2018 Moto GP/WSBK/BSB etc thread

[Carbon_6]

I've never been to a circuit where you can stand so close to the action as a spectator. The undulations, particularly on the mountain section are unbelievable also .

They don't call it the "mini-Nürburgring' for nothing. Seeing the bikes fly off the Mountain is amazing. 👍

 

[Ryanswannell]

They don't call it the "mini-Nürburgring' for nothing. Seeing the bikes fly off the Mountain is amazing. 👍

It's pretty spectacular, even the motostar bikes (moto3 spec machinery) were jumping a little over the crest. Unfortunately I had to move to the gooseneck section which is a little further from the track when the Superbike class was out on track as my year old daughter was petrified of the noise they made so I missed them jumping the mountain .

 

[Ryanswannell]

Just arrived to a wet Silverstone for the MotoGP, it looks like a grandstand was a good purchase .

 

[John Wells]

Enjoy hopefully the rain wont be a problem.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Enjoy hopefully the rain wont be a problem.

It's quite steady at the moment,if it stays like this it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[JockeP22]

I just watched the sighting lap and the spray will be horrendous if this thing goes green.

 

[adb]

Shame about this being cancelled, but still, safety first. If they started the race and there was an accident as severe as Rabat's or worse, backlash would be even worse than this.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Shame about this being cancelled, but still, safety first. If they started the race and there was an accident as severe as Rabat's or worse, backlash would be even worse than this.

While I agree that the safety of the riders, Marshall's and spectators is paramount, I feel that the governing body of Motogp did a very, very poor job today.

I arrived like many others at 9 o'clock today and it stayed dry up until 10 o'clock, when part way through Moto3 warm up the rain started pouring down. They proceeded with the rest of the Moto3 warm up and even let the Moto2 boys out for a full session in very wet conditions. Nothing wrong so far.

Then everyone is notified that the MotoGp race will be delayed until 12 o'clock where there will be a track inspection as there is now standing water on the track, and even the safety cars were struggling to keep straight through the turns. Fair enough.

Now this is where I think it gets a bit silly. After 12 o'clock, everybody is informed that a definite decision on whether today's racing will go ahead WILL be made at 1pm sharp.
"GOOD" I think to myself. So what happens at 1 o'clock I hear you ask? We are told that the racing will get underway at 1:30 if the weather permits, however the rain has not let off once since it started therefore the circuit is practically under water by this point, so why they think they may be able to race at this point if it was unacceptable earlier is beyond me.

So now it's half 1 and myself along with everyone else is a shivering mess, at which point we are told that the race start is delayed by another half an hour. I left the circuit at this point as I'd had enough, and the weather app on my phone was showing rain for the next four hours or so.
I switch my phone into BT sport and see that by the time 2pm arrives, everyone at the circuit is left in the dark having just been told that the race is delayed until further notice. Basically until the rain stops, if it ever does.

So the rain stops at 4pm, a meeting is held, which leads to everyone is told to go home, with no apology and no news of a refund or anything.

Quite frankly the decision making of Dorna was farcical, bit not surprising really after also making a hash of the Argentina GP a few months ago.

 

[adb]

While I agree that the safety of the riders, Marshall's and spectators is paramount, I feel that the governing body of Motogp did a very, very poor job today.

I arrived like many others at 9 o'clock today and it stayed dry up until 10 o'clock, when part way through Moto3 warm up the rain started pouring down. They proceeded with the rest of the Moto3 warm up and even let the Moto2 boys out for a full session in very wet conditions. Nothing wrong so far.

Then everyone is notified that the MotoGp race will be delayed until 12 o'clock where there will be a track inspection as there is now standing water on the track, and even the safety cars were struggling to keep straight through the turns. Fair enough.

Now this is where I think it gets a bit silly. After 12 o'clock, everybody is informed that a definite decision on whether today's racing will go ahead WILL be made at 1pm sharp.
"GOOD" I think to myself. So what happens at 1 o'clock I hear you ask? We are told that the racing will get underway at 1:30 if the weather permits, however the rain has not let off once since it started therefore the circuit is practically under water by this point, so why they think they may be able to race at this point if it was unacceptable earlier is beyond me.

So now it's half 1 and myself along with everyone else is a shivering mess, at which point we are told that the race start is delayed by another half an hour. I left the circuit at this point as I'd had enough, and the weather app on my phone was showing rain for the next four hours or so.
I switch my phone into BT sport and see that by the time 2pm arrives, everyone at the circuit is left in the dark having just been told that the race is delayed until further notice. Basically until the rain stops, if it ever does.

