2016 MotoGP/ WSBK/ Road Racing ThreadMotorbikes

[prisonermonkeys]

There were a couple of moves by Marquez that looked bloody dangerous, and probably wouldn't have been possible against any other rider. It was pretty obvious that Marquez was riding for Lorenzo's champion, and given the way they were riding, a collision seemed inevitable and probably would have been catastrophic. If Rossi took him out deliberately, it was probably because he was concerned about what would have happened if they had continued racing - the way it played out was almost under controlled conditions and unlikely to have caused injury.

 

[Retro Racer]

My predictions for the 2016 WSB season:

Kawasaki Racing Team
Jonathan Rea Obvious favourite
Tom Sykes will win races, challenger for title

Aruba it Ducati
Davide Giugliano will be fast, will crash a lot
Chaz Davies will win races, challenger for title

Honda
Nicky Hayden Will get podium finishes
Michael van der Mark Will get podium finishes

PATA Crescent Yamaha
Sylvain Guintoli Will get podium finishes
Alex Lowes Will get podium finishes

Athea BMW
Jordi Torres Might get a podium
Markus Reiterberger Grid filler

Milwalkee BMW
Josh Brookes Might get a podium
Karel Abraham Grid filler

All the rest are grid fillers.

As for the calender:

26-28 February Australia Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
11-13 March Thailand Chang International Circuit
1-3 April Spain MotorLand Aragón
15-17 April Netherlands TT Circuit Assen
29-1 May Italy Autodromo Int. Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola
13-15 May Malaysia Sepang International Circuit
27-29 May United Kingdom Donington Park
17-19 June Italy Misano World Circuit 'Marco Simoncelli'
8-10 July USA Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
22-24 July Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
16-18 September Germany Lausitzring
30-2 October France Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
14-16 October Spain Circuito de Jerez
28-30 October Qatar Losail International Circuit

Some of the above are TBC, no Portimao this year, three rounds in Italy.

This biggest change is to have one race on Saturday and the other on Sunday. The assumption is that this has been done to keep the TV companies and circuit owners happy, I and most fans are not happy however.

 

[adamp93]

I pretty much agree with everything there @Retro Racer except that Josh Brookes will get podiums
As for the race weekend I don't think anyone outside of TV likes it, a few riders said they're not keen on twitter. I used to go to Donington or Silverstone every year for the wsb as a child, haven't been for a while though. I would love to go again, especially since almost all the top riders are British, but having to go for the weekend will probably put me off.

 

[mustafur]

So Casey Stoner completed his first Run with a 2015 Ducati bike at Sepang and was only 7 tenths off the best time done in 2015 by a Ducati rider with the same spec bike, except Casey had the 2016 Spec standard ECU and 2016 spec Michelin's.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122638

More info: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/226339/1/casey-stoner-ill-do-whatever-i-can-for-ducati.html

Ducati also Just announced that instead of doing another test on Sunday with the 2015 bike he will also take part in Mondays Official test at Sepang with all the riders Present, which will be a first since 2012.

 

[adamp93]

Lorenzo finished the test in Sepang with a huge advantage, I know that doesn't mean too much at this time of year but you can guarantee that all the riders were trying to get a fast time at the end.
 Interesting to see that Smith did the most laps but was still low down and behind Pol for the first time in a while.

 

[Peasantslayer]

Looks like Yamaha have the best bike again, even though Rossi is miles off Lorenzo's time he still has a decent gap to third.

 

[JockeP22]

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Tailem Bend targeting a MotoGP race:

http://www.speedcafe.com/2016/02/08/sa-motorsport-park-targets-motogp-race/

 

[TRGTspecialist]

Rossi says it'll be two more years or no more years after 2016, and he will probably make the choice early in the season. I presume unless his early form is disastrous that Yamaha will let it be entirely his choice. I wonder what sort of results/level of performance he has in mind to decide which way he is going to swing.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well, we know that he can still fight for a championship, so as long as the bike is there, I suspect that he'll want to chase his tenth World Championship title.

 

[adamp93]

Does anyone know of a good motorbike racing fantasy league? I've signed up to the mcn one again but it's 2 riders from each of the Moto gp , WSBK and BSB and you get 2 transfers every week so you can adjust your team to which races are next.

