughly deserved I think.

I wonder if Pedrosa will go to KTM/tech 3 next season? He'd do a fantastic job a helping the team to develop their bike. Him and Zarco can't be bad for the KTM's progress, can it?
 
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Ryanswannell
I wonder if Pedrosa will go to KTM/tech 3 next season? He'd do a fantastic job a helping the team to develop their bike. Him and Zarco can't be bad for the KTM's progress, can it?
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Probably not, but we'll never know as it'll be Syahrin alongside Oliveira at Tech 3 next year.

https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/136543/tech3-completes-lineup-for-first-ktm-season


I could be entirely wrong, but I can't shake the feeling that Pedrosa will call time on his racing career when we get to Barcelona. Not for the lack of good rides, but purely because he's been through the ringer one too many times to be fully fit.

He's had at least one injury to deal with either during the off-season or when racing in every pretty much year of his MotoGP career, resulting in either missing races all together, or getting an average score when he was deemed fit enough to race. And with the calendar getting bigger and the gaps between them becoming smaller, any injury and its subsequent recovery period are going to be affected. Yes, the riders are supremely fit, but even they have their limitations.
 
While I won't be surprised if Pedrosa retires, however if this is the case, it would surprise me that HRC announced him leaving rather than letting him announce his retirement in his home race press conference, would seem slightly disrespectful.

Either way, hope he gets that Petronas factory supported Yamaha, gets a championship and then retires
 
Ianone moving to Aprilia next season from Suzuki. All of these riders moving teams is beginning to get confusing :D.

Has anyone else seen this render of MV Agusta's moto2 project for next year? It's a thing of beauty IMO.

MV Agusta Moto2.jpg
MV-Agusta-Moto2-front.jpg


As far as I can work out the Forward Moto2 team are switching from the Suter chasis to a brand new one developed by MV Agusta. It will run on the Triumph 765 triple cylinder engine which will be mandatory on all bikes in next year's Moto2 championship.
 
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I saw an article on this a while back but that's the first time I've seen anything visual related to the MV/Forward tie-up.

If it had no livery, just one look at the details would tell you it's unmistakably an MV Agusta.

Two exhaust outlets though? Needs to be three or four at least be a true MV. ;)
 
Carbon_6
If it had no livery, just one look at the details would tell you it's unmistakably an MV Agusta.

Two exhaust outlets though? Needs to be three or four at least be a true MV. ;)
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Yeah, the shape of the air intake mimics the classic headlight outline and the tail unit is also similar to the one found on the F3.
I'm guessing the exhaust is a mock-up, most Moto2 bikes run an SC Project or Akrapovic system. It would be great if they could create a triple outlet like the one below.

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So WSBK has actually has some bloody mental races lately. Race 2 at Brno saw Rea get inadvertently taken out by his teammate Sykes who then went and fell off himself. And Ducati's Melandri ran right off just seconds after taking the lead. The result? A first win for Alex Lowes, a third Yamaha win in four races, and a one-two for them as well. WSBK might just be alright for the future, you know.
 
C-ZETA
So WSBK has actually has some bloody mental races lately. Race 2 at Brno saw Rea get inadvertently taken out by his teammate Sykes who then went and fell off himself. And Ducati's Melandri ran right off just seconds after taking the lead. The result? A first win for Alex Lowes, a third Yamaha win in four races, and a one-two for them as well. WSBK might just be alright for the future, you know.
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Tell me about it, I couldn't believe what I was seeing when both Really and Sykes crashed! Pleased for Lowes, the Yamaha has been looking strong all year to be fair so hopefully they place well in the final standings. The noise of the bike alone is pure heaven, looks amazing as well 👍.
As a Ducati fan it was good to see Davies get on the podium after struggling on the last few rounds also :).
 
Can't help but think MotoGP would be an awful lot more exciting this year if everyone stopped taking themselves out. Marquez is obviously still a cut above but it's not like he's having it easy...until everyone else runs out of talent. And with Lorenzo doing this now, I'm afraid of Honda next year. Very afraid. If he hadn't taken a year and a bit to figure it out on this Ducati who knows what he could have done/be doing?
 
It definitely warrants a think about the decisions that were taken behind close doors.

But what's done is done. Though it'd imagine right now Ducati are starting to get that sinking feeling...
 
It can't be exciting forever, 2016/2017 was very exciting due to Marquez not having too good of a bike with Honda still trying to recover from 2015, Lorenzo struggling in first year of Michelin/control electronics and then not gelling with Ducati, and last year Duc became imo the best bike on the grid while Yamaha struggled badly, with Honda being somewhere in the middle. When you have 2 best guys on best bike(s), factories getting on top of new tires and electronics racing stops being as exciting or even random as it was in 2016 and even 2017. IMO
 
Lorenzo/Rossi was just... wow, scared the hell out of me, the live feed director really hit the jackpot with this angle there and then.

Amazing race, will be hard to top this, at least until PI.
Great to see Vinales up there, although he got saved by this big fight, had time to catch up from once again bad start.
That start from Lorenzo :bowdown: shame he dropped down later on.
Marquez, no words, something else.
 
yeah incredible race!!

shame about dovi doing a impossible late braking action in turn 1 that ruined both his and rossi's chances to win...



Spy.
 
I dont know how to describe Marquez. He's just on another level. What other honda is even close to him? His style, his aggression, his saves, everything. i just cant stand him though.
 
Bit of sad new today in the form that William Dunlop has succumbed to injuries from a crash during practice for the Skerries 100 race in County Dublin on Saturday. He was 32-years old.

He didn't race at this year's Isle of Man TT, focusing instead on being at his wife's side during difficulty with her pregnancy.

A regular on the international road racing scene (following in the footsteps of his father Robert and Uncle Joey), he started racing at the age of 17, going on to win at both national and international levels. Making his debut at the Isle of Man TT in 2006, Dunlop went on to achieve five podiums around the mountain course with a best result of second place.

RIP William. :indiff:
 

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