So the rain stops at 4pm, a meeting is held, which leads to everyone is told to go home, with no apology and no news of a refund or anything.

Quite frankly the decision making of Dorna was farcical, bit not surprising really after also making a hash of the Argentina GP a few months ago.

Yeah, for sure it could have been handled better, but on the other hand, what were they supposed to do? Call it off at noon? 1PM? It’s just a bad situation that nobody has expected.
But yeah, I can imagine how miserable it was for fans, marhsals, and everybody out there.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Call it off at noon? 1PM? It’s just a bad situation that nobody has expected.

Yes, exactly that.
According to every weather source I could gather, the rain was not going to stop until 4pm at the earliest. So it's fairly obvious to see that the rain was not going to stop during any of the track inspections that they scheduled throughout the day.

And when it did stop they just decided to call the event off anyway.

 

[John Wells]

They should let people know as bit earlier if that was possible. Will people get there money back, not very good if they didn't. Seen meetings cancelled in British Superbikes, Brands Hatch snow, Knockhill bad rain, water came over track. British Touring cars was from Knockhill, yesterday, rained really hard again, races went ahead, though watching water on the track for 2 Touring Car race. Was getting quite bad in some places, then rain eased, but still wet. Think they have don lot of work round the track.

 

[Ryanswannell]

They should let people know as bit earlier if that was possible. Will people get there money back, not very good if they didn't

We'll be getting some sort of compensation, for certain. I received an email from Silverstone last night with apologies, explaining that they will be in touch with all bookers within the week letting us know what will be done.

To what degree we will be reimbursed though I have no idea. Ideally we will get a full cash refund, however it wouldn't surprise me if we got our money back in credit form for a future event or a discount on next year's GP.

 

[Carbon_6]

This definitely has the makings of a quintessential c***-up, originating from the moment the new asphalt was laid back in February. All that was needed to expose the proverbial cracks was a good, heavy downpour... and we just happened to get one during one of Silverstone's highest profile events.

Something about the 4pm meeting still bugs me. Despite Capirossi's answer to the question of how all the teams were informed, it sounds like there was no meeting convened at all, therefore no real communication was handed out request rider attendance. According to Autosport, Aleix Espargaro and Pedrosa apparently "created" the meeting at the IRTA offices, rather than the IRTA officials themselves. At Ducati, Dovizioso was allegedly angry about not being asked to attend, whilst team manager Tardozzi only found out about the meeting through TV images of reporters gathering outside the IRTA offices.

Lorenzo only attended because his manager found out when Espargaro told him.

 

[Ryanswannell]

This definitely has the makings of a quintessential c***-up, originating from the moment the new asphalt was laid back in February. All that was needed to expose the proverbial cracks was a good, heavy downpour... and we just happened to get one during one of Silverstone's highest profile events.

Something about the 4pm meeting still bugs me. Despite Capirossi's answer to the question of how all the teams were informed, it sounds like there was no meeting convened at all, therefore no real communication was handed out request rider attendance. According to Autosport, Aleix Espargaro and Pedrosa apparently "created" the meeting at the IRTA offices, rather than the IRTA officials themselves. At Ducati, Dovizioso was allegedly angry about not being asked to attend, whilst team manager Tardozzi only found out about the meeting through TV images of reporters gathering outside the IRTA offices.

Lorenzo only attended because his manager found out when Espargaro told him.

I've heard these rumours as well, it wouldn't surprise me really as when I was watching on Tv some riders were turning up long after others, I think Zarco was another latecomer to the meeting.

It all seems a bit sketchy to me if I'm honest.

 

[JockeP22]

Hahaha, Marquez is so crazy and such a breath of fresh air.
To go down just a millisecond after the picture below, run like a mad man
to make it back to his spare bike and out again, setting one red sector
but ultimately not being able to improve on his personal best. I thought for
sure that the pole was his, I've rarely seen such determination as Marc
frequently shows us. And he's shown it for a number of years now, also
while trying qualifying and race strategies that nobody else is doing.

Should be a good race tomorrow, Marquez and Lorenzo will probably fight for
the win. What a season it'll be next year with those two as teammates.

 

[Tom]

Pleased to say that I'll be making my debut as the Lead Commentator for WorldSBK this weekend at Aragon. Covering all Free Practice sessions for Superbikes and Supersport FP2 on Friday, then Supersport 300 Superpole on Saturday afternoon.

Forgot to update this, but for anybody interested I've been commentating on WorldSBK since the Imola round of the championship. Hope those who've tuned in have enjoyed it and can tune in for Portimao next week.