 

[Carlos]

Season opener was awesome!! Michael van der Mark is going good, I hope he can win a few races or even win the championship. It is his plan, like in WSS, first year to try it out and second year win the championship.

 

[twitcher]

Agreed, opening round produced some stellar battles. Like the commentator said at one point, that was more like a Moto3 race with the pack so close together at the front. Should be a good fight for the championship this year.

 

[Carlos]

Agreed, opening round produced some stellar battles. Like the commentator said at one point, that was more like a Moto3 race with the pack so close together at the front. Should be a good fight for the championship this year.

I remember him saying "freight train" and "7-ship". Guintoli on the new M1 and the three S1000RR's were pretty fast too, 13 to 15 second gap for the BMW's.

 

[twitcher]

Dang that was quite the save by Van der Mark! I wish he hadn't flubbed the start though. Tough luck for Hayden too, he was going well.

 

[Mike-ZENKAI]

Too bad about the start of Michael van der Mark, but what a save.

Not a good track for Ducati. Hope Sykes can make life a bit more difficult for Rea today.

 

[adamp93]

Well that was fun this morning! I can hardly believe I saw Rea make so many mistakes but he did and Sykes was there to capitalise every time. A great ride from Chaz as well and a good supersport race as always. 👍

 

[twitcher]

That was quite the race 👍 That was pretty brave stuff into T4. Good to see someone else get a win

 

[TRGTspecialist]

Rossi says it'll be two more years or no more years after 2016, and he will probably make the choice early in the season. I presume unless his early form is disastrous that Yamaha will let it be entirely his choice. I wonder what sort of results/level of performance he has in mind to decide which way he is going to swing.

Two years it is - Rossi signs deal taking him up to 2018.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Two years it is - Rossi signs deal taking him up to 2018.

I always get the feeling that there is never enough or that many to begin with, of good rider in the lower series. Cause I mean Rossi is the great maestro for sure but to keep him on for anther couple years just shows how valuable the current crop of riders are.

 

[adamp93]

I always get the feeling that there is never enough or that many to begin with, of good rider in the lower series. Cause I mean Rossi is the great maestro for sure but to keep him on for anther couple years just shows how valuable the current crop of riders are.

I agree that the current top 4 factory riders are almost invaluable, but there's no shortage of talent elsewhere. If Rossi had decided to retire there would have been plenty of people capable of competing in his place, Vinales the obvious choice but there's also Zarco, Miller, Smith, Aleix, Petrucci etc and a few from world superbikes.

The simple fact is that if Rossi wants to carry on Yamaha will keep him. His experience is a massive plus but also money, money, money. So if he does drop off and want to carry on past 2018 they will still want him imo. It will never come to that of course though since he will only carry on if he's competitive and there's no way he'll help develop a bike for Lorenzo to win on.

Anyway, this weekend is what we've all been waiting for and I'm really excited
Petrucci won't be racing unfortunately as he managed to break his already injured hand just from riding the bike.

 

[TRGTspecialist]

I always get the feeling that there is never enough or that many to begin with, of good rider in the lower series. Cause I mean Rossi is the great maestro for sure but to keep him on for anther couple years just shows how valuable the current crop of riders are.

Perhaps, but then again Rossi is unique in just how powerful a brand influence he is for Yamaha - in that respect I'm not surprised they've left the choice of staying basically up to him. And because of it I doubt they'll be clamouring to get rid of him in 2018 either, unless he's performing really badly.

EDIT: tree'd by @adamp93 's better explanation

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Perhaps, but then again Rossi is unique in just how powerful a brand influence he is for Yamaha - in that respect I'm not surprised they've left the choice of staying basically up to him. And because of it I doubt they'll be clamouring to get rid of him in 2018 either, unless he's performing really badly.

EDIT: tree'd by @adamp93 's better explanation

Eh then keep him on in the same capacity as Ferrari did with Schumi after he was done racing. The brand and value it brings to the team doesn't have to be a racing centrist one after all. I mean it would obviously stem from it but not be solely about that. Not that I want to see Rossi retire I just have to wonder when you think of other premier racing leagues...they usually are willing to start a long new road with a younger potential champ. Then rehash a short trek with a person who may never be champ again. Though this is Rossi so I wouldn't be surprised to see him win before he's done.