 

[Ryanswannell]

Forgot to update this, but for anybody interested I've been commentating on WorldSBK since the Imola round of the championship. Hope those who've tuned in have enjoyed it and can tune in for Portimao next week.

What channel/stream may I ask?

 

[adamp93]

Should be a good race tomorrow, Marquez and Lorenzo will probably fight for
the win. What a season it'll be next year with those two as teammates.

Viñales has showed good pace too, and Rossi is always there or there abouts at home. I'd say this is Yamaha's best chance of a win so far this season.

 

[Tom]

What channel/stream may I ask?

Goes out on TV pretty much everywhere but the UK as Eurosport have the rights, meaning it's their own commentary team in place. In the US we go out on BeIn Sports, and in Australia it's Fox Sports - I think those are the two biggest ones. In the UK you can watch it on the VideoPass, but it's not the cheapest thing, sadly.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Hopefully this is a career ending incident:


No place for a repeat offender like that in sport. Kick him out before anybody is injured.

 

[adb]

Hopefully this is a career ending incident:


No place for a repeat offender like that in sport. Kick him out before anybody is injured.

Yup, although I think he should get a ban for rest of 2018, and if there is another offense of this sort, a life ban

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

Yup, although I think he should get a ban for rest of 2018, and if there is another offense of this sort, a life ban

The other offense of this sort has already happened 3 years ago. He turned off another riders bike during practice because he felt he had been blocked. He has been given a 2 race ban which is pathetically weak.

 

[Carbon_6]

Want to know the worst part?... Fenati had signed for Forward Racing in 2019.

The team that Manzi currently rides for.

 

[adb]

The other offense of this sort has already happened 3 years ago. He turned off another riders bike during practice because he felt he had been blocked. He has been given a 2 race ban which is pathetically weak.

Third time’s a charm, no?
But on a more serious note, 2 race ban is ridiculous.
Especially now that I think when Sky VR46 dropped him halfway through the season so almost ban-like, maybe he doesn’t deserve any other chances

 

[adamp93]

Want to know the worst part?... Fenati had signed for Forward Racing in 2019.

The team that Manzi currently rides for.

This is already being reported. Quite rightly too.

Personally I think he should be banned for at least a full season, but I can't see any team offering him a contract in the future. We'll have to wait and see if anything else happens, as something similar occurred in CIV a couple of years ago and that went to court.

Can we talk about something better now? Like Martin celebrating too early, how good Bagnaia was, how good Dovi was or how annoying it was to see Lorenzo crash?

Edit: here's the translation of the tweet. The Stoner reference is, I assume, a translation error.

 

[JockeP22]

So this seems interesting.

MotoE unveils five-round 2019 calendar.

 

[JockeP22]

What a treat seeing this bike in action at the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy from a week ago.
Watch the reactions of #12 and #61 as Corser overtakes them both at the two minute mark.

 

[Carbon_6]

What a treat seeing this bike in action at the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy from a week ago.
Watch the reactions of #12 and #61 as Corser overtakes them both at the two minute mark.

They must have both thought the same thing when Corser past them.

 

[John Wells]

Like John Mcguinness retro, Geoff Duke helmet

 

[twitcher]

Forgot to update this, but for anybody interested I've been commentating on WorldSBK since the Imola round of the championship. Hope those who've tuned in have enjoyed it and can tune in for Portimao next week.

We need something controversial to happen, so we can get on the forums and be like, “these damn commentators have no idea what they’re talking about, this is what really happened!!”

You’ve been doing a mighty fine job 👍 You sounded perhaps a little bit nervous those first couple of races, but you’ve found your feet and you sound right at home now. Keep up the good work.

Hopefully this is a career ending incident:


No place for a repeat offender like that in sport. Kick him out before anybody is injured.

Who’s the Dale Coyne of the motogp paddock? Maybe this guy could get a ride there?

So this seems interesting.

MotoE unveils five-round 2019 calendar.

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I have yet to be impressed by Formula E, but electric motorcycles seem really interesting.

They can be still fast as stink, and controlling them can still be a real job. I’ve seen videos of guys riding those new KTM eletric dirt bikes, and they say they can go for a full session for about 40-45 minutes. They also say they’re some of the most insane bikes they’ve ridin, thanks to the torque.

Perhaps electic bikes on road courses won’t be as exciting as electric bikes on a supercross track, due to the difference in max and average speed, but that said, I see more promise for electric motorcycles to be more entertaining to watch than electric cars.