I agree that the current top 4 factory riders are almost invaluable, but there's no shortage of talent elsewhere. If Rossi had decided to retire there would have been plenty of people capable of competing in his place, Vinales the obvious choice but there's also Zarco, Miller, Smith, Aleix, Petrucci etc and a few from world superbikes.

The simple fact is that if Rossi wants to carry on Yamaha will keep him. His experience is a massive plus but also money, money, money. So if he does drop off and want to carry on past 2018 they will still want him imo. It will never come to that of course though since he will only carry on if he's competitive and there's no way he'll help develop a bike for Lorenzo to win on.

Anyway, this weekend is what we've all been waiting for and I'm really excited
Petrucci won't be racing unfortunately as he managed to break his already injured hand just from riding the bike.

Yes I'm sure there are people capable of taking his spot but actually replacing the void in his absence is the question. When you look at other sports it's hard to see the same kind of development (at least for me) in riders as say open seaters, Le Mans or even more domestic series. I guess the better way of looking at is in fact that Yamaha aren't in any big rush to see any of their top riders leave, nor are they trying to get them to. As for the experience and money, Yamaha as I said could easily get that without him being a rider for them. And Stoner demonstrates this quite easily after leaving the racing side of things a couple years back as you're fully aware I'm sure.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What are these winglets Rossi has bern whinging about? I was watching free practice and couldn't maje them out.

 

[Des2]

Pretty obvious.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

What are these winglets Rossi has bern whinging about? I was watching free practice and couldn't maje them out.

Hopefully the winglets will be banned soon. Crutchlow has said that they cause massive turbulence for following riders. They also stick out and have the potential to injure riders in an accident. In my opinion they are hideous, potentially dangerous and should have no place on a motorcycle.

I'm looking forward to the race - here's hoping for a good, close race - good luck to all the riders!

 

[Whodoyouthink]

Sooo uhhh is Fox in general not covering this round of MotoGP? I mean I think I've kinda already answered that looking at their tv listings. I am kind of in disbelief that between the 3 (really 2, as FS2 is a mythical unicorn where "2nd tier" motorsports go to die when being bumped off by soccer or NASCAR) potential channels that the only motorcycle racing being broadcasted is Monster Energy Supercross.

I meam they've already ruined Sebring 12hr today, so why not screw over MotoGP fans as well?! Let's hope F1 gets me going in that case.

 

[euclid58]

Sooo uhhh is Fox in general not covering this round of MotoGP? I mean I think I've kinda already answered that looking at their tv listings. I am kind of in disbelief that between the 3 (really 2, as FS2 is a mythical unicorn where "2nd tier" motorsports go to die when being bumped off by soccer or NASCAR) potential channels that the only motorcycle racing being broadcasted is Monster Energy Supercross.

I meam they've already ruined Sebring 12hr today, so why not screw over MotoGP fans as well?! Let's hope F1 gets me going in that case.

I don't know the details to this, but it appears that in the last month or two a decision was made to move the US coverage from Fox to Bein Sports who already has WSBK in the US region too.. And looks like no Moto2 or 3 coverage as well..

 

[Mike-ZENKAI]

The Yamaha team is back to being a happy family.
Few hours more and the racing can take over the talking.


http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/228625/1/rossi-lorenzo-what-you-fking-want.html

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2016/...o-near-miss-flows-over-to-media-scrums/196046

 

[adamp93]

Yes I'm sure there are people capable of taking his spot but actually replacing the void in his absence is the question.

There's no doubt the team will be less without him as a rider. In fact the sport as a whole will be less without him, he's one of the very few sportspeople who are bigger than their sport, Usain Bolt and Ronnie O'Sullivan are similar examples.


Anyhow, a great couple of races today. Shame that the Moto 2 was ruined by the jump starts and terrible work dealing with them by race direction.
The Moto 3 was up to it's usual standard with a very impressive ride from Bulega in his second race and I don't think anyone thought Antonelli won as they crossed the line.
In the gp Lorenzo showed his class, made his move at the right time and was good enough to keep the Ducati behind him on the straight. 👍
People booing him on the podium however 👎👎👎